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Ken in Texas 
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 Topic: Asparagus
Posted: 06 Nov 2018 at 8:51am |
Our 25 year old 3x100 raised bed of "grass" hasn't produced well in years. No thick spears just strings pencil size or smaller. Time to renovate or start over? May be the wrong time of year. No frosts or freezes to kill the ferns yet. Dug up intact 2 huge clumps of matted roots and all sizes of crowns in the first 4 feet of bed. Separated the masses onto 3 piles of crowns. Large, Medium and Small. Chose about 20 of the best medium crowns to replant spaced out in a foot of new rich composted soil. I dug out the old and replaced it all. I guess it's ok to use my own crowns or should I buy new? My plan for the gobs of leftover crowns is to plow a furrow next to a field fence. Set crowns of all sizes in the bottom of the furrow and cover with the plow. Let them grow wild like they do in bar ditches and fence rows in Colorado. Am I doing it right so far? Using the older crowns can I cut some next spring? .
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Ken in Texas
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Posted: 06 Nov 2018 at 9:19am |
Old B&W photo of Grandma and Grampa and my Dog Trix in the late 40s cutting the "Grass" on Chicago's Last Farm 
Edited by Ken in Texas - 06 Nov 2018 at 9:25am
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Ted J
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Posted: 06 Nov 2018 at 4:05pm |
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PRICELESS Ken!!
Wish I could help, but I've killed SO many asparagus plants in the last 20 years. I've tried and I've tried, but I just can't grow it. Nothing but sand here and I suppose that doesn't help. I try, but my thumb is just pink,,,,,, no green in it at all....
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desertjoe
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Posted: 06 Nov 2018 at 7:23pm |
I've given up on tryin to grow asparagus too,,,The last attempt 3 years ago, I bought some mail order 3 year crowns and after plantin em,,,they grew like crazy and I got some shoots the firsr year,,but did not pick any to let it srtrengthen the root system. the next year same thing and lots of big nice spears,,!! Then the third year,,they all went to chit ans started puttin out really skinny spears,. Then all the crowns I guess just gave up or something,,,NO MORE asparagus planting around here.
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Ted J
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 12:07am |
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HOPEFULLY Joe, there is an Asparagus GURU on here and he'll chime in why we can't grow something that grows wild in the ditches....go figure...
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"Allis-Express"
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desertjoe
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 3:07am |
Yeah, Ted,,when I was still workin,,the boss man and I used to grab a six pack and a brown paper bag on Fridays after work and go cruise the barrow ditches,,,,lookin,,,and most of the times would fill the bag half full of the juicest biggest asparagus you ever seen,,,,,,  Well,,,word soon got around bout our windfall (I blamed him, not bein able to keep his mouth shut!) we soon got to where we would meet other people out pickin our best places. I had read that you have to stop picking in mid June so it can go to a bush and strengthen it's root system for next year,,but them friggin people would keep pickin till the plants would not give any more and,,,,and,,,within 2-3 years there was not a stick of "Yummy" to be found,,,,, I used to beg those friggin people to give the plants some breathin room but most of them thought I was just tryin to beat em,,,,friggin AH's,,,, I still go out durin the early spring to have a look see,,,,, but have not picked a spear in several years,,so,,,I guess the plants is gone for good,,,,,,sigh
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Ted J
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 6:33am |
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yeah Joe, and they'd keep pickin until the asparagus was only about as big around as the lead in a pencil. Then THEY'd pizz and moan about everybody else.....
I had a pretty good size patch near the end of my road. It was kind of hidden from view, but some AH found it and ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, no, they didn't pick it all,,,,,,,,they dug it up!! Can you believe that!!??
Can you shoot idiots who are trespassing AND stealing??
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"Allis-Express"
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Ken in Texas
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 7:47am |
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Friends in Colorado blamed the highway departments use of weed spray for killing roadside wild asparagus . We could still find some wild asparagus growing along irrigation ditches on private land
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Ken in Texas
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 8:04am |
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Funny Asparagus patch story. After a fresh snow us kids would hunt cottontails taking shelter under the freeze killed ferns. Once we thought we had a Bunnies location figured out under the snow we would cup our arms to our chest and belly flop on him and feel for a back leg. Once up and out with a rabbit, a whack behind the ears with a stick would dispatch him. We ate lots of rabbit without #6 shot in the meat because we caught them live this way with our hands. Grew up poor but not hungry. Healthy too.
Edited by Ken in Texas - 07 Nov 2018 at 8:05am
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desertjoe
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 8:35am |
Gosh,,Ken,,boy does that bring back memories of rabbit hunting. We always was waitin for the first snowfall to get the .22's and head for the mesquite fields,,,you could NOT take a shot unless you could shoot em in the eye so's to not ruin any meat. Seems the population out in the sand hills just kinda disappeared for several years but ,,,I hear from the oilfield boys that both the quail and the cottontails are makin a big comeback so,,,,here's hopin.....UMMmmmm fried cottontail,,,UMmmmmm.
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ac fleet
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 5:54pm |
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After many years, the plants in the beds get rootbound and need to be thinned out.--You are doing it right!!! This stuff is great ,BUT takes a lot of work! ---I don't have too good of luck here either!--- Sis has some that grows kinda wild, and she always has plenty!-- It only grows where it wants! thanks; ac fleet
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JohnCO
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Posted: 07 Nov 2018 at 11:17pm |
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I planted several hundred 20 some years ago. a few grow and continue to but the ones right next to the bed, along the fence line out produce the planted ones 4 to one.
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"If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer"
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Ken in Texas
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Posted: 08 Nov 2018 at 2:42am |
Farmer John All Graycie and I found to buy up your way were what I call Strings. Couldn't find any nice thick stalks like we grew in Chicago. It was June up your way and the little we found wild along Weld county ditches was nice and fat. We found a Wild patch of Rhubarb that was huge . Grows like weeds up your way.
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Ted J
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Posted: 08 Nov 2018 at 4:02pm |
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Ken, maybe it WAS a weed.... It grows wild around here too. It's called Burdock (sp?). You can eat it too and we used to have the greens in a salad. We were poor too, but didn't even know it. We ate good too!!
Rabbits.....don't get in front of me if I got a slingshot in my hands..... we had a .22 but could never use it except on possums, skunks or coons after the chickens. Anyway, I could get 9 out of 10 rabbits with a decent rock and that ole slingshot. (Maybe I outa make another one!!) Rabbits are like deer, if they're moving, just whistle and they'll (usually) stop and look your way. Thuck with the rock.... It was really hard to get squirrels though. They must have thicker heads than rabbits. I sure gave a lot of em a headache though!!
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"Allis-Express"
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HD6GTOM
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Posted: 08 Nov 2018 at 5:20pm |
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I detest asspergrass and brokley, roundup works great for me. What the old gal don't know won't hurt me. Now if I could just get the darn alfalfa to grow as good as her darn asspergrass.
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tadams(OH)
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Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 2:52pm |
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I use a roundup want to be around my asparagus to keep the weeds out and it doesn't hurt it at all
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ac fleet
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Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 4:57pm |
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Roundup will kill the asp. so be careful with it! thanks; ac fleet
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