Putting The Asparagus To Bed

Asparagus season is pretty well wrapping up for us. We could continue picking until June or July but once we have what we want and share a little we quit cutting our asparagus. We believe that is why our asparagus bed has served us for over 14 years and is still producing. Once we have our fill we allow our asparagus all summer to store plenty of nutrients and build lots of healthy roots for next year.

So as you can see we are working on weeding what small weeds are left in the bed. We also are digging the edges out. Notice where the grass is creeping into the asparagus bed. A fresh crisp edge will be dug with the shovel getting rid of all that grass. A layer or rabbit poop laid down and then mulch put over the top of the poop to prevent weed growth and retain moisture during the hot summer months. The rabbit poop will rot down providing the plants with nutrients and enriching the soil. Asparagus are heavy feeders.

Then in the Fall we will cut off the ferns after the first killing frost and add a little mulch to protect the roots over the winter. Come February of next year we pull the remaining mulch back and allow the sun to strike the soil warming the beds for the spears to emerge in the spring.  And the cycle repeats itself.

We are having a terrible time completing this project due to rain almost everyday. We try to never work or walk on wet soil. So we have everything strung out to mark the edges of the bed and have started digging grass. We will do what we can in between rains when the soil is dry enough to work.

Nothing is ever easy!

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter