Posted on 04/29/2016 2:12:39 PM PDT by greeneyes
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks.
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Bastardi is one of the climatologists who say that man-made climate change is a bunch of 'hoo-ey', and better to leave it on the compost heap !
It is a challenge to post his 'Saturday report' as you never know whether he will post at 10 AM or at 5:40 PM !
I report what I have heard, as Bastardi talks fast, and I have a problem keeping up, especially if he gives a disjointed report, switching timelines .
Please don't shoot the messenger for the report, especially about rain and tornadoes .
If i wanted to get shot at , I would post on the politics thread ! LMAO !
Well if you can catch more than 3 words, you have done better than I can-he does talk sooooo fast.
I knew he didn’t believe in the Global Warming. That’s why I posted the question with LOL.
Like I said, Bastardi Rocks. Thanks for the posting, it is appreciated.
LOL. Thanks for the cheerful posting.
Those are on there because I wasn't out there picking when I should have been picking. lol
I planted my asparagus bed in 2008 and didn't pick anything from it the first three years. Very light pickings the next two years. Last year I picked it clean til the end of May and I plan on working it the same way this spring. I add 2"-3" of compost on top every year after the tops die back. It seems to be working.
As far as letting it go to seed... male plants will give you more asparagus to eat. Female plants will give you wild asparagus all over the neighborhood. I leave one female plant in my patch just for that purpose. Any new ones that show up get plucked and chucked.
Certain species of birds will eat the seeds, and some of the seeds will not be fully digested ,
the bird travels elsewhere and drops excrement even as it flys
which, in reality becomes an asparagus seed encapsulated in fertilizer ( sorta like a yogurt raisin), ready to sprout elsewhere in the wild.
One of the first books I got on horticulture and foraging was : Euell Gibbons' book, "Stalking the Wild Asparagus",
and found some wild asparagus in a hedgerow adjoining a farm field in my then apartment , back yard.
I include foraging, herbology, grafting , hybrids and heirlooms as part of my horticulture education.
Augie : how can you know in the early season which stalk is male and which is female (seed producing) ?
Is it like squash where the males are the first to appear , followed by the female stalks (seed producers) ?
Are they sequential ?
Honestly , I don't know.
I can't tell em apart until later in the year when they start to flower. There might be a way to tell the difference sooner, but I don't know what it is.
Thanks for the information. It helps a lot. As near as my wife and I can tell it the patches are 8 to 10yrs old. The patches are 30ft. by 5 ft.
Yeah and fresh home-made pesto to go with those tomatoes! Yum, yum
An ideal size for an unusually large family , or for commercial sales.
Monticello has original asparagus beds that are over 200 years old, and are still productive.
They are dug up about every fifty years just to replenish the soil nutrients;
this demonstrates the value of a well dug and prepared original asparagus bed .
And there you have touched on the foundation to having good success growing asparagus.
What I like to do when preparing a new asparagus bed is to first dig up and completely remove the grass sod. I suppose you could kill it with an herbicide of some sort, but it's best not to spray poisons where you're going to be growing your food.
Next, dig out and set aside the soil to a minimum depth of approximately 12". Deeper is better if you have the gumption to do it. Then refill the trench with a 50/50 mix of the soil that came out, and whatever kind of good compost is readily available. Rotted cow/horse/chicken/rabbit manure is best if you can get it. Continue to refill until the trench is around 8" deep. Place the crowns leaving plenty of room in between them for future growth. They will get huge over time and they don't like to be crowded.
Cover the crowns with your soil/compost mix and then sit down and have a cold drink.
>>Augie : how can you know in the early season which stalk is male and which is female (seed producing) ?
Is it like squash where the males are the first to appear , followed by the female stalks (seed producers) ?
Are they sequential ? <<
My one female asparagus from my first planting tends to push stems after the males from the same planting, which were supposed to be all male crowns.
The stems are nearly twice as fat as the males, and there are considerably fewer of them.
Whether that holds true generally or not, I have no idea. I don’t remember the variety for certain, but I’m pretty sure it was Jersey Giant.
OTOH, just mark which plant produces orange berries; either the plant is male, or it is female, unlike squash, or so many other plants.
Just last night/early this morning,"Cooks Country" demonstrated Grilled Ceasar Salad using endive;
specificly, each grilled half-head had Ceasar dressing applied with a butter brush, and grilled over high heat for only 1 minute, which gave it char, but not wilted
and was served with fresh French bread sections made into sliced croutons,
lightly oiled and raw garlic rubbed across the bread sections while till warm (like garlic rubbed across toasted bread/sandpaper).
It sure looked tasty, and flavorful !..and simply done.
Thank you - yes , that is the technique for building a long-term planting of asparagus as I learned it.
Treat it as a long lasting perennial, that will likely outlast you and the next generation .
Thank you - that is an insightful way to prevent female plants .
I imagine that you would use small stakes in the ground alongside the female plants if you wish to restrict female asparagus seed production .
How far apart are your asparagus plants , without crowding them, and yet allowing them to spread ?
A short piece of 1/2" PVC pipe for a stake; easier to see, and longer lasting than small wooden stakes.
I also use 4' 'step in' plastic fence posts on both sides of the rows, so I can use nylon building line to give support to the stems against our winds.
Two feet between crowns in the row has worked well for me over the years. It looks a terrible waste of space when you're building the bed, but I've never had to dig a bed out to relieve over-crowding.
I just saw your post to the thread - sorry for the delay .
While I have not done lactofermentation myself, I do enjoy good sauerkraut, pickles, and yogurt.
Here goes :
Fermenting Food - Lacto-fermentation Fruit and Vegetable Recipes
http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/LactoFermentation/tp/Fermenting-Food-Lacto-fermentation-Fruit-And-Vegetable-Recipes.htm
The kitchn (includes meals , snacks , sweets , and budget minded )
www.thekitchn.com/recipe-lactofermented-mixed-pickles-recipes-from-the-kitchn-194011
The Antidote Life! -56 Awesome Fermented Food & Drink Recipes (beverages, condiments, yogurts, fermintation tricks and techniques)
http://theantidotelife.com/56-fermented-recipes/
I hope this helps, especially the last one which offers tips , tricks , and techniques.
Personally , I like a garden made in wide rows, 2- 3 feet wide , depending on space available.
Asparagus is considered a perennial in most areas .
I wonder if staggered wide rows would work satisfactorily such as (X = plant; - = a 2-3 foot space ):
X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X
--X---X---X---X---X---X---X--
X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X
or might it be too crowded ?
Any experience in wide rows for perennials ?
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