While my blog team is away for a long weekend, enjoy this encore blog originally posted on April 30, 2024.
Ever wonder how asparagus is grown?
Every spring, we harvest bunches of delicious asparagus. Asparagus, Asparagus officinalis, are the edible shoots, commonly called spears, that rise early in the season from underground stems called crowns. These perennial plants require patience and at least a few years to become well-established. I made sure an asparagus crop was planted when I first bought my farm. I also now have a large asparagus bed in my new vegetable garden. And while we're careful not to harvest too much too soon, this patch is already proving to be very productive.
Enjoy these photos.
I’ve been enjoying homegrown asparagus for many years. The asparagus crop in my flower garden is already more than 10-years old and well-established.
When I created my new half-acre vegetable garden last year, I made sure one of the biggest beds was earmarked for asparagus.
These are asparagus crowns from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. Each of these is about a year old. Asparagus crowns usually come in bundles of 10 to 25 bare-root plants.
Asparagus has modified adventitious roots that swell to store food and to support the plants.
Asparagus grows in trenches like these. Depth of planting is critical. If too shallow, the plants will produce a large number of small spears. If planted too deep, the spears will be large, but few in number. These furrows are at least eight-inches deep and a foot wide.
Asparagus roots grow very deep because they can survive very long in the soil.
Here they are lined up in the trench. Last spring, we planted two varieties – ‘Purple Passion’, which produces attractive purple spears with a mild, nutty flavor and are reputedly sweeter than most other asparagus varieties. And ‘Millennium’ – a productive plant that produces high-quality spears that are tender, green, and delicious.
Asparagus needs lots of room to grow. The crown and root system can develop to an enormous size – about five to six feet in diameter and 10 to 15 feet deep. When planting, the roots should be splayed to direct the root growth outward and not downward.
Once all the crowns are positioned, the trenches are covered with several inches of soil. As the weeks progress and growth appears, the rows are backfilled a bit more making sure the tips of the shoots are all but completely covered.
Asparagus beds require consistent soil moisture during the first growing season. Once established, the plants are relatively low-maintenance.
By June, the bed is full of growing young ferns. This fern production is crucial to the success of a developing asparagus patch. The number of spears produced each year and the overall health of the plants, is affected by how many ferns are left to mature.
The bigger the ferns, the more food is created to fuel the following year’s spear production.
First spears can appear within a couple of months after establishing an asparagus patch, depending on soil temperatures and moisture, but they should be left alone, so the plants could start to develop and become more established.
And here is the bed last August. The asparagus ferns are more than four-feet tall. The food produced travels back down to the crown and the roots of the plant in fall as the fern dies back. The carbohydrates are held in the dormant crowns through the winter.
And then earlier this month, the heads of stronger, more robust spears poked out of the soil.
‘Purple Passion’ asparagus is nuttier, sweeter, and more tender than other green varieties because it has about 20-percent more sugar in its stalks. While the stalks are purple on the outside, the inside is the same as a green spear.
‘Millennium’ asparagus is high yielding, long lived, cold hardy, and adaptable. The best time to harvest is when the asparagus spears are about six to eight inches tall. Harvesting can be done by breaking the spears off by hand near the soil level.
This is an earthenware cloche specifically for growing white asparagus. The plants are the same, but the spears of white asparagus are blanched, or kept from light while growing. Crossing fingers they’re white under there.
It’s widely thought that thin asparagus are tastier, based on the notion that slender spears are younger. However, thick spears are already thick when they poke up from the soil. The two are just different varieties. I love both kinds of asparagus, but I do find that fat stalks tend to be a little more succulent.
An asparagus bed should receive a minimum of eight-hours of full sun per day and be well-drained.
With room to grow, and a little patience to start, one can enjoy homegrown, delicious and nutritious asparagus for at least 15-years.
It's that time of year again, when all my beautiful potted plants are brought outdoors for display.
I have a rather sizable collection of tropical specimens at my Bedford, New York farm. During the winter, they are all stored in special greenhouses. Once the warm weather arrives, they are all brought outdoors - some go to my home in Maine, and the remainder of the plants are placed in various locations here at Cantitoe Corners. It is a big undertaking to move all these plants when the weather changes. Thankfully, I have the help of a strong outdoor grounds crew and some heavy-duty farm equipment to get the job done.
Enjoy these photos.
This is the inside of one of several plastic hoop houses where most of my tropical plants are stored during the cold weather. They actually spend about seven months of the year in these temperature-controlled shelters. All these structures are built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel frames and polyethylene panels. Inside, these houses have high ceilings to accommodate the growing plants.
Every year around this time, the tropical plants are taken out of storage, cleaned up, and repotted if needed, and then moved to their warm-weather locations.
This is one of my favorites – the sago palm, Cycas revoluta. It is a popular houseplant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. Sago palms prefer to be situated in well-drained soil, and like other cycad plants, do not respond well to overwatering.
This is Oxalis triangularis, commonly called false shamrock. It is a species of perennial plant in the family Oxalidaceae. The trifoliate leaves resemble a shamrock and can be green to variegated to deep maroon in color. The leaves close up at night or when disturbed.
Another plant in my tropical greenhouse is Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai – a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves that grow up to 18-inches long out of a main crown in a clump. The leaves are paddle shaped, similar to banana plant leaves, and attached to a long, upright stalk.
These are Australian Brush Cherry trees, Eugenia myrtifolia, also now known as Syzygium paniculatum. The Brush Cherry is an evergreen tree or shrub with shiny dark green leaves native to Australia and New Zealand. I usually display these topiaries in the courtyard behind my Winter House kitchen during summer.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white. Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at Bedford.
Among the first to be pulled out of storage are the staghorn ferns. The staghorn fern is an unusual and attractive epiphyte that thrives in the tropics. I adore staghorns and over the years have collected quite a few of these magnificent specimens. Staghorn ferns are called Platyceriums. They are Old World tropicals native to Africa, northern Australia, and Southeast Asia.
These figs are taken to a sunny spot – outside my head house is perfect. The most critical factor in moving plants is temperature. Avoid prolonged exposure to heat or cold, with temperatures below 35 degrees Fahrenheit or higher than 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit.
As the plants are removed from the hoop house, they’re grouped by type outside.
The plants stay outside the hoop houses until I have time to go through them and decide where they will be displayed.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its tropical fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
This day was rainy, so the plants got a good drink outdoors.
Moving these tropical specimens is a tedious task, but by the afternoon, most of the potted specimens from my tropical hoop house are outdoors.
I also have a large variety of special planters – antiques and reproductions, planters made of stone, lead, fiberglass and resin, and in a wide array of shapes and sizes.
Heavier plants such as this Eugenia are pulled out by tractor and then carefully transported to my Winter House courtyard.
Once inside the yard, the potted specimen is positioned manually.
Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees or shrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes. Topiary Eugenia prefers sunny locations where all parts of the plant can receive direct sunlight. It is relatively slow growing, so occasional trimming and grooming are needed to keep it nicely sculpted.
The crew is always very careful when moving these container plants. Every pot is positioned thoughtfully and accurately.
And now this hoop house is empty. It’s amazing how many plants can fit inside the durable hoop houses. I am so fortunate to be able to store all these plants during the cold season, and then enjoy them all around my farm from now until the fall.
And with a little patience and elbow grease, my pond garden is all planted.
Last week, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew worked tirelessly to get more than 100 lush and healthy azaleas, ferns, and trees in the ground. All the azaleas are from White's Nursery in Germantown, Maryland. White’s Nursery specializes in azaleas as well as rhododendrons. Of all the shrubs that flower in spring, azaleas provide some of the most brilliant displays, so I wanted the area filled with shades of yellow, cream, and orange azaleas. Together with the bold greens of the other perennials and trees, this garden is sure to be amazing when it matures.
Enjoy these photos.
The best time to purchase azaleas is in spring when they are in full bloom. That way, one can see the flower colors and plan a garden design. Many of these are blooming so wonderfully now.
Here’s Ryan placing all 70 of these colorful orange, yellow, and cream colored azaleas. Azaleas prefer morning sun and afternoon shade, or filtered light. Hot all-day sun can stress the plants and make them more susceptible to pests.
I wanted the pond to be surrounded with gorgeous trees and plants. They will shade the charming pond house so nicely.
I selected both river birch and paper birch trees for areas that get full sun to partial shade. I already have many birch trees thriving in this area.
Once all the potted specimens are placed, the digging begins. With so many plants to get in the ground, it is important to work quickly and efficiently.
Where each pot is placed, a hole is made. Each hole is about two to three times the size of the root ball and at least as deep as the root ball. Digging the right sized hole is crucial for proper root development and drainage.
As each plant is removed from its pot, Pasang teases the roots to stimulate growth. He manually breaks up the bottom to loosen the roots and create beneficial injuries. This helps the plant become established more quickly in its new environment.
As each specimen is planted, a good handful of fertilizer is dropped into the hole and mixed with the existing soil. I always use a quality fertilizer to aid transplant survival and increase water and nutrient absorption. This is Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed All Purpose Plant Food.
Pasang plants the azalea at the same height it was in the pot and then backfills. Azaleas have short root systems, so they can easily be transplanted in spring or early fall.
Finally, Pasang uses a shovel to lightly level the soil around the plant and tamp down to establish good contact. Some azaleas, including native types, can reach towering heights of 20 feet or more. Dwarf azaleas grow two to three feet tall, and many garden azaleas stay four to six feet in height with as wide a spread.
Some of the azaleas in this grouping include this ‘Appalachian Gold’ – an Aromi hybrid that produces abundant, large clusters of rich golden buds tipped in orange that open to sweet scented flowers with bright golden-yellow petals.
This is Azalea ‘Red Pepper.’ This native azalea is an Aromi hybrid with deep red buds in early spring that open to these brilliant, ruffled orange flowers.
Azalea leaves are green, thin, pointed, and smaller than rhododendron leaves.
This one is called Azalea ‘Great Balls of Fire.’ It is a rare deciduous rhododendron hybrid that produces abundant, rounded flower clusters in fiery red to deep orange.
In contrast, this creamy yellow azalea is ‘My Mary’ – another native azalea hybrid that produces abundant and fragrant blooms in shades of soft to light yellow.
‘Sunstruck’ is a bit bolder in color. It features tubular funnel-shaped, wavy-edged lobes in vivid yellow.
And this azalea is ‘Don’s Variegated Austrinum’ with warm golden flowers.
Some of the deciduous azaleas are unknown varieties, but still so beautiful and lush.
As each one is planted, Phurba gives it a good, thorough drink. After planting, these azaleas will be watered every day for a week and then once weekly until the roots are established. The soil should remain moist, but not overly saturated.
Newly planted trees are also staked with bamboo to provide additional support as they get established.
After a couple of days, all the specimens are properly planted and watered.
When planting anything, always consider space needs. Azaleas under three feet tall do best at least two feet apart. For plants three to five feet tall at maturity, leave at least three feet between plantings. For large azaleas eight to 10 feet tall, plant them a minimum of six feet apart.
This entire area will mature so beautifully. I can’t wait to see it fill out and flourish.
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