Allotments 4 All

Hi All

I am thinking of dedicating a bed to asparagus and have read all sorts of conflicting info!  What I gather is I need a well prepared bed (compost, manure etc) and around 12 crowns for a family of 4 and I should expect some spears in 2-3 years.  I have no idea of yields or what sort of protection the bed will require - what are the predators I need to be mindful of?  Rabbits???  Also I would like some top tips on what variety to grow - something that crops fairly heavily and is tasty are obviously the key attributes I am looking for!  All ideas appreciated...

Psi x

Hi, I'm sure they will be attractive to rabbits but don't have that problem here. We have twenty crowns. The newer varieties are supposed to be heavier cropping but I grow the old "Convers Collossal".
:)

thanks saddad, what sort of crop do you get?  is it throughout the summer and how many spears would you say you get per week say?

thanks.

Six to eight weeks... late May to late June. enough for 3-4 meals for 4 each week..  :) Some thin spears and mostly nice thick ones...  :)

Sorry for the thread hyjack, I was just wondering how big a bed do you allow for growing asparagus?
I was under the impression that you needed loads of space to grow any reasonable amount?

I've got two rows five feet apart, with the plants a foot apart in each row.

I've got a twenty five foot by four foot bed with thirty crowns in. Ten each of ; Connovers colossal, Franklim, and Grolim.  ;D ;D

hmmm all my beds are 1 x 2 meters, so I think I could only plant 10 crowns, dont really know that that would be enough to be worthwhile.

   Doh !,   how many spears do you get from each plant please,

   please don't say ' one ' ?       ???


    floss xxx

T B H, never counted them! but at a guess I reckon we harvest about 20 - 30 spears per crown. we stop cutting on midsummers day, so the crowns get plenty of photosynthetic materials to build themselves up for the next year (plus LOADS of seaweed) ;)

They'll build up year by year. Ten crowns would give you a fair bit after a few years.