Rob Smith is planting asparagus now
This should give me spears earlier and it’s one less job to do in spring!
Trying to be one step ahead in the veg garden is always the aim of most gardeners, yet we sometimes get held up by the weather or other chores, which undoubtedly crop up when we least expect it. With that in mind, I’ve decided to take the step of planting a few crops now which would normally be done in spring.
The asparagus on my allotment has performed phenomenally well in the last couple of years so I wanted to bring that success to the raised beds in my new garden. I’ve decided to dig up some of the crowns and transplant them into their new home now rather than wait until next year. By doing this while there’s still some warmth in the soil, the crowns should be able to put on some root growth before winter sets in, resulting in stronger plants which romp away earlier than crowns planted in spring. There aren’t any specific varieties suited to autumn planting, but some mail order companies are selling their crowns now for just this job.
I’m using my ‘Mondeo’ and ‘Pacific Purple’, making sure to dig up a good bit of the rootball, meaning they’ve more energy available to survive the winter weather. One thing asparagus don’t like is wet, cold soil. Because I’m on clay I’m transplanting my crowns into raised beds filled with a mix of good quality topsoil, compost and manure. Making a trench and then creating a 10cm (4in) high ridge in the bottom allows roots to grow downwards while the crown is held higher and drier (think of it like an octopus with its tentacles hanging downwards, that’s what the crown and roots should look like!).
It’s also a good idea to add a handful of blood, fish and bone to each trench, providing a slow-release of fertiliser to the growing plants. Asparagus won’t be happy if there are any weeds in their bed, so remove all perennial weeds before planting and then mulch well to prevent too many annual weeds from growing around the establishing plants. By doing this your asparagus beds should become established and produce spears before spring-planted crowns, plus its one less job for spring!