1Good day! I'm Mark from Self Sufficient Me
2and in this video, I want to show you how I grow this amazing vegetable called asparagus.
3And give you my five top tips on how to grow a ton of it
4in a raised bed garden just like this one.
5Now I know what you're thinking.
6This doesn't look like a ton of asparagus.
7Well, it is.
8I'm just letting it grow out.
9And plus, we've been eating heaps of it,
10sautéed, barbecued, grilled, you name it.
11Even fresh like this.
12Eat it like no one's watching.
13Mmm, oh, you can't get better than that.
14Seriously though, there's no wonder asparagus is one of the world's most famous vegetables.
15And it's not because when we eat it, our pee smells like teenage boys' socks.
16Moreover, asparagus contains a mega range of important vitamins and minerals,
17making it one of the most health-rich foods you can possibly grow.
18We love to eat a lot of asparagus, and that's why we grow a ton of it.
19So let's just get into it.
20Tip Number One: Planting
21There are lots of varieties of asparagus on the market, especially these days.
22But don't agonize too much over which one to choose because most are good.
23Why not grow several types?
24We're growing two varieties:
25an Australian Purple Tip
26and the old favorite Mary Washington, bred by the USA Department of Agriculture in 1919.
27And still, to this day, touted a strong performer and good all-round variety to grow.
28Asparagus is a perennial, meaning it dies back each winter and then regrows in spring.
29But unlike many other perennial plants that only live a few seasons,
30asparagus can live for 20-plus years.
31This is awesome because you can simply set aside a part of the garden
32or half a raised bed garden like I have here with ginger on the other side.
33have a look at my "How to Grow a Ton of Ginger" video, by the way.
34And then you can just leave it for a couple of decades,
35and you'll have asparagus spears for years.
36Cheers!
37You can try sowing asparagus seed directly into the bed.
38But I reckon it grows best sown in containers and nurtured in a protected area.
39And then planted out once a root system is established.
40However, my recommended way of growing
41is to buy the one- or two-year established crowns and plant them.
42Because the success rate is better, and the time to maturity is faster.
43There are two methods of planting asparagus crowns:
44the "bunging in the ground" method
45and the "trenching" method.
46"Bunging it in the ground" is how it sounds.
47Dig a hole like a regular plant and just bung it in.
48You might use this method to fill a gap in your asparagus bed, for example.
49The method most people use, and I recommend, is the trench method.
50Where a trench is dug with a mound of soil / compost in the middle.
51And the crab-like asparagus crown roots are placed about 30 centimeters (or even less) apart,
52so they straddle either side.
53Then backfill so the tops are about an inch or so under.
54You may lose the odd plant during transplanting,
55but don't worry about it too much.
56Just fill in the gaps next season if you want.
57Tip Number Two: Patience
58Asparagus takes several years to become established and strong enough
59so that it can be harvested regularly.
60Depending on how old the plant was at the time it was planted,
61it could take two to four years before it's safe to cut your asparagus and get a good feed.
62Yes, you can try a little sample here and there.
63But you should let it grow as an ornamental
64and enjoy this delicate fern in the garden for a few years before using it as a regular kitchen vegetable.
65It really is a beautiful plant, as you can see.
66So be patient and let it grow and strengthen before you get stuck into it.
67Tip Number Three: Harvesting
68Once your plants have reached maturity, you'll find that they'll start producing nice thick spears.
69Baro size or pencil size is fine,
70but the best size is around the size of your pinky.
71Try to cut the asparagus spear around eight inches,
72or at least before the fern starts opening,
73otherwise, it becomes too woody to fully enjoy.
74Asparagus grows fast and will literally pop out of the soil overnight.
75So keep an eye on it and harvest regularly to promote more spears.
76Tip Number Four: Growing Out
77After you have enjoyed several months of your own organic, homegrown, nutrient-rich asparagus,
78let it develop and grow out.
79Why?
80Because it looks awesome.
81But the main reason why it's good to let it grow out,
82usually through summer towards the end of the season,
83is so that it can keep strong and healthy.
84As winter approaches, the ferns will die off,
85and the energy will be transferred to the crown and massive root system,
86which can go as far deep down as a meter.
87This stored energy in the crown and the root system
88will give it a great kickstart in the new season.
89Tip Number Five: Mulching and Feeding
90When you see asparagus being farmed commercially,
91you won't find a lot of mulch like this.
92Typically, in the soil, it'll be in mounds.
93And that's because it's easier to harvest through the bare soil, where the asparagus spears come up.
94And they just cut them off, and walk along, and put them into crates.
95But also, asparagus farms are located in areas that are typically temperate climates.
96They're a moderate and good climate for asparagus growing.
97But if you're like me and grow asparagus in a hot climate,
98or perhaps the other extreme: a very cold climate,
99then I encourage you to mulch the plants well.
100With mulch, you might get the odd bendy or crooked asparagus spear as it pushes its way up through.
101But don't let that be a concern.
102Because a good mulch, two or three inches thick, helps more than it hinders
103by locking in moisture, nutrients,
104and protects the crown from extreme temps like cold or heat.
105It keeps the weeds down too.
106I like to recycle the dead asparagus ferns as mulch.
107But I also use sugar cane or nitrogen-rich lucerne to mulch the bed.
108As far as feeding goes, top-dress the bed just before the growing season with compost and poultry manure
109to give the plants a nitrogen hit and a nice, rich soil to thrive in.
110Organic blood and bone or chicken pellet manure from the store also work very well to grow good crops of asparagus.
111There you have it. Those were my five top tips on how to grow a ton of asparagus
112in a raised garden bed just like this one.
113And if you follow my tips on planting, patience, harvesting,
114growing out, and mulching and fertilizing,
115then there's no reason why you can't grow a ton of asparagus just like I can.