Growing Asparagus in the grass

Situated next to a creek, there’s a quarter-acre lot across the street from my work. It sat empty growing grass for the longest time and then about 5 years ago a young man rented it to take a shot at market gardening. He spent hours each day working the soil with his walk behind tiller. You had to be impressed with his persistence. He built dozens of nice clean market rows and in several of them he planted asparagus. Sadly, he was only there 2 years…I guess a victim to economics.

The season following him leaving, the lot was back to grass and weeds. The owner mows it once a year in the fall. The only difference from 5 years ago is that the lot now has abandoned asparagus all over it. The asparagus seems to grow just fine with all the competition. It sprouts in the early spring before everything else is really starting to grow and it gets above the grass and weeds without an issue.

I was looking out the window at work today staring at the fronds scattered all over the lot and I had the realization that I might be growing asparagus wrong. I spend a lot of time weeding, mulching, shaping, and trellising my asparagus beds each year, and yet in this unmanaged field the asparagus is growing just fine without being pampered.

I think I’ll start planting asparagus in the middle of my orchard rows. I usually only mow the outside edge of the row so I can get to the trees and just mow the center of the row in late fall so the voles don’t have as many hiding spots. That seems like a perfect match for asparagus.

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This makes me feel like I should try planting some asparagus in areas that are grassy or weedy. My current asparagus patches aren’t big enough so why not plant more? lol

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It’s definitely worth a shot. You can never have enough asparagus!

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My problem is everywhere I plant it, it ends up flopping over and taking up way too much space/interfering with pathways. Maybe I can get it in a spot where that won’t be a problem. I’ve got a spot in mind.

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Same here. In my asparagus beds I end up using t-posts with wire around the outside of the beds to keep everything where it needs to be, and keep them from getting broken in the high wind. That was the other nice thing about the wild lot though, the tall grass and weeds were supporting the asparagus pretty well.

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I have asparagus only popping up where I have mulched my apple trees. I love asparagus, so I am ok with it.
It doesn’t pop in any grassy areas or anywhere else. Just where the mulch is. Too dry I suspect in other locations.

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That’s a good point. I didn’t think about the water aspect of it. Maybe the overgrown lot being next to the creek is what’s helping it flourish. Or maybe because the grass was removed before planting and then it grew back in. I’ll have to do some experimenting.

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There are unirrigated patches of (wild) asparagus in Colorado… along railroad tracks and sometimes in abandoned fields (old homesteads?). There’s been a huge plant just outside the fence at one of the local golf courses, too. I may try the same experiment in my orchard area… not too close to my trees, though, as it gets pretty tall in the summer. But I’d like more asparagus and would be happy if it would prosper without much attention.

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On a side note, asparagus is a lot more resistant to spray than one would think. My grandfather had some planted in a garden he put in the corn field where we had to avoid spraying it, and one yeah he didn’t do anything with the spot and it got grown up with weeds and was accidentally sprayed. Everything was toasted there except the asparagus which didn’t even curl (we moved it later to a better spot). Also there is some in the pasture next to a old homestead that survives being sprayed too.

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That makes sense. It’s a monocot, like the grasses. So some of those herbicides at least probably wouldn’t hurt it because they are meant to kill broadleaf plants (dicots).

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In the 1960’s some orchard grew asparagus in the row between apples trees.
Asparagus was picked early, before apples were ripe & apples were picked in the fall, August to October.
You can pick asparagus in reverse!
Let it grow all Spring & summer, then mow the ferns down late July & cut the new spears for two weeks.
DON’T do both, have a spring patch & Fall patch.

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I’d never thought of fall asparagus. Might have to try that with one of the small patches.

Fall Harvested Asparagus

I know you came here to read about Fall Harvested Asparagus, so here is the short and simple secret to fall asparagus.

Asparagus is a perennial crop that should only be harvested for a 6-week period in each growing season so the fronds can soak up the sun to nourish the roots. It does not matter which 6-week period, whether it is spring, summer or fall. Since we only harvested a few spears in the spring, we can now harvest fresh asparagus for 6 weeks.

For future reference, if you want to harvest fresh asparagus throughout the summer, divide your asparagus bed into sections, only harvesting from one section for 6 weeks, then let it grow. A week before harvesting from the next section, cut back the asparagus, water well and then watch fresh asparagus spears start popping up.

Hubby mowed down the standing asparagus and weeds, leaving the weeds and asparagus fronds laying in the hot sun for a couple of days. The cut down weeds don’t have to be removed. The next morning, he watered it well and spread-out fresh straw a few inches thick across the bed. Finally, he put the plastic chicken wire back up around the bed to keep the chickens and dogs out. It’s that simple! He has a riding mower, so he was able to do it quickly.

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Expanding the orchard into what was a soybean field last year. Not sure if you can make it out through all of the tansy mustard, but I got a row of asparagus crowns planted down the center of a future orchard row. Letting them take hold before the grass fills in. I’m excited to try asparagus this way instead of the higher maintenance mulched and weeded beds.

Also going to try @FigGuy’s suggestion for a fall crop on half of the row. I’m thinking that might actually work out better when growing in grass so the asparagus is able to compete with the grass each spring.

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Not sure how it does in grass, although it does come up in grassy ditches all over. But I let my little patch just go to weeds a couple of years ago as I was planning to move it to another spot since it was too close to the grapevine. I thought it would just slowly decline there if untended. Not even close. It just sends up its spears through the lambs quarter, creeping Charlie and whatever else comes up in there and outgrows and shades the weeds. I never do any hand weeding of that patch.
So, I decided to just let it do its thing and I make several cuttings of asparagus from it each spring. In very early spring, I mow the weeds a couple of times when I am cutting grass before the spears start showing, and I mow all the tall fronds down in fall with the mower. Every few years I might throw a handful of 10-10-10 fert down or not. I never water it, even in the worst drought. It is in normal, moderately moist soil. Takes maybe 3 minutes of time just to mow it each year. No other care except harvesting the spears.
I have had one asparagus plant come up in a dry grassy area right next to a pine tree trunk and one plant came up in a very dry rooty area under a blue spruce and they both return every year.
That stuff is tough and just lives its best life there with its weedy friends!
Sandra

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That’s encouraging to hear!

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I had no idea you could harvest asparagus in the fall. I’ll have to give this a try on part of my bed. Thanks for the tip!

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