Normally I have to do this in wet and cold conditions, but today was again mild and still, with plenty of sunshine, so the task was a lot pleasanter than it usually is.
So, using my secateurs I cut down the stems and chopped them into manageable lengths, stuffing them into some old plastic compost-bags (because all my bins are full of leaves!)
I raked over the bed, removing all the leaves and other debris.
In the early Spring I will apply a dressing of chicken manure to this bed to give the plants a boost for when they begin to grow again.
I then trimmed the stumps to a length of about 2 -3 inches. I leave this amount of stem simply so that I can see where the crowns of the plants are.
Although my plants (Gijnlim) are supposedly all-male, one of them had produced a lot of red berries, so I presume this is a female plant.
I don't know whether the berries are viable seeds, but I thought I'd try collecting, drying, and then sowing them, to see whether I can get some new plants for free. (Am I being too optimistic here?)
With the beans and now the Asparagus taken down, the garden is beginning to look bare again.
I only recently found out that Asparagus seeds are that pretty colour, never having grown it, they are pretty aren't they. I would be tempted to save the seeds too, you'll never know unless you try these things. How deep do the roots go?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't realised about the berries.
ReplyDeleteI'll not find any of my own now because, despite an early start, the asparagus we brought home when we left the allotment got slug eaten . . . ditto the rhubarb which had looked so promising - both nibbled to nothing and now dead.
Good luck with the seeds.
ReplyDeleteOh the asparagus posts are my favourite. Do you know, at the moment here it is terribly hot and hasn't rained for at least a month. Everything in the garden is stressed, wilting and just generally looking terrible, apart from the asparagus! The plants are only just tiny babies from seed this year, not even knee high yet, and are showing no signs of heat/lack of water stress at all.
ReplyDeleteI am sure they are going to turn into my number one favourite!
Do you have nine plants?
I have to admit - rather embarrassedly - that I don't like asparagus. The only thing I like less than the green stuff are those hideous white pickled ones you get in Spain. Actually it is probably fortunate that I don't like it as it does take up rather a lot of room.
ReplyDeleteAli; Yes - as you spotted I have 9 asparagus plants. There were originally 10, but one died in the first year after planting. I could do with about twice as many, because we love asparagus so much that it is hard to envisage having too much of it.
ReplyDeleteToffeeapple; The roots don't go very deep I think. They tend to spread out horizontally.
ReplyDeleteI have had some from my old bed go to seed before but I did not try to plant them. I will be interested to hear how they do.
ReplyDeleteEverywhere starts to look very bare at this time of year once all the tall plants are taken down. It'll be interesting to see if you can grow some new plants from the berries.
ReplyDeleteThe asparagus berries look very festive. Asparagus is a plant i've never grown, maybe some day!
ReplyDeleteAs always looking good. Also interested in the seed experiment!
ReplyDeleteI'd love an asparagus bed but it is a bit of a commitment and we think we might be moving in a couple of years so I don't want to grow them to then miss out on the goodies. I never realised they produced such pretty berries. They do look very Christmasy
ReplyDeleteI would like to try growing this. But since we be moving next month, I can't grow them yet. Look like you have plenty of home-made compost next year.
ReplyDeleteWould you keep the berries until they get mushy and then treat them the same as when trying to get viable tomato seeds from fermenting in a jar of water? You know, good ones are at the bottom and bad ones float and get poured off when changing water. Then dry the good ones on a paper plate or towel.
ReplyDeleteHi Veggie PAK; I know nothing about Asparagus seeds! I'll try straightforward drying them I think. When they're fully dry I'll put a few in a propagator under gentle heat and see if anything happens.
ReplyDeleteMy asparagus plants are shooting for the first time. Very exciting... though of course it's a lesson in delayed gratification. I tried growing them from seed but nothing came up so I caved and ordered some crown.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend ( http://foodnstuff.wordpress.com ) who has so much asparagus that it's escaped her garden bed and it's popping up all over the place. So envious.
Just came across your great blog. Particularly interesting for me to see what works etc. in similar conditions as I also have a small urban garden not far from Fleet.
ReplyDeleteJust starting out growing veg really and now just building some raised beds to get bit more productive in the garden next year. I am planning to grow asparagus in one of the beds (6ft x 3ft) so interested to know the size of yours and how many plants I should be trying to fit in?
Hi 3B; Welcome! Hope you'll keep in touch. I see you live in the Reading area. I sometimes work there, so I know Reading reasonably well. Re the raised beds - mine are one metre by 2.4 metres. The one with the Asparagus originally had 10 plants, but one died so it now has 9. I think that is about right. You could probably squeeze in a couple more if you really wanted to, but they do expand over the years.
ReplyDeleteHi Frogdancer; I wish my Asparagus was "popping up all over the place" right now! No more lovely succulent spears for another six months for me... :(
ReplyDelete