[shokkyy]

I've decided that none of my existing beds are ideal for planting asparagus, either because of soil depth or shade, so I'm going to reclaim another piece of lawn to make a new bed. As it happens, we've just renovated an old barn so I've got some ancient oak beams which would be perfect for borders. We're on clay, which is incredibly hard to dig into, particularly when it's a compacted lawn, so I'm taken with the idea of trying out a lasagne bed approach to make the bed. I've never done a lasagne bed before, nor have I grown asparagus before, so I have a few questions.

Is there still time to plant asparagus crowns this year, or better to prepare the bed now and wait for next year to plant?

Will asparagus crowns plant straight into a new lasagne bed, or better to wait till it's completely rotted down? I'm planning to use mainly fresh manure and dead/half rotted leaves or newspaper for the layers, but would asparagus mind the manure?

How many crowns/how much space would be best to feed two people?

I'm sure I'll think of more things I don't know, but if anyone can help with these queries that would be great.

[Trillium]

There's a very good article about lasagna gardening here.

According to the writer, they planted their crops immediately, but do note that any manure was not fresh manure. Asparagus prefer the soil a bit sweet so some lime would help as you layer.

Hard to say how many plants as it depends on how often you hope to eat asparagus. The plantings would be 2 ft apart in every direction as they produce massive roots. At a guesstimate, I'd say you should go for at least 20 - 25 crowns. There will always be some failures, and if not, then you can always trade for something you do want. Few people will refuse asparagus.

[hightide]

Wow cutting edge technology! 

A Lasagna bed as I understand it is basically a compost heap, so there will be shrinkage, which means you might be burying your plants too deep as you build up the layers, so it may be best to build up the bed first. I think you could get away with about ten plants in a bed 1.5m x 5m roughly about 8cubic meter of composted material.
I wouldn't think that planting asparagus in fresh manure even though it is mixed with other material is a good idea.
I think this is going to be a long term project building and preparing that bed, however I know people grow tomatoes and squash and courgettes in compost heaps so maybe start off growing those the first year and go over to asparagus when the bed is settled.
Hertfordshire where I am now is basically clay and flint and making my sparger beds took ages so I understand your thinking, best wishes and I would love to hear how it goes.    

[shokkyy]

Thanks for those suggestions. And thanks for that link, Trillium, it's very useful. It does look like I should prepare the bed this year and plant next spring. Does manure count as a green layer or a brown layer? I've always thought of it more as a composition additive rather than a feed additive, which would imply a brown layer, but is that right? I spend half my life picking up my horse's poo so it seems silly not to make good use of it

[Trillium]

Asparagus will always re-adapt each year to the soil level so it doesn't really matter if it slowly builds over time. The asparagus roots will keep sizing up and pushing up the plant so it all works out.

Don't lay bets on this but I personally would consider manure a brown layer since it's needed to activate the decomposition of the green layer.

I personally am switching to something slightly different, commonly referred to as an Eden garden. Rather than doing specific layers, this garden relies on shredded bark, branches and leaves with thin layers of composted manure between. It'll be way easier on my limited time as well as my slightly limited ability now. The film is a bit long but the fellow explains all his reasoning and proofs for his method, along with 2 families that made their own Eden gardens. Watch it here.

[JayG]

According to this link fresh manure is a "green" compost ingredient, but then again if it contains straw I suppose you could say its "greeny-brown."   

Composted manure must be neither I would have thought as it's already been broken down.

[Trillium]

Whatever it's called, I wouldn't get wound up over it. Just chuck it on where you think it should go. It will all work in the end.

[JayG]

Just chuck it on where you think it should go. It will all work in the end.

  That's what I'd do too, and it will be so much better for the asparagus than trying to grow it on solid clay.

[shokkyy]

My horse is on wood shavings rather than straw, but since it's me picking it up from his box I can very easily pick it up with rubber gloves rather than a fork, so there's a negligible amount of shavings and zero pee-soaked shavings, so no ammonia. The rest comes straight from his field (which doesn't have weedkiller put on it), so nothing in that but a bit of grass and a few worms.

I've never been sure what to do with the manure before. If I start a muck heap in my garden for it to rot down, my dogs will go yeehaa and spend their days rolling in it or eating it. If I store it in bags I'm not sure it would rot down well because I think it might need more air than that. I can't really put it in my compost bins because I already struggle to fit everything else in them. And I never seem to have beds that are completely empty, so I can spread fresh manure on them without worrying about harming the plants.

Pity I didn't think of this a couple of months ago, because it might have been worth trying some asparagus straight into the fresh bed, but I guess it's a bit too late now. Patricia Lanza doesn't seem to bother with planting the crowns on a ridge, which I thought you always had to do. She also seems to use a lot of peat moss, and I've never seen that here. Do you suppose good leaf mould would do as a substitute, if I've got some in my hoard that's nicely rotted down?

[Trillium]

Ridges were originally advocated because most soils are quite heavy and don't drain well, and asparagus crowns are very susceptible to rot, so by keeping them higher than the root tips, you can usually avoid that problem.

In the lasagna article, the 'soil' already drains well so there's no real need for mounding unless you feel more comfortable doing it. A lot of gardening is personal choice.

As for your manure, sounds like you need to build another compost bin. If you have an unused shady spot, that's perfect. There's absolutely no need for compost bins to be in full sun. Think out of the box and you'll find some good spots.
I got loads of fresh chicken poo one year and my dog headed straight for it, so I put up a new bin (quickly!) and alternated layers of fresh poo with lots of broken twigs and small branches. I have loads of old trees on my property so no shortage. From time to time I hosed it down and tried to turn it at least once. After a year, I had quite nice compost and by 18 months it was gorgeous stuff.

Yes, leaf mould will work nicely. We have a lot of peat moss here and regularly use it so most gardeners here will mention using it. Sharp sand is also good for asparagus beds to keep soil loose and drainage good.

[shokkyy]

As for your manure, sounds like you need to build another compost bin.

I've already got 4 big wooden bins and 3 plastic daleks.  It always seems to take a long time to rot down, not sure why. I do turn them once or twice. But the garden's half an acre and there's always a huge amount of weeding stuff as well as the household waste, and it adds up to a lot.

I got loads of fresh chicken poo one year and my dog headed straight for it, so I put up a new bin (quickly!) and alternated layers of fresh poo with lots of broken twigs and small branches. I have loads of old trees on my property so no shortage. From time to time I hosed it down and tried to turn it at least once. After a year, I had quite nice compost and by 18 months it was gorgeous stuff.

We've got lots of big trees too and the garden is always littered with twigs and branches, and I've always had a lot of trouble getting any of that to rot down in my compost, so maybe I'll try that.

My biggest worry with a lasagne bed on top of a compacted lawn on clay is drainage. Even with a few layers of lasagne on it, I'm not sure how well it's going to drain when it gets to the bottom of that.

[Trillium]

I too am cursed with heavy clay soil but find once it gets damp, it will absorb a lot of water without becoming swampy. The heavy mulch of the lasagna method does that. If you're bothered by it, you can always lasagna layer as beds rather than a broad single area. This would put the growing area up a bit higher and the 'paths' lower.  Another tip is before you start any layering is to drive your garden fork into the planned areas to simply aerate the soil and provide some faster drainage.

I have 3 full time wooden compost bins and one dalek and find I need to add another big bin to keep up. All of mine are in the shade behind our pigeon coops. I wish I had more time to turn them, but I really don't, but they'll still compost regardless by just taking a bit longer. As long as they get some soakings and an occasional stirring even, they'll keep cooking for you.