I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
I got out of bed this morning only to find an e-mail telling me my asparagus crowns were shipped to me. This is not good as I didn't expect them until mid April. The bed they will call home isn't even ready yet.....grrrrrrr!!! It's like now what do I do with the roots until I can plant them? HELP! Any suggestions or ideas? Rich |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
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I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
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I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
On 3/6/10 7:46 AM, Phisherman wrote:
On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 10:26:57 -0500, (EVP MAN) wrote: I got out of bed this morning only to find an e-mail telling me my asparagus crowns were shipped to me. This is not good as I didn't expect them until mid April. The bed they will call home isn't even ready yet.....grrrrrrr!!! It's like now what do I do with the roots until I can plant them? HELP! Any suggestions or ideas? Rich I'd be prepping the bed as they are being shipped. Look for that first opportunity (not too wet, not frozen) to work the bed. In the meantime, they should keep for weeks if kept cool and dry, maybe in an unheated garage. They are alive. Keep them cool, slightly MOIST, and dark. Check the packing. It too should be slightly moist. You plant the crowns at the bottom of a 1 ft hole (deeper if the soil freezes in the winter). Put just about 2 inches of soil on top of the crown. As shoots appear, fill in the hole around them. Repeat until the shoots are above the level of the surrounding soil. DO NOT HARVEST during the first year. I had a wonderful asparagus bed planted in back within my ornamentals. For over 30 years we had fresh asparagus for dinner 1-2 times a week for several weeks. In the summer, there would be a green cloud behind my flowers. Then, five years ago we had a severe rain storm and a generally wet winter with twice our normal rainfall (over 30 inches vs a usual 15). All my asparagus rotted in the ground. In their last season, however, the old plants fortunately left seeds. I'm hoping for a small crop this spring. At least the artichoke -- growing as an accent in the back lawn -- survived. YUM! -- 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 diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
All my asparagus rotted in the ground. In
their last season, however, the old plants fortunately left seeds. I'm hoping for a small crop this spring. At least the artichoke -- growing as an accent in the back lawn -- survived. YUM! Mine self-seed all the time. I have a cluster of seedlings in nearby beds and also under a number of shrubs well away from the asparagus bed where little birds roost. David |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
"EVP MAN" wrote in message
... I got out of bed this morning only to find an e-mail telling me my asparagus crowns were shipped to me. This is not good as I didn't expect them until mid April. The bed they will call home isn't even ready yet.....grrrrrrr!!! It's like now what do I do with the roots until I can plant them? HELP! Any suggestions or ideas? What I do when this sort of thing happens is to get some big polystyrene boxes (the sort that vegetables are shipped in) from the grocer. I punch a few hole in the bottom, add potting mix and put the plant's/rhizomes/roots into the potting mix. Sometimes they can stay there for up to a year. Some thrive, some don't but I''ve yet to have a fatality. |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
They are calling for the next three days here to be in the low 50's so looks like I better get out and start digging. Hopefully I can at least remove the sod tomorrow which is the toughest part. Perhaps Monday I can then double dig the bed and ad the soil amendments on Tuesday and mound the bed up. Come Wed. they are calling for rain. I have 50' of bed to dig but for now I'll only concentrate on the area where the asparagus crowns will be planted. I still have a small patch of snow in the shaded part of my yard! I guess the only good part of all this is the fact that I won't sweat my butt off digging this time of year. Rich |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
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I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
Yea, I live in central PA. I haven't tried it yet but I do know that several weeks ago we had a nice day and I went out and took some sod off. That went pretty well but the soil was wet. If I can just get all the sod off in the next three days it will help me out a lot. At least I can flip the sod upside down and give it time for the grass roots to die off until the soil is dry enough to work in the bed. If I do about 17' each day for the next three days, I'll have all the sod off. That's the part I really hate and removing the sod does dig easier when the ground isn't so dry and hard. It's just about 9 am here now and the temp is up to 40. In about an hour I'll go out and give it a go. Rich |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
Your right! I went out in the yard and it's a no go :( Ground is froze here also and it would not work out very well. Will just have to store the crowns in the fridge and hope for the best. .......... Rich |
I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
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I'm Not A Happy Camper Today :(
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