asparagus

We have another week of the asparagus season to go - and this has been a good one for us.

Home grown, organic asparagus is very special and although it seems to appear in almost every meal we eat at the moment, it is so fine that there are no complaints from this end!

Our supermarkets do stock British asparagus these days - but the waste in the system still disappoints.

We grow and eat our own, so incur negligible transport costs and make no inputs other than organic matter as a mulch on the soil.

Even British asparagus incurs significant 'food miles' as well as the high energy inputs of fertiliser, pesticides, weedkillers and farm machinery. Commercially, many spears are rejected because they have twisted, opened or have blemishes - meaning further waste. I hope that they are used for something!

On the 21st June we will stop cutting spears and allow them to grow into the beautiful asparagus ferns.

Asparagus is a reliable crop and is recommended for any garden.

asparagus

Everything is later this year. Today, typical April showers (and sleet and hail) bashed the garden until the sun came out again. We are in May and have had a dry April. The rain is welcome.

Although we have already had our first limited cut of asparagus, this weekend was the first proper crop we have taken. Our variety (Connovers Collosal) is a good old variety and never disappoints. Look at these whoppers! I braised some on a griddle, but decided after that I prefer them boiled. I am convinced that however they are cooked, they area diuretic!

Here we have cut thick stems at the beginning of May and will continue to cut for another six weeks. On 21 June, midsummers day, our asparagus season will end and we will allow the ferns to grow on to build themselves up for another season.

Asparagus is planted in a permanent position and is expected to give a good crop for ten or twenty years. We grew our 'crowns' from a pack of seeed and planted out in 2003. They like a good feed and so we mulch with manure and compost and top dress with organic fertiliser as well to keep their strength up.

There is certainly no sign that the bed is getting tired yet!

asparagus

Has half a year gone already?

It's the summer solstice (21 June) and time to stop cropping the asparagus and give it time to build its strength.

Here we have hoed away any weeds and mulched around the plants with good, rich compost.

We've also used an organic fertiliser to give an extra fertility boost to the growing ferns.

asparagus

Our first cut of asparagus is imminent. How I wait for the home grown asparagus season!

Asparagus is easy to grow and the only real menace is asparagus beetle. We burn the asparagus ferns at the end of the season to kill larvae and eggs.
We hoe the ground so that garden birds can feast on the pests.
We scour the stems and tips for beetles and crush them when we find them.

And then the master stroke - we bring on the tubby little princesses who spend a happy day scratching pecking until the ground is clean.

We will get asparagus beetle this year - but it will not be because we haven't tried our best to eradicate it!

a holiday for hens.....

This blog doesn't get many complaints, but I had one recently. Sue said 'Not enough pictures of hens'. That stung I can tell you!

So here they are, on holiday for the day on the allotment. The asparagus is at its fullest now and I wanted the hens to scratch about underneath to pick up grubs and eggs of asparagus beetle.
After the first frost, the asparagus tops will be taken away and burnt as a further attempt to stop asparagus beetle taking hold.

Well done girls!

bee be king

The asparagus is now tall and bushy and covered in tiny, yellow bell-shaped flowers. This is the time that asparagus builds its strength so that we can enjoy the delicious spears in May and June next year.

As well as benefitting the plant and indirectly us, this period in the asparagus year is also very important for our native insects. I hadn't realised how popular the flowers were for bees until today.

There was a constant to-ing and fro-ing that was very difficult for a poor photographer to capture!

Here, a common carder bee (bombus pascuorum) is seen. Its pollen sacs are swollen and orange.

Between them, the borage and the asparagus were alive with bees today.

and they need every bit of help we can give them.

mother nature's son.....?

I was talking to a friend a few weeks ago. Something was coming up and I couldn't remember the exact date.

'It's the Monday of the week in which the summer solstice falls' I said.

'What?' he said. 'You do complicate things'.

That told me a lot about our respective lives.

As a gardener, the lengthening or shortening days, the turning of the seasons, the weather, are all really important.

As an asparagus grower, for instance, I know that I stop cutting on the solstice (June 21st) and allow the ferns to grow to maturity and build the strength of the plant for the following year. One of the landmarks in the natural year.

That disconnection with the real world that is a reason why there is no linkage in our minds between our actions and climate change. Why should there be. Irrespective of where we are in the calendar, all of the food collected this week and shown in the photograph is available in the supermarkets throughout the year.

Shoppers may buy in plastic bags this weekend just the same food as I collected this week. They won't get the satisfaction or the taste. Or a connection with what is real that comes free with every forkful.

Enjoy the solstice.

real good, for free

Gardeners look carefully when weeding. They learn to recognise the seedling leaves, stems and shapes of weeds and other plants. Not all seedlings are enemies - in fact many are friends.

We always take the tops of asparagus fern and burn them at the end of the year to kill aspsaragus beetle larvae and eggs.
So, it was a surprise to find asparagus seedlings growing in the allotment. How could they have got there? Presumably the local birds helped themselves to the cherry red berries and then the natural process of seed dispersal took place.

Instead of hoeing them out, I potted them into little pots and kept them in a sheltered place in the garden.

If I am lucky, they will be seedlings of our bumper variety 'Connovers Collosal', and they will be a real asset. This time, the plan is to plant them into the garden at home. Not only will they provide an additional source of spears, their elegant foliage will grace the borders.

green fingers

It's that time again! The asparagus season has begun!

Asparagus 'Connovers Colossal' really lives up to its name sending up big, thick stems through the soil for harvesting for two months.

Like a still photo of the fingers of the maniacs reaching up through the subterranean grille in the film 'The Music Lovers', the shoots wait. We just need a Tchaikovsky soundtrack. They are cut off just below ground level. They will continue to yield abundantly until midsummer when they are allowed to grow on to be elegant ferns.

This weeks harvest was used immediately in a sorrel, leek and asparagus risotto. Fresh, seasonal, local and tasty!

And, presumably, a diuretic.

take that, asparagus beetle!

Asparagus is one of the best and easiest vegetables to grow in the garden. Soooo tasty!

The plants are usually bought as 'crowns' and planted into well-prepared and fertilised soil in a bed that may continue to crop for twenty years.
From spring onwards, the emerging spikes are cut off as they reach four or five inches long. They are cut at just below ground level. The cutting season ends on midsummers day, when the spikes are allowed to grow into elegant ferns.

The only problem that you are likely to find is with asparagus beetle. It's a stripy little pest and quite clever. If it knows you're watching it will hide around the other side of the stem.

They have to be killed because they can affect the crown below ground as well as foliage. Killing during the growing season is by picking them off and crushing them. Not most sane folks idea of a fun pastime - but necessary.

When the ferns become dormant in the autumn they should be cut off and burned. Mulch around the crowns should also be disposed of so that any overwintering eggs, larvae or adults can be exposed and eradicated by birds.

The ferns, unlike most organic waste produced in the garden, cannot be composted or used as a mulch because of the hidden pests that might be lurking.

The only answer is a satisfying fire: I'll have some of that!

Take that, asparagus beetle!

attractive asparagus

How beautiful asparagus ferns look at this time of year.

The tasty asparagus spears have been cut until midsummers day and then the delicate fern tops are left to grow on and build up the strength of the underground 'crowns' ready for next year's harvest.

The ferns are not frost hardy and take on these lovely yellow shades at this time of year.

My usual advice is leave the untidy tops of plants overwinter. This is a great way of supporting birds and insects until the spring arrives. the tops provide home or food! An exception has to be asparagus.

Our enemy is asparagus beetle (Crioceris asparagi) which can cause a lot of damage to spikes and fronds.

The tops of the asparagus pictured will be cut off soon and burnt to kill overwintering beetles, their larvae and eggs. I will also remove mulch from around the base of the plants so that birds can pick over the ground and remove any of the enemy at ground level.