[stompy]

Hi guys, how many asparagus plants would i need to feed 2 people through a season. :?
 
Also are there early and late varieties of this great plant. :?:

[John]

Not really sure how many - but it is a short season crop, literally a few weeks.

It does take 2 or 3 years before you get a crop.

[stompy]

Can you get a late season variety to lengthen the cutting season :?:

[John]

I'm not sure to be honest - I don't know too much about asparagus. I think there are a few varieties.

[twysted1]

from what i have read on your third year you can cut them for eating for 6 weeks and every year after for 8 weeks.

[rachelw]

My parents have quite a big bed - 12 by 8 or 14 by 10 - and seem to manage to eat all the asparagus it produces very easily.  Enough for us when we visit too though!  
We're going to plant asparagus next year, and are planning on about 10 crowns.  I think I read somewhere that you get about half a pound of spears from each crown (not much).  
I also think there are early and late varieties, but now I come to think about it, how would that work?  You're meant to stop cutting on 21st June whatever the variety!

[stompy]

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking of growing from seed.

Anyone got any opinions on growing from seed  :?:  :?:  :?:

[rachelw]

We're growing ours from seed as well - adds an extra year to the process, I'm told (and it's slow enough anyway!)
We got seeds from Chiltern, and so far I think 8/10 have germinated, which is pretty good.  If you've got lots of space I'd consider sowing directly into pots that will last for a year (or at the very least into something it's easy to extract the seedlings from).  We've found that the seeds germinate at very different rates, and so it's not been possible to pot on yet  - which is likely to cause us trouble with broken roots etc.  
Next year we'll plant them out, then I think it's two years more until we can harvest properly... If I were you I'd (and had the plot prepared - which we don't, and can't until next year) then I think I'd buy some crowns now and bung them in - would get a crop two years sooner.

[stompy]

thanks for that, still think i'm going to plant from seed though.

don't mind waiting an extra year, crowns near me are £2.00 each, seeds are £2.00 a packet.  :roll:

[Jerry]

I grow asparagus, and really enjoy it, as its one of the first veg to show. Grew it from seed, and started getting reasonable crops in the 3rd and 4th year. Well worth doing. As for feeding 2 people - well, how many meals do you want? I'd work it out this way, others may feel differently.
Each plant needs about a 2ft (60cm) square of space. You get a decent helping for 2 people from each plant (total about 100g- 1/4lb). The spears can be cut from roughly the beginning of May to roughly the end of June, thats 8 weeks. So if you had 8 plants, you would get a portion each a week, for 8 weeks. So if you want to freeze some, you'd need to grow more. I do freeze it, but then to be honest use the frozen in soups and pies as it doesn't hold its texture well after freezing. I don't know of any way to extend the season at all.
What I would say, is that when the plants first start growing they are teeny little ferny things, mark the place with a cane, or you might inadvertently destroy them when weeding - the other thing is to get all the weeds out, dig deeply and enrich the soil with well rotted manure and dig a quantity of sand in if your soil is heavy, they prefer lighter soils.

[stompy]

So let me get this right, 1 plant gives 2 people 1 meal every week for 8 weeks :o ,

 So i need 7 plants for 1 helping for 2 poeople every day for 8 weeks
 
I'l give this a go, thanks jerry

[Heather_S]

I think he said 1 plant == 1 meal
1 meal / week = 8 plants

edit: so you'd actually need 56 plants for asparagus every day for 2 people for 8 weeks  :o  

[stompy]

doh,