Mark Shepherd of New Forest Farms has asparagus as an alley crop in his permaculture farm. My understanding is that he amended the soil the first year only with calcium then has left it alone except to harvest. Normally you would clear the area before they set seeds bc that can avoid fungal diseases ect. But he lets everything go to seed. He’s got a book. Restoration Agriculture
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I really like Mark Shepards work, and have two of his books. Im almost done reading “Water for Any Farm”, and about a fourth of the way through “Restoration Agriculture”. Im hoping that the latter will get into details about growing hazel, chestnut, and asparagus - all of which I am also focusing on. Most of the species that he mentions also grow in my area.
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Hello! 
We’ve been growing asparagus very um lazily/haphazardly/improperly over here for some 10 years and some 5 years before that a nice walnut-asparagus experiment to prove that a mature 60+ year old walnut does not impede the asparagus growth.
Our original seeds were Connovers Collossal. Since then we have saved lots of seeds, started hundreds of plants and use them as gifts mostly
The main impetus for our asparagus growing was available early season snack for the kiddos (back then just one on the way but currently 3 nice sized ones) and also for our own use in salads. I have to admit we rarely cook with it, mainly I toss the thickest spears on the cast iron plate with some butter over the open fire and be done with it. Most of our consumption is pencil to pinky width spears which need no peeling too.
We grow them in unprepared edge of the yard, by the fence, no double digging, no trenches, no mountains of compost, no triple mulch applications and mostly no watering after planting. Also it’s under a dense “hedge” overstory of black locust and mulberry on the north and a row of fruit trees on the south so they grow in mostly shade. In hot dry summers that seems to work in their favor.
I like that the weakest plants gradually die off so each year we fill in with a few new seedlings and this also keeps the patch renewed and only the most adapted specimens remain. Plus, my wife is a herbalist so she uses the roots as herbs and sometimes harvests those as well, so we have to accommodate for that too.
For a quick view of our small backyard asparagus patch integrated in a mixed orchard, I have a short video and a longer format is also available on my channel.
Let me know if I can be of any help, esp with specific context advise!
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