Thank you for the tip about peeling the stubs! I will try this definitely.
Our oldest daughter and son in law have an organic diary farm in rural central NY. I am going to help them put in an asparagus bed - anyone have tips? I know that we need a deep trench and plenty of manure (they have plenty of that). Our daughter is expecting (identical!) twins in July so we had best get to it this year.
How nice it is for your daughter, but dairy farms are a lot of work. Good luck to them in their enterprise. Organic is very popular now.
I don't know any special tips for asparagus. Check out the vegetable forum on Houzz (used to be gardenweb).
I guess take a tip from nature. The soil where it grows wild is probably very rich and loamy but crowded with brush it has to compete with. Yield in a cultivated spot will be better. I think I read years ago you shouldn't harvest until the 3rd year.
Whatever you do, don't over manure. It burns. And cow manure has weed seeds in it whereas I think horse manure is less prone to that. It has something to do with the difference in their digestive systems I think. But no way would I waste cow manure if I didn't have too much to get rid of. Spread it on a field; don't let it pile up. Don't mean to insult you if you already know some of this.
Try laying down 6 layers of newspaper, I guess color ink doesn't matter but b&w is probably better. Some people use magazines, catalogs, cardboard, anything that will stop weeds but break down readily. Leave some space for the plants or cut an x to plant them through. They let some air and moisture through and conserve moisture during drought periods. Wet papers work best to start so the wind won't catch them so easily. Look up lasagne gardening on Houz. People don't till. Or you can till and lay the stuff to stop the weed seeds that the tilling will stir up.
The paper will last the first year, then if you like it add it in subsequent years, cover with mulch if you don't like the looks of it.
One more thing. How I regret never bothering to plant rhubarb. I used to love to get it free from people who don't like it but can't count on it. I really only like it in pies and sauce.