I have a new allotment which back in February appeared quite wet and waterlogged in places when one dug down. I want to plant some asparagus and have chosen what I think is a drier corner of the plot.
I was looked back through some old KitchenGarden magazines and saw an article about asparagus (March 2006) and there was a picture of asparagus grown on ridges with the comment that it is to improve drainage and give a longer blanch.
I am not worried about the blanching, but am about the issue of drainage.
Has anyone grown asparagus in a raised ridge? If so, was it successful etc? What height did you ridge up to, depth you planted the crowns at?
Thanks,
Thomas
Forty years ago my first asparagus was grown in trenches (flat on the ground) and I was quite pleased with it. But when my husband realised it was a success, he did better. He put dumper truck loads of pig manure and soil (we were into pigs at the time) into a long ridge and planted more crowns.
This was so productive that his pig man, who was finding hops on his own farm less and less viable (Kent) went over to asparagus grown the same way - ridges raised with pig manure and anything else he could find. It is now a thriving business. It is not blanched - green and tender.
My asparagus is now grown on ridges, on a smaller scale (husband died some time ago), and I believe it is the best way.
Was that down to the ridges or the pig poo? I can imagine that raising the level, either through raised beds or ridges, would help in the case of a high water table. I might go over to a raised bed myself for this reason. But I can't see what else it could do.
I believe it to be a bit of both. The asparagus flat on the ground did sulk a bit and I think the soil was not good enough, and indeed we did not have pigs when I first started.
The ridges were softer soil, drained better, and were richer. So I don't think I have helped the discussion very much....
By the way, I often read that asparagus, being a coastal plant, prefers sandy soil and does not need manure and other feeding. I find this to be completely untrue - the more it is fed, the fatter and more numerous are the shoots.
Sandy soils are notoriously hungry, so that makes sense.
So what height were the ridges?
What depth from the top of the ridge were the crowns sown?
Thanks,
Thomas
I've just put my asparagus in, in a raised bed. When planting I've followed the method shown in Dr Hessayon's Vegetable Expert which is to create ridges on which to plant the crowns, then cover them over.
In my case the crowns sit on 4" high ridges 3" below final soil height. When creating the bed I put about 3" of manure in the base, then filled the furrows between the ridges with more manure before capping off with soil.
There are some pictures on my blog - http://vortexs-veg-patch.blogspot.com/ (http://vortexs-veg-patch.blogspot.com/)