My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow some
ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look around and see
that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies £1.99 per Crown) so
that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?

Regards
Brian :-)

~Brian~ wrote:
My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow
some ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look
around and see that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies
£1.99 per Crown) so that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of
us), and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a
newcomer to growing this veg?

Regards
Brian :-)

I live in South East Kent by the way.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, ~Brian~ wrote:

My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow some
ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look around and see
that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies £1.99 per Crown) so
that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?

Not an answer but I would also like to know as I have been meaning to
plant some crowns for some years now and never got round to it.

Incidentally I've just returned from Vienna (and, yes, I got delayed for
a week along with everyone else!) and usually at this time of year the
"Spargel" season is well under way with just about every restaurant
offering all kinds of Spargel dishes. This year - nothing. It seems to
be very late. Instead they are offering, as a seasonal, "Baerlauch". I
would give you the English if I knew what it was but it's a kind of wild
garlic.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

On 26/04/2010 15:42, ~Brian~ wrote:
My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow some
ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look around and see
that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies £1.99 per Crown) so
that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?


Takes two or three years before you can harvest your first crop. I
planted my crowns nearly five years ago and we are overrun with the
stuff now. I planted 8 crowns. It likes lots of well rotted compost in
the soil and well watering.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

David in Normandy wrote:
On 26/04/2010 15:42, ~Brian~ wrote:
My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow
some ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look
around and see that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies
£1.99 per Crown) so that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two
of us), and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a
newcomer to growing this veg?


Takes two or three years before you can harvest your first crop. I
planted my crowns nearly five years ago and we are overrun with the
stuff now. I planted 8 crowns. It likes lots of well rotted compost in
the soil and well watering.

Thank you David that has given me some ideas.

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:42:36 +0100, "~Brian~"
wrote:

My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow some
ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look around and see
that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies £1.99 per Crown) so
that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?

Regards
Brian :-)


I was given one crown about ten years and told to plant it on a mound
made from rotted compost and soil. It took a few years before it
started to produced any stalks. Now it produces enough for a snack.

Steve

--
Neural Planner Software Ltd www.NPSL1.com
EasyNN-plus. Neural Networks plus. www.easynn.com
SwingNN. Forecast with Neural Networks. www.swingnn.com
JustNN. Just Neural Networks. www.justnn.com

In message , David Rance
writes
On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, ~Brian~ wrote:

My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow some
ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look around and see
that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies £1.99 per Crown) so
that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?

Not an answer but I would also like to know as I have been meaning to
plant some crowns for some years now and never got round to it.

Incidentally I've just returned from Vienna (and, yes, I got delayed
for a week along with everyone else!) and usually at this time of year
the "Spargel" season is well under way with just about every restaurant
offering all kinds of Spargel dishes. This year - nothing. It seems to
be very late. Instead they are offering, as a seasonal, "Baerlauch". I
would give you the English if I knew what it was but it's a kind of
wild garlic.

David

Bauerlauch _is_ wild garlic (wood garlic, ramsons, buckram etc.)
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, Gopher wrote:

My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?

Not an answer but I would also like to know as I have been meaning to
plant some crowns for some years now and never got round to it.

Incidentally I've just returned from Vienna (and, yes, I got delayed
for a week along with everyone else!) and usually at this time of year
the "Spargel" season is well under way with just about every
restaurant offering all kinds of Spargel dishes. This year - nothing.
It seems to be very late. Instead they are offering, as a seasonal,
"Baerlauch". I would give you the English if I knew what it was but
it's a kind of wild garlic.

Bauerlauch _is_ wild garlic (wood garlic, ramsons, buckram etc.)

Hmm, Baerlauch (actually Bärlauch) must be an Austrian corruption then
because it was always spelled thus.

Bärlauch is broadleaved. I've had some wild garlic in my garden which
was narrow leaved.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

In message , David Rance
writes
On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, Gopher wrote:

My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?

Not an answer but I would also like to know as I have been meaning to
plant some crowns for some years now and never got round to it.

Incidentally I've just returned from Vienna (and, yes, I got delayed
for a week along with everyone else!) and usually at this time of
year the "Spargel" season is well under way with just about every
restaurant offering all kinds of Spargel dishes. This year - nothing.
It seems to be very late. Instead they are offering, as a seasonal,
"Baerlauch". I would give you the English if I knew what it was but
it's a kind of wild garlic.

Bauerlauch _is_ wild garlic (wood garlic, ramsons, buckram etc.)

Hmm, Baerlauch (actually Bärlauch) must be an Austrian corruption then
because it was always spelled thus.

Bärlauch is broadleaved. I've had some wild garlic in my garden which
was narrow leaved.

David

Genau - sorry - I read Bauerlauch which is as I stated above. Bärlauch,
as you say, is Bear's Leek (Lauch meaning leek as you certainly know)
AFAIK wild garlic is known as just that, with variations as Wood Garlic
and Broad Leaved Garlic also applicable. I guess we'd have to get into
the Latin classifications etc. for the finest detail but I suspect we'll
end up in circles.

BTW, I had someone asking me about introducing parsnips in Germany and
if I knew the reason for their apparent absence. When I lived there I
was served Pastinaken in Bavaria but I'm sure there's another word which
is a more accurate translation.... but I forget it. Another senior
moment:-))
--
Gopher .... I know my place!

On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, Gopher wrote:

BTW, I had someone asking me about introducing parsnips in Germany and
if I knew the reason for their apparent absence. When I lived there I
was served Pastinaken in Bavaria but I'm sure there's another word
which is a more accurate translation.... but I forget it. Another
senior moment:-))

I saw parsnips in a supermarket in Eisenstadt a couple of weeks ago.
Admittedly they were small but unfortunately I didn't make a note of
what they called them. Maybe my wife can remember - but I'm in France
and she's in Lancashire at the moment!

And they're hardly known here in France also!

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
r...
On 26/04/2010 15:42, ~Brian~ wrote:
My wife who absolutely loves asparagus, has asked me could we grow some
ourselves (expensive to purchase from shops). I've had a look around and
see
that the crowns are quite reasonably priced (Dobbies £1.99 per Crown) so
that's not a problem.
My query is this - how many crowns would be suitable (only the two of
us),
and are there any obvious pitfalls that can be avoided by a newcomer to
growing this veg?


Takes two or three years before you can harvest your first crop. I planted
my crowns nearly five years ago and we are overrun with the stuff now. I
planted 8 crowns. It likes lots of well rotted compost in the soil and
well watering.

Asparagus was originally a salt marsh plant so that watering with salt water
(sea water if it is available) is very beneficial and a great slug deterent
when the new spears are emerging.

Phil

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Apr 2010, Gopher wrote:

BTW, I had someone asking me about introducing parsnips in Germany and if
I knew the reason for their apparent absence. When I lived there I was
served Pastinaken in Bavaria but I'm sure there's another word which is a
more accurate translation.... but I forget it. Another senior moment:-))

I saw parsnips in a supermarket in Eisenstadt a couple of weeks ago.
Admittedly they were small but unfortunately I didn't make a note of what
they called them. Maybe my wife can remember - but I'm in France and she's
in Lancashire at the moment!

And they're hardly known here in France also!

When I was in Germany last year (Nord Rhein Wesfalen) they had some
Pasternaken in the shops (i.e parsnips) and here in France you can buy
panais in the local supermarket (improrted from GB though). They're pretty
unusual and most locals have never tasted them.

I planted 18 asparagus crowns last year in clay/limestone soil (I gather
they refer sandy soil). All but 3 have sprouted so far - but no picking
until next year. There are only 2 of us, so maybe we'll be in for bumper
crops in a year or 2.

Roy

The issue with growing asparagus is that you need to give it quite a lot of space. And since it provides very little ground cover it needs a lot of weeding. Though maybe you can black plastic the outer areas, and all of it during winter to keep down the weeds. Any standard book will tell you the crown spacing so work out how much space you can give it and then you can compute the number of crowns. I'd suggest that anything less than a bed about 8ft by 2ft6 wouldn't be worth the bother unless its just a novelty to give you a couple of snacks.

I really wouldn't put salt water on it as another poster suggested. It is not a halophyte, and doesn't grow in marshes either, it grows in well-drained places. I think this is a confusion with the custom of using seaweed as a mulch for it. Either that or he is confusing it with marsh samphire, which does grow in salt marshes, and has certian asparagus-like qualities.

Here's a growing guide. No doubt you can find more for second opinions. Growing Asparagus - How to Grow Asparagus from Allotment Vegetable Growing Advice and Guides

On Tue, 27 Apr 2010, Sgt Pepper wrote:

BTW, I had someone asking me about introducing parsnips in Germany and if
I knew the reason for their apparent absence. When I lived there I was
served Pastinaken in Bavaria but I'm sure there's another word which is a
more accurate translation.... but I forget it. Another senior moment:-))

I saw parsnips in a supermarket in Eisenstadt a couple of weeks ago.
Admittedly they were small but unfortunately I didn't make a note of what
they called them. Maybe my wife can remember - but I'm in France and she's
in Lancashire at the moment!

And they're hardly known here in France also!

When I was in Germany last year (Nord Rhein Wesfalen) they had some
Pasternaken in the shops (i.e parsnips) and here in France you can buy
panais in the local supermarket (improrted from GB though). They're pretty
unusual and most locals have never tasted them.

My neighbours over here hadn't a clue what parsnips were and he's a keen
gardener.

I planted 18 asparagus crowns last year in clay/limestone soil (I gather
they refer sandy soil). All but 3 have sprouted so far - but no picking
until next year. There are only 2 of us, so maybe we'll be in for bumper
crops in a year or 2.

I really must get round to planting some. I love asparagus - the
just-picked variety, not the stuff that comes out of tins.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

"Gopher" wrote in message spelled thus.

BTW, I had someone asking me about introducing parsnips in Germany and if
I knew the reason for their apparent absence. When I lived there I was
served Pastinaken in Bavaria but I'm sure there's another word which is a
more accurate translation.... but I forget it. Another senior moment:-))
--

When my German friend came here in 03 she had never eaten parsnips before I
cooked some for her. She loved them and took some seeds back with her. She
now grows them herself.
It seems parsnips are not grown there at all.
I was surprised to find how cheap leeks were when I went there. 99c/kilo
just less than a euro which was 69p at the time. I wanted to fill my
suitcase.
Food is much cheaper there.
Didn't get a chance to compare meat prices, though. Vegetarian household.
Nearest shop 12 km away. 1 streetlight switched off at 11 pm ;-) 20 houses
in the village. Wonderful.
Tina