Ok. So like I said in the "what did you do in your garden" thread, I created a pseudo raised bed out of cinder blocks. The blocks sit directly on the ground up against my northern fence. It gets amazing light after about 9 am. So. I'm out there asparagus in my bucket shovel in hand and I got to wondering if this is gonna work differently than I thought. Since the blocks are eight inches high should I just dig a shallow trench to spread the roots out then gradually build up the bed as they grow until the dirt and compost is level with the top of the blocks? Or should I go a little deeper? The bed is 15'x3' so I'll be doing one row of a dozen plants. Will I have a problem with freeze and thaw? There will still be a good 8" of soil atop the roots by winter and 1.5' of soil and brick to either side. But the roots will be ground level with the rest of the yard. Should I rip the whole thing out and sink the blocks a few inches to get the roots deeper with respect to the rest of the yard? I hope this makes as much sense to you folks as it does in my head. Thanks in advance.
CJay, when we planted our asparagus, I made a 6" deep trench, placed the crowns and covered them with about 2" of dirt. When growth appeared, I added another 2" of dirt, and again until they were covered with 6" of dirt. Our winters are milder than yours in Iowa, but I'd think that if your crowns are covered with soil and compost to 8", protected by the concrete blocks which will retain warmth to a certain degree, they will be fine.If you are worried about freeze/thaw, give the bed a heavy cover of straw (8-10") for the winter. If the roots want to go deeper, they will go deeper. Anyone who has tried to dig out an old asparagus bed knows that!
You may find this article helpful. Just scroll down until you see the Asparagus growing section. http://www.volkstuindersvereniginghoornenomstreken.nl/Page22.html I hope that you will be successful, CJay.
Thank you much. Is it safe to assume that they recommend adding sand so it's easier for the roots to spread?
Sand is recommended (or taking steps that will have the same effect), but not so the roots can spread easily---for drainage. Asparagus will not tolerate standing with its feet in water.
A hugelkultur set-up may well retain a little more moisture than they would like--but I am not sure. One thing is that ...well, you know how such a set-up is constructed, right? there are things inside the setup and grass and other growing plants on the outside. These things will compete with your asparagus for available nourishment. I would have hesitations combining the two, personally. While I personally employ several Permaculture techniques in my varied gardening regimen...this is one that I do not have room for and perhaps time. As it is, the way I garden takes more time than my fellow allotmenteers. Having said that, I am interested none-the-less. If you do decide to try and grow your asparagus in this way, please do not dedicate your entire bed to this method in the chance that it turns out not to be suited. Plant them in both ways, at least then you will have some stems that will be harvestable. I think that we ought to talk about a couple of other things here as well-- I assume that you have done some investigative research before hand. One of the things you have read about is no doubt the nature of the asparagus plant, its likes dislikes and requirements. I always say, that one must know one's plants well. If you do, then you will more easily be able to make the correct choices when growing them. I personally find this essential, CJay. Growing asparagus is a bit different from other types of garden veg....its why I would less likely to experiment with the direct milieu of the plants. They can be difficult sometimes. In my country the asparagus area is typically down south where it is dryer, sandier and actually ideal for growing the types of asparagus that they grow there. We can grow them here, but many folks do go down south to get the better quality beginning corms. The chap that I interviewed before writing that article that I sent you did an enormous amount of research before hand and then went down to Limburg to acquire his beginning plant toots. He knew that he's be a bit up against it trying to grow that sort up here...but it turned out alright. The lady that gardens next to me, grows a different sort--green ones. She just planted them in the ground and lets them do their thing. I believe that she adds some mulch each year though. There's a whole method for cutting the asparagus as well, they say. --in the hills or on the flatter ground. The whole idea being not to cut too deeply and to stimulate the roots to send up more shoots. Cutting the white asparagus is a bit tricky as you saw in my article...but the green ones, you typically cut off just under the soul's surface. CJay--am I just making this whole thing over-complicated for you? I shall end now and give you a rest.
No. You're not making it complicated. Thank you. I didn't manage to get outside and do anything today. It was a very long night at work yesterday. Hopefully I can get out tomorrow at a decent hour and finish up this little project. It has already taken too long. But I still have some reading to do. Again Thank you. I'll post up pics when I get everything done.
Ok. So. Instead of what I was originally planning to do (cause I was stupid and didn't Google what asparagus liked.) I was just going to fill this bed and plant. Thanks to you fine people it was oh so much more difficult. But I learned something. Tore out the bricks. The flowers I'd planted in them are a total loss. Dug up the grass. And am ready to plant. Luckily, maybe, for me, the soil there is sandy. And I hope this is a bonus. But there is gravel there too. I'm assuming this would help with drainage. Threw some logs in there for a little long term biomatter. Should no pull it out before planting? Oh yeah. Had to make it shorter and wider than I wanted. Apparently true cinder blocks leech stuff into the soil you don't want in your food. Or so ive read. Also got a ton of stuff done in the garden. But that will have to wait for another time in the other thread. I'm freezing. Its like 50f and has been drizzling all day.
Well, it looks as if you are coming along with your bed. Gardening is by definition a changing thing...so changing plans in mid-stream is part and parcel. I would take the wooden bits out when you are ready to plant. I have not heard anything about cinder blocks leaching...but it could be true. I have never used stone edging of any sort, so I have no experience there. I suppose that you could place plastic underneath the cinder blocks in an attempt to block the leaching. If you cut rectangles the size of the blocks out of bin liners, it would not be visible to the eye...and still thwart the possible leaching process. Sorry to hear it is so cool there...make yourself a cuppa hot cocoa with whipped cream and a couple of drops of almond essence--you'll get right over being cold. Are you still excited about this venture?
Yes I am very excited. From what I've read there is fly ash bottom ash and a bunch of left over petroleum products as well as some other nasties in modern cinder blocks. It could all be bs but better to be safe than sorry.
So I get home from eating brunch with my parents and telling them the news and look what I find done in the asparagus bed. Yeah he decided to plant them for me.
It'll be OK. Just pull the cinder blocks. Whatever may have leached into the soil will be quickly remediated and buffered by the existing organisms in the soil. Adding more compost and soil will help also, that will provide more biota to eat up the bad stuff and convert it to good stuff. Seriously, it will be OK! It will be three years before you can harvest anything anyway. After the passage of that amount of time, it will all be good. Weed the area well and regularly.
Cool beans. Theyre two year old plants. So I'll be able to cut from them a little bit next year. Probably late next year since we transplanted them later than we should have.
