I’ve bought green asparagus some years ago. Haven’t eaten them yet, because i wanted thème to grow big first. One of them made berries! I believe thé other ones are males. I grow them in thé greenhouse. There were four kinds.
I have no idea if they cross easily.
I’d like to grow them out next year.
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I think asparagus is insect pollinated so crossing is highly likely. If you’re wanting to increase the asparagus patch growing from your own seed is a great way to go.
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Was it @Alma who was also working on asparagus? I love asparagus, I’m always interested to follow the projects.
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I looked for asparagus using thé search bar, but found nothing, so created a new subject. Would be nicer if it were just one topic.
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I collected thousands of seeds when I was working it the pear orchards (southern Oregon). Mostly from clones that were planted many years ago, some from plants that had probably sprouted on their own.
I have sent many seeds to a few of you and still have plenty.
I had a few plants in pots at the old house, there wasn’t room on the Uhaul and I doubt the renters watered them through the summer.
The mature plants produce so many seeds. My goal was to breed for faster germination and delayed fiber for tiny tree micro greens.
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@Alma : I am planting the asparagus and pear seeds you sent me (for stratification, obviously) today. It will be fun to see how these asparagus germinate etc. All my asparagus plants are seed-started and only 1-2 years of age. These will be fun to add to the mix! Many thank yous 
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@Bizarro
I haven’t sprouted any asparagus recently, but they grew great last year, had to have been close to 100%, and some of the seeds are fresh. I doubt germ has gone down much but let me know how they do.
@Alma : You got it. First 4" flats put out last night. It would appear I’ll have roughly 4-6 more flats give or take. I’m quite excited. To me,
strawberries/rhubarb/ and asparagus are the ‘must haves’ of the perennial temperate garden. I have been working over the feeble strawberry patch the previous stewards left here. I am am sowing more rhubarb flats again this year - I have two EFN varieties and then a phenotype from my dear friend Ken Asmus up at Oikos in Michigan.
Anywho, I will definitely let you know how those seeds go. I imagine your spot on: asparagus is a very forgiving and hardy seed.
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Do you think fasciation is more common than it used to be? Seems to me it is, but it could just be that I pay more attention to such things than I used to. I’m also not well educated about it and have wondered if it is genetic or environmental.
I had a plant in my garden last year that exhibited it in the extreme, instead of two, it had several divisions to the stems. I saved its seeds separately and also saved it as a clone to plant this year, just out of curiosity. I suppose if its seed offspring are similar, it will show that it is indeed genetic.
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Nice patch Tom! Have you considered keeping them for later in like apple cider vinagre or salty broth? I guess fermenting is not an option, but who knows.
I’ve just had my first harvest of two asperges, which i shared with my lady. Haha!
My neighbor said i need to scrape the green skin off, is that really a thing?
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Not necessary unless you prefer eating very pale asparagus.
I have heard that asparagus is difficult to grow where i am, in heavy clay soil. And i have heard that it is hard to dig a hole deep enough for the asparagus. If i grow from seed, and with genetically diverse seed, would you expect that these factors wouldnt be a challenge?
I have adobe clay and my asparagus patch though small is very productive. I planted them so that the roots were completely covered and I simply add a layer of horse manure (I have a horse) every fall to fertilize and keep moisture in the soil. Eventually the soil level rises which also helps with drainage. The only time I lost small asparagus plants is when my chickens decided to dig for worms in the patch. I have since fenced it off.
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I made refrigerator vinegar pickles by pouring hot brine and vinegar over fresh asparagus. I used nice finger sized stems and the pickles have held up all winter and are really tasty. The purple shoots turn the vinegar a pink color and they fade some but turn out really pretty. Best of all because they aren’t actually cooked they stay crispy.
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I’ve never thought of eating horseradish greens. At what stage do you harvest them? Ours is already up I’d say 18 inches or so, is it too late or are the fresh greens good regardless? How do you use the greens?
Hosta and asparagus are pretty much done, time to just let them be for the season. I always pick a spot and broadcast tones of little garlic bulbils real thick and next spring use them like green onions, or cooked in various ways, they are the best garlic of all, I think.
I keep growing walking onions because I just do, but all of mine are so very hot flavored that we don’t like them very much. For the last two years some of them have tried to make seeds. Pods or capsules or whatever they are called formed and looked just like any onion but contained no seeds. They didn’t abort and dry up; they were just empty. Some plants made few or no topsets. I put those that tried to make seed in a bed with a bunch of other onions and they are all blooming right now. Maybe if they don’t make seeds themselves, they will pollinate the others.
Those asparagus spears are so pretty!!
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It looks like this season my family really wants to get into growing asparagus. My grandpa, who passed many years ago, grew it in his younger years, and was even able to produce an income. He supposedly had varieties of greens and also whites, which mom says were the best she ever ate. Being that this is something gramps used to grow, and there is potential for an income, i am really interested in giving it a try too. Plus, I also love eating it.
Mom is insistent on buyng small starts to get a head start. I am looking more towards the potential for seeds and adaptation.
Any updates from you all on how yours are growing? Any recommendations on where to buy seeds, and where I can find permaculture/agroforestry friendly methods of production?
Mine do pop easily, but if i were to be reliant on harvest i would buy good tasting locally adapted clones that do have a head start. I have not nurtured my seedlings, but 98% didn’t make it to the winter. The 2 or 3 that did are 1 foot long and it’s not sure they survive.
This makes me think that i should include locally picked wild ones people sell at the farmers market to get something a bit more robust to add to my population. That would push breeding ahead with a genome that does provide for more survival the first year and since they’re picked in forests they can handle a bit of shade better.
I want to divide the clumps i have this spring and move them out of the greenhouse. I tried to get one clump out already and divided them, a hell of a job, only to find out dividing should happen in spring. But in a year’s time with some luck i’ll be eating asparagus for years to come. peach trees are quicker to turn to fruit!
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I got asparagus seeds from several sources last year. Those that I transplanted young from containers were eaten by slugs, but it doesn’t matter because they will grow back in Spring. Then I sowed directly more asparagus seeds into the soil end of summer, and most germinated. Now I am waiting to see how they will do through the winter because now we have freezing temperatures already for 4 weeks, and they will continue a bit longer. I didn’t protect them with anything.
And now I am also collecting more seeds from different sources, and I will sow more early spring.
I was not very successful with getting clones because most people don’t grow them locally, and we don’t have wild asparagus in my region.
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