Plant No-Pamper Perennial Produce

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Thanks to today's escalating food costs, shortages, and the growing concern over the multitude of chemical additives now found in supermarket produce, gardening is booming as never before. Perhaps you've joined the "homegrown is better" movement yourself.

ASPARAGUS

Asparagus, in the opinion of many people, is the "choicest of the choice" of all the spring vegetables. I'll agree with that. But what I really like about the plant is the fact that-once established?a bed of asparagus will just keep on filling your plate with its early spring spears for 20 years or more!

This perennial thrives best when grown in areas where the winters are cold enough to freeze the ground to a depth of at least five inches. Roughly, that means anywhere in the continent from upper Georgia north.

Plant asparagus in sandy soil that receives six to eight hours of direct daily sunlight during the summer. A 20'-square bed away from trees and shrubs will feed a family of five ... and, if care is taken to get the patch off to a good start, it'll feed that family for the next two decades.

Of the three methods of planting asparagus?bed, row, or trench-the last seems to be preferred by most gardeners. Dig your trench at least 15 inches deep and preferably in the fall for a spring planting. Then line the bottom of the ditch with manure and other natural fertilizers to tease the asparagus roots downward, and cover with four to six inches of rich garden loam that has been mixed with sand, compost, bone meal, and some lime. (Asparagus prefers a slightly acid soil with, say, a pH between 6.4 and 6.8.)

The following spring, after you've given the ditch a good soaking, place one-year-old asparagus plants or crowns in the trench. Space them 18 inches apart with their roots widely spread and their crowns or buds pointed up. Then firmly and carefully pack two inches of sandy soil around the plants without smothering their roots, and continue to water for two weeks.

Yes, this will leave an indentation of about eight inches, the length of the trench, in the soil. But as the season advances, you'll want to cultivate the earth in and around the ditch frequently to remove all weeds. As you do so (and as the asparagus sets grow), gradually fill in the excavation until the trench's surface is leveled off with the surrounding ground.

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