Planting a perennial vegetable--asparagus, and "organic" fertilizers

http://www.asparagusgardener.com/howtoplantasp1.html

Here is a  tutorial on planting asparagus.   It has some great pictures and detailed instructions. 
Asparagus is a perennial vegetable that will regrow and produce spears every year in the same spot.  The trick is to dig, prepare, and plant your beds in a place that will be a permanent garden, so examine your gardening space, and decide where that might be.    It takes up some space once the spears go to foliage, so the back of the garden or the north side, so it doesn't shade out neighbors in the summer.  If you have a property line that you would like defined, asparagus might do the trick, since it is relatively easy care.  It would even be pretty in the back of a flower bed, as tall perennial in the back, just make sure you have access to harvest.

The biggest concern for growing asparagus is preparing the trench and the soil properly, and giving it enough room.  I planted asparagus in rows 2-3 feet apart at my old house, and by the end of the summer, that patch was a big weedy mess.   At my new garden (house is another old one),  my garden helper and I dug one long trench and it is much easier to maintain.  

When the asparagus spears start to appear in spring, you must be able to harvest almost everyday, or they get woody, and unappetizing very quickly.   Take a sharp knife and make a clean cut as far down the stem as possible.  Wash, and then lightly boil to keep them crunchy.   Sometimes they are just great to eat raw with a dip or dressing.  You can blanch spears, and freeze, but I find that they can get mushy when defrosted.  Try trading extra spears to the neighbor for something that he has.   The tall foliage grows from spears and is quite pretty and feathery in the summer.  This is the part of the plant that takes in the sun's energy and then stores it in the roots in the fall, so DON'T cut it down until it is thoroughly dried up.  I am usually so tired at the end of the gardening season that I wait until spring to chop the stems.  I did it yesterday and already saw some spears starting to peak out at me.  I need to get out there and start fertilizing them this week.  I also need some pain meds for my shoulders....

Speaking of fertilizer,  there are several different types.  I used bone meal yesterday around shrubs, and in holes with new bulbs.   I need to go get some 12-12-12 today, a general garden fertilizer, good for about anything.  The three numbers stand for the three elements plants need-- nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
I use super-phosphate when planting shrubs, bushes, or bulbs, it helps with rapid root growth.   Phosphorus is used by the plant for seed production, fruit development, and vitamin content of plants.  Nitrogen is used for leaf growth and greener leaves.

Now, some of you may want to have a "vegan" garden, meaning NO animal byproducts used in fertilizer.  Read your bag, or do some research before heading out for fertilizer.  I have some Miracle-Grow organic fertilizer that is made of pulverized chicken remains-feathers, and whatever.  Also, fish meal is a popular organic fertilizer.   Composting needs to have three things--green organic material (kitchen waste, fresh weeds, or grass),  brown organic material (dried straw, old weeds -- NO seeds), and manure,  so you may want to research alternatives to using animal waste, to avoid e-coli.   Some people just throw a shovelful of garden dirt on there, it has lots of microbiotic little creatures in it that just love munching on all that organic stuff.  If you are interested in knowing more about where fertilizers come from , I recommend anything by Organic Gardening Magazine, or the Rodale  Institute, its parent organization.   They don't print it if they haven't thoroughly researched it, but a caution-- Rodale tends to be very dogmatic in their approach to food production, so I found that the OG magazine and website were a bit more accessible.

http://www.organicgardening.com/learn-and-grow/compost-soil/compost    here are some great articles for building your compost heap.   Dig around in this website, it's sure to have lots of good information.  

Now, go out and get gardening!!

Dianne, dirt and all