Dug a new 10' asparagus bed today. Actually it's the south half of last year's sod heap. That part of the yard doesn't drain very well so I constructed a raised bed out of the decomposed sod. I made a shallow trench and dumped an $8 (!) bag of manure down the center, and covered that with a couple of inches of decomposed sod, which is now very rich humus. I made 10 little mounds and spread the tentacle-like roots of each crown over each mound.
Then I covered all that with a couple of more inches of humus, just a little over each crown.
The crowns are a few inches below the top of the sideboard of the raised bed, and I plan to mound at least 6 more inches on top as the summer progresses. Because of the poor drainage I chose to build up the bed this way, rather than doing what is usually prescribed-digging a 12" deep trench and planting the crowns well below grade and gradually filling it in to ground level. Hopefully my method will prevent the inevitable crown-rot and produce a comparable harvest.
By the way, my Green Mountain seed potatoes also came in the same box--But I'm way too tired from today's earth moving to do anything about them now. On the counter they will sit, "chitting" away until the bed they're to share with tubers saved from last year's colored potatoes is prepared, most likely next weekend.
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Now that my first yard sale of the year is over (made money to buy more plants, lol), I can get back to my garden.
BTW, if potatoes are planted now, will we get potatoes this year?
Safiy - yes, seed potatoes planted now will get you a crop of potatoes at the end of this growing season. :)
Hello Mostlypurple! Is this your first time growing asparagus? Ours is on its . . .third? year now. We have had a reasonable crop from it so far this year, and I expect more next year. Absolutely it's the best asparagus I've ever tasted. Enjoy!
BTW, don't mulch over the winter with whole leaves and then leave them on late in the spring. We did, and it caused a slug feast.
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