Asparagus

Well, how are your asparagus patches doing? Probably enough for supper tomorrow night in my patch right now. Looking forward to it.

Deep sink full I picked tonite

Great pick today. Upwards of 30 pounds.

Had a pretty hard freeze last week Friday. 1/2" of ice in the bird bath. I was producing pretty good, but unfortunately everything that was up was laying flat on the ground. I mowed it off, and tomorrow will be looking at a small harvest. That freeze probably hurt me for this year, as I had lots of smaller sprouts that were knee high. I'll be very selective in my harvest now, and will err on the side of caution to ensure enough grows to continue. I wash and freeze mine. Lay them on a cookie sheet and individually freeze them, then place them in the vacuum sealer. Works well and pre-freezing prevents them from getting squished. Had my last bag a few weeks ago from last year and was pretty good. Pan fried is good. Butter, onions and garlic are my favorite. Bacon bits is good too. I've also thrown in some slivered almonds and that was good, and pine nuts were good too. Let them get a little toasted for the last couple minutes with the asparagus. Made a broccoli, asparagus, cheddar soup that was good... but was using a store bought cheddar soup.

Here's my sink full and ready to wash it all from this morning

Picked 10pounds yesterday and went and picked another 20pounds this morning. It has just started and the grass is real nice and round and firm. Can't wait to get back out next week

Brought the 12 yr. old granddaughter for her first picking of asparagus with me and we picked 25 pounds today. A lot of fun and had a great time with the granddaughter. This year is some of the best asparagus I have found in years. Nice and big around and tall. Looks like some of the peeps have not been picking yet. Went up towards shawano and found that the frost has gotten it and was no good. Picked it anyways so it grows more. Gonna wait another week before I start picking up there.

Great on the charcoal grill! Asparagus beds take a long time, but well worth it! My 7-10 YO crowns are producing well and growing like crazy!

Alumadoo, Try throwing some spears in a shallow pan on the cook top with a stick of butter, minced garlic, and a bit of salt. Put the lid on and let her simmer for about 7 minutes. Really good, and super easy.

i believe asparagus likes well drained soil. planting it down by lake may not be the best spot for it. you'll have to judge for yourself if that soil drains well or not. i have some down by the lake too but there's a hill right there and does drain well.

Just wondering if any of you guys freeze it? I have tried with mixed results. If you freeze it and have good results, how do you do it? Thanks!

My bed I started about seven years ago it really doing great this year. Some really bigs spears along with many new small ones. As to growing from seed I agree with all the comments below and anyone just starting should go with roots. One thing though that I have done for a few years now is save a bunch of seeds and plant them right back in my bed where I have openings. The female plants will get red berries in the fall. I collect a bunch of them and let them dry out, then soak and wash them in a bucket of water to get the skins off. Inside there will be a small black seed. In the spring I take a wood dowel and poke a hole in the ground about a foot deep and drop in a couple seeds. I don't cover it just let it grow. It seems to be working pretty good as I now have many young plants where there were none before.

Musky99, You wont have anything this year for sure and probably not next year either. Depends on what type of root you planted- 1yr, 2yr or 3 yr roots. I planted a patch of 3 yr roots last spring and didn't have many pieces this year over the size of a pencil. It is going to take a few years for you to reap the rewards. Mapper

I planted roots this year. Will I have anything to eat this year or do I have to wait until next?

Picked around 15pounds yesterday. Some spots still have not come up yet and it looks like it is just starting to get going real good now. Grilling it today with some tomato soup and grilled cheese sammiches.