Some info and a question:

Info: I have some asparagus seed (UC157) that has been in my fridge
for 10 years old. Put it on paper towel kept damp 3 weeks ago and have
more than 50% sprouted with more looking probable. Wow!

Question: I also have some mature plants fron the same original batch
of seed, that I want to divide & move at the end of the season. Any
advice on this, and on how soon I can reasonably harvest from the
relocated plants, would be welcome.

Thanks,
Alexander Miller.

wrote:

Info: I have some asparagus seed ........ Any
advice on this, and on how soon I can reasonably harvest from the
relocated plants, would be welcome.

If you are over 50 or like to eat asparagus, I would just eat the
sprouts and buy serious rhizomes.

If you have runty little shoots to plant, you might save a year or two.

We have done both and it was a waste of time.

When we moved out to the country, we bought the biggest, most expensive
rhizomes we could find and ate a few nice big stalks the first year.
After that it was more than we could eat ever since.

I just took some pics of our asparagus patch for a future Photo of the
Week. We have been harvesting for about a week now (Northern Illinois)
and stop on June 1 to let it build up for next year.

This is without a doubt the crown jewel of our garden. We pig out on
the stuff and pickle what we can't eat. It is a waste of good asparagus
to freeze it. We have omelets for breakfast and roast it for dinner and
tonite it was asparagus cheese crepes.

Can't wait for breakfast,

js

--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber,Gems, Sausage,Silver http://schmidling.com

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:28:21 -0600, Jack Schmidling
wrote:

|If you are over 50 or like to eat asparagus, I would just eat the
|sprouts and buy serious rhizomes.


Haha - you must be expecting a short life. I'm 70. Im very happy with
the plants I've raised from seed, and hope to enjoy raising more. To
each his/her own, I guess.


| It is a waste of good asparagus to freeze it.

We consider it a waste to do anything other than eat it raw. Can't
imagine what it would be like after freezing then thawing. Yuk. But to
each his/her own.

So what do you know about dividing and/or moving mature plants?

In article ,
Jack Schmidling wrote:

wrote:

Info: I have some asparagus seed ........ Any
advice on this, and on how soon I can reasonably harvest from the
relocated plants, would be welcome.

If you are over 50 or like to eat asparagus, I would just eat the
sprouts and buy serious rhizomes.

If you have runty little shoots to plant, you might save a year or two.

We have done both and it was a waste of time.

When we moved out to the country, we bought the biggest, most expensive
rhizomes we could find and ate a few nice big stalks the first year.
After that it was more than we could eat ever since.

I just took some pics of our asparagus patch for a future Photo of the
Week. We have been harvesting for about a week now (Northern Illinois)
and stop on June 1 to let it build up for next year.

This is without a doubt the crown jewel of our garden. We pig out on
the stuff and pickle what we can't eat. It is a waste of good asparagus
to freeze it. We have omelets for breakfast and roast it for dinner and
tonite it was asparagus cheese crepes.

Can't wait for breakfast,

js

Could you be just a tad less conspicuous in front of the drooling masses?
- Bill
Cloribus gustibus non disputatum (mostly)

On 4/25/07 12:28 AM, in article , "Jack
Schmidling" wrote:

wrote:

Info: I have some asparagus seed ........ Any
advice on this, and on how soon I can reasonably harvest from the
relocated plants, would be welcome.

If you are over 50 or like to eat asparagus, I would just eat the
sprouts and buy serious rhizomes.

If you have runty little shoots to plant, you might save a year or two.

We have done both and it was a waste of time.

When we moved out to the country, we bought the biggest, most expensive
rhizomes we could find and ate a few nice big stalks the first year.
After that it was more than we could eat ever since.

I just took some pics of our asparagus patch for a future Photo of the
Week. We have been harvesting for about a week now (Northern Illinois)
and stop on June 1 to let it build up for next year.

This is without a doubt the crown jewel of our garden. We pig out on
the stuff and pickle what we can't eat. It is a waste of good asparagus
to freeze it. We have omelets for breakfast and roast it for dinner and
tonite it was asparagus cheese crepes.

Can't wait for breakfast,

js
I'm headed to your house to eat!

wrote:

Haha - you must be expecting a short life. I'm 70. Im very happy with
the plants I've raised from seed, and hope to enjoy raising more. To
each his/her own, I guess.

Right. I raised ferns from spores and it was years before they were big
enough even to put out.

How long did it take from seed say.... 3/4" shoots?

We consider it a waste to do anything other than eat it raw.

I agree but can't convince my wife of that but she came up with the
method of roasting in butter in the toaster oven which is a mighty fine
alternative.

So what do you know about dividing and/or moving mature plants?

Absolutely nothing other than, don't mess with a good thing.

Ours is not spreading very much but jest seems to get denser each year.

js

--
PHOTO OF THE WEEK: http://schmidling.com/pow.htm
Astronomy, Beer, Cheese, Fiber,Gems, Sausage,Silver http://schmidling.com

wrote:
Some info and a question:

Info: I have some asparagus seed (UC157) that has been in my fridge
for 10 years old. Put it on paper towel kept damp 3 weeks ago and have
more than 50% sprouted with more looking probable. Wow!

Question: I also have some mature plants fron the same original batch
of seed, that I want to divide & move at the end of the season. Any
advice on this, and on how soon I can reasonably harvest from the
relocated plants, would be welcome.

Thanks,
Alexander Miller.

I had an asparagus bed for about 30 years. The heavy rains in the
winter of 2004-2005 caused the plants to rot. However, they dropped
seeds. We picked our first crop from the seedlings this year.

If you divide a clump, you should treat both the relocated plants and
those kept in the original location as if they were freshly planted from
bare-root crowns. If your winters are severe, wait until spring;
otherwise, divide in the fall or winter. Plant them in holes or
trenches with the crowns about 6-8 inches below normal ground level.
Cover the crowns with about 2 inches of soil, leaving the remaining soil
mounded next to the planting hole with the hole unfilled. When the
shoots appear in the spring, slowly add the mounded soil back into the
hole without covering the growing tips.

Do not harvest that first year. In following years, harvest until the
new shoots become thin. In the second year, you might harvest 4-6
weeks. After then, the harvest period might be 8-10 weeks.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:44:28 -0600, Jack Schmidling
wrote:

|Right. I raised ferns from spores and it was years before they
were big
|enough even to put out.

Spores? I've used roots (rhizomes?) & seeds but I don't know beans
about spores.

|How long did it take from seed say.... 3/4" shoots?

That's 3 to 4 inch, not three quarters, haha? A year I think but of
course you don't harvest them for at least a couple of years. If you
plant seed you'll be just a year behind where you would be if you
planted one-year-old roots - duh or two years behind two-year-olds
which is what I think most nurseries sell.

|Ours is not spreading very much but jest seems to get denser each
year.

I do too; AND I'm spreading quite a bit.

On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:17:32 -0700, "David E. Ross"
wrote:


|I had an asparagus bed for about 30 years. The heavy rains in the
|winter of 2004-2005 caused the plants to rot. However, they
dropped
|seeds. We picked our first crop from the seedlings this year.


They self-seeded? Nifty!

Thanks for the info on dividing & re-planting the roots. What can you
tell me about the actual technique of dividing: Where & how to cut,
what size divisions etc. Or will it be obvious when I dig them up?

I'm on Vancouver Island - zone 7 trending towards 8.

Alexander Miller.

I have a question, we ordered some asparagus seeds from Gurney's, and it
says that they have to be kept in damp peat moss for a week I believe,
before they can be planted...is this true, or are there peat moss
alternatives(because peat moss isn't readily available here, and quite
expensive when it is)?

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 16:40:56 GMT, "Lilah Morgan"
wrote:

|I have a question, we ordered some asparagus seeds from Gurney's,
and it
|says that they have to be kept in damp peat moss for a week


I would guess the advice about peat moss is just to ensure the seeds
don't dry out once germination has begun. But any means you have of
keeping them damp will do fine. Pre-soaking in (say) a saucer of water
for a few days or a week would get them off to a good start but
shouldn't be strictly necessary.

The asparagus seeds I recently bought - from Territorial in Oregon -
suggest planting indoors in 3 inch peat pots "to avoid transplant
shock," (ie plant the whole peat pot when setting out) and they say
outdoor sowing of seed is not advised.

The other, 10-year-old seed I recently started was first put on paper
towel & kept wet/damp until the little roots began to emerge - in 2-3
weeks - then planted in a potting-soil mix in little plastic pots
which I keep moist. They're in a greenhouse but I think they'd be OK
outside (protected from birds & critturs) so long as there's no frost.

Obviously you have to be very gentle when planting the sprouted seeds;
especially if the roots have begun to knit into the paper towel, so a
plain dish of water is safer. I like doing it this way because I get a
kick out of seeing the little roots grow - and I can tell which seeds
do/don't germinate before I plant.

Good luck.
Alexander Miller.

Ok thank you very much. We have an unopened package of peat pots somewhere,
and I didn't pay attention to the size, but I think they might be 3inch.
They're definitely not 'big' ones. I shall start soaking the seeds right
away. I live in Oregon too(Klamath County), and a greenhouse is pretty
essential. Though my chocolate mint and aloe vera seem to do just fine with
windowsill locations.

wrote:
On Wed, 25 Apr 2007 18:17:32 -0700, "David E. Ross"
wrote:


|I had an asparagus bed for about 30 years. The heavy rains in the
|winter of 2004-2005 caused the plants to rot. However, they
dropped
|seeds. We picked our first crop from the seedlings this year.


They self-seeded? Nifty!

Thanks for the info on dividing & re-planting the roots. What can you
tell me about the actual technique of dividing: Where & how to cut,
what size divisions etc. Or will it be obvious when I dig them up?

I'm on Vancouver Island - zone 7 trending towards 8.

Alexander Miller.

You have to dig deep to get the crown. It will be a mass of shoots and
roots. You should be able to pull it apart after you rinse the soil
away. If you divide in the early spring, you don't need to keep a lot
of roots; just be sure to trim away any broken roots. (It's almost like
dividing bearded iris, except iris grows at the soil surface.)

Actually, asparagus don't need to be divided. However, your original
message indicated that you want to have some growing where none is
growing now. Given the heaviness of my own soil and the depth to which
I would have to dig, I would prefer to go to a local nursery and buy a
package or two of bare-root plants instead of dividing. They are not
very expensive.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

Ok I feel REALLY stupid now. I have come to realize that it was artichoke
not asparagus seeds. We did have asparagus seeds, I'm just apparently
operating at half capacity at best...still have the asparagus soaking
though, and will do the same with the artichoke seeds if I can find them...

On Sun, 29 Apr 2007 22:27:30 GMT, "Lilah Morgan" wrote:

|Ok I feel REALLY stupid now. I have come to realize that it was
artichoke
|not asparagus seeds. We did have asparagus seeds, I'm just
apparently
|operating at half capacity at best...still have the asparagus
soaking
|though, and will do the same with the artichoke seeds if I can find
them...
|

Haha, very good - but you didn't have to admit it!

I should warn you that when the asparagus shoots (not the roots which are white
& "sturdy") come up they are almost impossible to see - about as thick as a hair
and quite dark in colour. At least that's how my latest ones look - just one
very flimsy inch-high thing I can barely make out against the background of the
soil. Have to hold something light behind to see them.

Don't know anything about artichokes.
Alexander