My Asparagus Jungle: A Permaculture Success Story!

in gardening •  7 years ago 

Asparagus For Everyone!

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This is right now!

Who would have thought that when one of my nursery friends, Strange & Co. posted on Facebook that she had asparagus roots for sale that I would be so successful! 50 for $50, I'm sold! Then she was dropping prices because they hadn't all sold and I said how much for the rest? She gave me an incredible deal and I was happy to get 150 roots with a "handful" of small ones thrown in for free...

I prepared my bed in the newly tilled area and had a 75-foot row with two rows in it planned out! So I dumped what looked like a lot more than 150 crown roots into a bucket of water and started placing them in trenches. Soon, I realized there was way more than 150 in this bucket! I built another bed for the extra and quickly ran out of room again and built another bed! We now had 3, 75-foot beds with two rows each and a total of 300 crowns planted! I couldn't believe how generous she had been and made a mental note to bring her some yummy asparagus in two years when they were mature enough to harvest from!

Here is the video I made of planting them and how we made it a permaculture bed!

Fast forward to late August in Georgia and these asparagus crowns are acting like they have been here 20 years! They grew very fast right from the start! Must have been all that composted manure we used in our garden from our awesome goats! They quickly shot up out of the ground, several per crown! They continued all summer to produce new shoots and grow up up up towards the sky! I have never seen anything like it! My other asparagus bed I planted three years ago has only ever had 2-3 stalks per plant!? These are now at 10-12 per plant minimum and still producing new shoots in August!!!????

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Can't even see the path anymore!

My friend tells me that we can harvest next spring if they are over 4-feet tall. They have been that tall and taller since before summer even reached us! They really are huge! And the celery under them is thriving from all the shade! I went out to pick celery yesterday for my homemade chicken soup and could barely get through the big fern like fronds growing over them like a protective parent. I parted them and dug down into the soft, feathery leaves tickling my cheek, to reach a lush celery plant and chopped it off at ground level with my big butcher knife.

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Much taller than my 5'4" self!

It really amazes me how great this bed has done! My other older bed hardly does anything! Not sure if it's the manure, the mulch our awesome volunteers from the Georgia Farmers Market Association put down, or the quality of the root crowns? Or maybe, it is from the genuine LOVE my friend showed by giving me such a good deal combined with the love and appreciation I have for organic, homegrown asparagus!

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Can you feel the LOVE?

Thank you for reading and watching Wholesome Roots!


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Wow, looks amazing! We just got our asparagus started this year. Do you know how long you have to wait to use goat compost? We have goats as well and I wasn't sure when I could use their poop.

We compost it most of the way. BUT! Goat is like rabbit and is not considered HOT. So it won't burn your plants or hurt them in any way. The only concern is the pathogens that could be present in uncomposted manure like E-coli or salmonella. So I wouldn't want the manure to touch the fruit you are harvesting to eat. With proper sanitization procedures, it should not be an issue, plenty of people use it fresh with no issues.

When we moved in here we found out that next spring that the prior owner had planted asparagus EVERYWHERE in the back !! I love it and yet 3 years ago I planted more and then 2 year ago, even more !!! Next year you'll be peeing green (trust me hahaha)

Yes! I love it!

What an amazing story of success patience and growing organic. I really loved your post and pictures. I'm following you now, because I saw this thanks to @goldendawne so big thanks to she for sharing this amazing post as well. Let's build community one resteem at a time. @OriginalWorks

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Thank you so much! And thanks to @goldendawne I love this community! What is this originalworks?

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Awesome crop. That composted goat manure works wonders. Unbelievable growth for the first year. Time for market...

I hope to market to a few chef friends in the spring

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

That's beautiful, @wholesomeroots!! Daayyyyyum!! Asparagus is the long term investment of gardening, but worth the time - as you've made apparent! I've got some asparagus seed - show me the way! I grow when I know..lol.

That's what I love about gardening, it is a constant learning process and people share their knowledge. That's beautiful! I've learned virtually everything I know about growing plants from those willing to share their knowledge. I am doing the same as I progress, so together we grow!

What a great head start that seems to be leading to another near term success story! It's organic, don't panic! 😋 Happy Harvest to you both, great work!

I am so excited! Be sure to use compost rich soil!

That's the worm's job 😋
I grow with mushroom compost and organic nutrients provided graciously by the Earth! they don't call me the 'plant whisperer' for nothin 😆🌱🍅

Wow that is awesome. I have a smaller asparagus plot of about 20 roots. I wish I could have got the deal you did. Do you have any good recipes?

We had a smaller bed with 40 crowns but it struggles! We got a great deal on these! I love simple roasted or grilled asparagus. Just toss in EVOO and salt and pepper maybe a little garlic too. Then we make homemade mayo to dip it in! YUM!!!

Yum sounds delicious! Thanks for the reply.

Wow, 300 asparagus is a lot!!

I planted an asparagus bed for the first time this year - but only 30 plants. Looking forward to cropping in a year or two.

I'll also try adding celery next year as I've seen a few people mention that combination. I wonder if I can squeeze in some strawberries as well?

I added some strawberries too! We will definitely add more just have to dig them up from another spot!

That was an incredible find!
We love asparagus but too soon to harvest. Just planting this season but I'm dreaming of the day when we can enjoy

I can't wait! We were expecting to wait 2 years so I'm excited the roots were so healthy that this spring will be awesome!

Those monster asparagus plants look amazing!

I think so too! Can't wait to taste them!

Thats a pretty wicked outcome. Congrats!

Thanks, it happened pretty fast!

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by wholesomeroots from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

This is something I have never tried to grow. I may have to give it a try!

yes! you should! plant once for a lifetime crop!

Upvoted, resteemed, and followed.

thanks!

No need to thank me @Wholesomeroots!!! I enjoyed the posting. You might like my blog about food forests. I show how asparagus can be part of a larger plant community that can produce year after year with no real maintenance..... https://steemit.com/gardening/@goathollow/self-sufficiency-through-a-permaculture-food-forest

  • WOW they are huge!!!! Nice to see a smile on your face 😀

These are giants! They got me excited!

YES! I'm so happy the asparagus is thriving for you. Impressive!!! Get that organic asparagus market cornered and enjoy this success. :)

You bet! It is so amazing!

I can't believe it! I remember when you posted this! What a blessing!

Isn't it amazing!

Wow, how lucky are you. Sounds like my asparagus is in desperate need of goat manure. These success stories give me so many good ideas.

Yes, goat manure is good stuff! Glad we could give you good idea! Thanks!

Nice! Hard work with a great payoff.

I can't wait for the payoff in my mouth this spring!

Amazing growth on those! I had no idea they looked like that when all grown.

I'm not a huge fan of asparagus but in Germany they have white asparagus (achieved by not growing in light!) and it's got a completely different flavor that I loved! They have white asparagus soup, (weiss spargel) man it's good stuff!!

That sounds delicious! I really need to go to Germany some day. Ryan went in highschool and speaks a little German and I have a few friends here that are German. It's fun hearing about the food! I love food!

Do t put it off for too long! I loved living in Germany and it's where my heart lives. So now I'm heartless! Haha kidding, kind of. ;)

Amazing!

thank you!

That is awesome! Might have to drive your way when we need asparagus roots 😉

It might be worth it, lol

for real! They did great!

WOW I'm so jealous of your garden, you sure got a bargain.

Thank you!

I have a some rabbits and have been putting their manure on my garden area. I hope to start it next spring. I will be getting some goats later also, thanks for telling me it was like rabbit NOT HOT like cow and horse etc. I cannot wait to have fresh veggies. Steem on!

Best of luck!

Wow this is awesome. I've never seen so many and growing so well. You're doing a great job! This is my favorite vegetable.

Thank you! Mine too!

You're welcome. Good luck with your garden.

This is the stuff dreams are made of! And what an amazing deal. You might have to start selling asparagus or throwing it at people whenever they get close enough. Most people fear the squash lady, but in your neck of the woods, it will be 'oh no, here she comes with her asparagus - quick - HIDE!'

So true! I'll gladly add Asparagus Ladt to growing list of Titles! lol!

That is fantastic! I planted a few crowns this year, but clearly not enough. They are growing great too. Can't wait for the harvest! Thanks 🐓🐓

I would love to market some to chefs if things continue to do well next spring!

I am with you there. Market or eat? Hum? Tough one! Thanks for stopping by. 🐓🐓

Great post! Really dig your stuff. Maybe we'll do a bed of asparagus next year. Did you mulch them with straw or just let them do their thing?

we mulched along side the beds with woodchips in paths and added compost as they grew. we will mulch with hay/manure mix from our goat stalls this winter when they die back.

Yeah I've been thinking about woodchipping our paths as well. With that hay/manure mix those plants are gonna go gangbusters next year!

Congratulations! @wholesomeroots I really hope we can get Steem added! That will really help!
Great post! The project is interesting . At this point I agree with you.