Heard it Through the Cukevine

By Kerstin Renner

Most of the vegetables we grow in our gardens here are annuals, meaning they have to be planted every year. There are, however, a few exceptions to the rule where edible plants will grow from the same rootstock year after year. One of them is asparagus. In fact, this plant needs a few years until it is ready to give you the first harvest. So choose the location where you want to grow asparagus carefully – it will be around a while.

Asparagus likes a sunny spot with deep soil high in organic matter and free of competing weeds and large rocks. Asparagus can be started from seed and transplanted into your garden, but it is much easier and you will get a crop faster if you buy the roots at your garden centre and plant them directly.

Make a trench about six to eight inches deep, and wide enough to spread the roots so they lay flat. Plant the individual roots about 18 inches apart. Leave about three to four feet between rows, in order to allow the asparagus room to grow and make it easier to harvest. Cover the roots with about two inches of soil and add additional soil to the trench as the asparagus starts to grow. It is extremely important that you never completely cover the green shoots as this will slow down growth.

There is usually enough growth that the trench can be filled in after the end of the first growing season, but if not, let the trench lay dormant under the snow and continue to work with it during the second year. It is crucial to leave your asparagus alone, other than filling the trench and watering, until the third year after planting, so the root system can get strong and healthy.

In the third year after planting, you are ready to harvest a bit of your crop. You can gradually increase your harvest time and harvest quantity as the asparagus bed matures over the years. The spears should be snapped off at soil level or cut with a sharp knife at an angle just below the surface when they are about six to eight inches tall with tight tips.

Any spears that appear after the first part of July should be left to mature into the distinct ferny growth to gather energy to be stored in the roots ensuring a good crop for the following year. It is best if you leave this ferny growth to catch snow and provide winter insulation.

To provide the plant with nutrients in the early spring, work a balanced fertilizer and compost into the bed before the new spears appear.

Asparagus can be added to a large array of dishes, but it truly shines when cooked simply with just a few choice ingredients as accompaniment.

Asparagus ‘Alla Bassanese’

Thoroughly clean four pounds of asparagus. Snap off the woody base of each spear by bending each spear a few times to find a place where it breaks easily. Especially with thicker and tougher spears, you can also scrape off the scales on the spears with a vegetable peeler to give them a smooth look.

Cook the spears in lightly salted water until tender, but still crisp. Boil eight eggs until the whites have set, but the yolk is still thick and runny. Keep warm. Set out salt, pepper (freshly ground is best), red wine or balsamic vinegar and good olive oil.

Dish out a portion of the asparagus, take an egg, peel it and crack it open so the yolk runs over the asparagus spears.

Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and drizzle a dash of both vinegar and olive oil over the dish. You can add freshly grated Parmesan cheese as an additional finishing touch.

Serve with ciabatta, focaccia or similar bread.

– Kerstin Renner completed a degree in journalism and communications, before working at the local radio station and most recently as editor of the Kootenay News Advertiser with a stint at the Regional District of East Kootenay thrown in. Now she gets to nurture her green(ing) thumb at Top Crop Garden, Farm & Pet and pass on the knowledge she is soaking up by writing about growing.

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