Thursday 1 October 2009

First Asparagus of the Season


Last night we had the first of our asparagus for the season - three fat purple stalks. Yummy!

This is a photo from last year, but hopefully we'll be getting this much again soon.

Just love asparagus!

And did you know that asparagus is a source of the trace mineral chromium? Chromium helps to balance our blood glucose levels, as well as helping to reduce our cravings for evil sugar.

Just love asparagus!

love and light
naturewitch

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

WTG NW, they look delicious!

Kelly said...

yummo! i love fresh asparagus too! we have been enjoying some of the seasons first too(not ours). keep meaning to put it in...

dixiebelle said...

I love asparagus too, and have some seeds, but didn't try growing them yet, as I wanted to learn more about asparagus first! It seems quite tricky! I think I will put them in under the apricot tree?

naturewitch said...

Hi Molly
They are very yummy indeed - more succulent than the green ones. I highly recommend them. xx

Hi Kel
Very much enjoying them. Waiting for the next lot. Do put some in - you won't regret it! xx

naturewitch said...

Hi dixiebelle

You can start your seeds off in pots if you like and leave them for at least a year.

They say not to start eating the spears until the crowns are at least 2 years old, but it's often better to leave them until they are three.

Basically, you need a deep, friable soil, preferably their own bed, so maybe not so good under the apricot tree. Once established, they require some fertiliser during winter to kick them off in spring and then some more during their growing period. They like lots of manure and appreciate a mulch. Also, they don't like weeds much.

In many gardening books it talks about putting in the crowns and slowly covering them up as they grow. I don't bother with that and mine seem to cope just fine.

The beauty of an asparagus bed is that it will last you twenty years or so, so is worth having its own little space in the garden.

The home grown ones are much better than the shop bought ones - so tender and succulent.

When we finally get together, I can show you the ropes on asparagus. Seriously, a very easy vegetable to grow in Canberra. xx

dixiebelle said...

Thank you!! That is great advice... I was reading that asparagus were good companions for apricot, was all! And one day soon, I will have you around for morning tea and hopefully absorb all your knowledge through osmosis! :)

Anonymous said...

That purple asparagus looks gorgeous! I have a few crowns - but havn't nurtured them as much as I should and decided not to harvets from them this year so that they recover. i'm so missing fresh asparagus :-(

Cheers,
Tricia

naturewitch said...

Hi dixiebelle
It would be great to meet you and have a chat - hopefully study will ease off a bit soon. xx

Hi Tricia
Just throw some animal manure on them (not too fresh, though) and some mulch and they'll recover really well. Being a seaside plant, they also love seaweed extract and fish emulsion. xx