The message
from Christopher Norton contains these words:

Asparagus is remarkably easy to grow. Do not have to buy crowns as you
can easily get seed. Just takes a year longer than one year old crowns.
Your looking at basically 3 years before you can pick them if grown from
seed. If your a bit less patient than that then 2 year old crowns are
available to hurry it along a bit but I`d still look at 2 years to let
the thing establish. The difference in taste from fresh picked to the
stuff in the shops is unreal. However, it does need room. My asparagus
bed down the allotment is 4m by 4m and will have about 35 crowns in it.
If you want a good supply of it you need quite a few crowns. Another
good reason for seed cos that little lot would have cost me over £100
around here in 1 year old crowns alone.

A couple I knew had the most productive asparagus bed imaginable. It was
probably 4 or 5 metres long, and only a couple of feet wide, with fencing
stakes each side, to which chicken wire was attached. They piled all their
grass cuttings into the bed, and the asparagus grew like wildfire! They grew
so much that they couldn't eat it all, and even freezing vast amounts couldn't
keep pace with the surplus! Every visitor to their house left with a bag
full of asparagus. I also used to get the older "woody" spears for my
wormery.

I couldn't hazard a guess at how many crowns were in the enclosure, though!

--
AnneJ
ICQ #:- 119531282