How to Grow Asparagus: A Patient Gardener's Guide

Asparagus is the royalty of the vegetable garden. While tomatoes and peppers die every frost, Asparagus is a perennial. Once established, a well-tended asparagus bed can produce delicious spears every spring for 15 to 20 years.

But there is a catch: You have to wait.

The Golden Rule: Patience

You cannot harvest asparagus the first year you plant it.

• Year 1: Plant and let it grow into ferns to feed the roots.
• Year 2: Harvest lightly (maybe for a week).
• Year 3: Full harvest!

If you pick too early, you kill the plant. It’s an exercise in delayed gratification.

How to Plant Asparagus Crowns

1. Buy “Crowns,” Not Seeds

Seeds take an extra year. Buy 1-year-old crowns (they look like scary octopus spiders meant for bare-root planting).

• Variety: “Jersey Knight” or “Martha Washington” are standard reliable varieties.

2. Prepare the Bed (Deeply!)

Since this bed will last 20 years, prep is everything.

• Pick a spot with full sun.
• Weed it ruthlessly. Perennial weeds are impossible to remove once asparagus roots take hold.
• Dig a trench about 12 inches wide and 6-8 inches deep.

3. The Trench Method

Place the crowns in the bottom of the trench, spreading their tentacles out. Space them 18 inches apart. Cover with just 2 inches of soil first. As the green shoots grow up during summer, gradually fill in the trench with more soil until it’s level with the ground.

Maintenance

• Mulch: Heavily! Asparagus hates competition from weeds.
• Winter: After the first hard frost, the tall ferny parts will turn brown. Cut them down to 2 inches above the soil to prevent pests overwintering.

Harvesting (Eventually)

In Year 3, when spears emerge in spring about pencil-thickness or wider:

• Snap them off at ground level.
• Harvest for about 6-8 weeks, then stop and let the rest grow into ferns to recharge the energy for next year.

Male vs. Female Plants (Does it Matter?)

Asparagus plants come in two sexes.

• Female plants: Produce energy to make red berries (seeds). This makes them slightly less productive for spears.
• Male plants: Put all their energy into making giant spears.
• The Verdict: Most modern hybrids (like Jersey Knight) are bred to be all-male. If you see berries on your plants, you can leave them, but the “baby” asparagus seedlings that sprout next year might crowd your bed.

Common Pests: The Asparagus Beetle

The #1 enemy is the Asparagus Beetle—a bright red and black beetle.

• The Damage: They eat the ferns, leaving “skeletons” behind.
• The Fix: Hand-pick them off into a bucket of soapy water. If the infestation is bad, Neem oil works well. Usually, you only need to worry about them during the harvest season.

Freshly snapped raw asparagus is sweeter than anything you’ve ever bought at a store. It’s worth the wait.