How to Plant and Grow Asparagus

Asparagus is a nice vegetable to eat, but it takes some time to grow. It will take three years for a full harvest if you start from seed. Asparagus plants are male or female. You can recognize a female plant in fall by the red berries that form among the foliage. It's these seeds inside the berries that can be harvested in fall and used to start new plants.

Instructions

1. Start seeds indoors or in a greenhouse in late winter to early spring. Sow seed in commercial potting mix of peat moss and vermiculite. Plant seeds 1/2 inch deep in seed trays or flats. Seeds should be 1 inch apart with 2 inches between each row. Place seedling where there is plenty of sun light. Fluorescent lighting can be used to help the seedlings along if natural light is poor.

2. Transplant seedling to a sunny part of the garden 12 weeks after planting seeds. Transplant seedlings after all danger of frost has passed, to a site that is well-drained and not just at the surface level.

3. Keep beds clean and weed-free through the growing season. The shoots will start to push themselves up in mid-spring. As the shoots began to appear out of the ground, lightly cover with soil as they grow.

4. Let the spears grow until late winter. Even if the spears turn yellow and start to die, it is still helping the plants to grow. The second spring there will be more spears than the year before. The third spring, there will be many, many, more spears.

5. Harvest asparagus with a sharp knife when they are 6 to 8 inches, before the scales start to open. Cut stems at an angle just below the soil line. The most tender portion of the asparagus is toward the tip of the plant.

Tips & Warnings

• Before cooking asparagus, wash it thoroughly, cut off and throw out the tough, lower portion. Asparagus freezes well, if there is too much to eat, before it starts to go bad.