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This asparagus bed is the cornerstone of my plan for a more perennial food garden, and I've nursed the plants along from mail order crowns through cold, rain, drought and asparagus beetles into an abundant and healthy patch of tall, ferny foliage. Yes, it's very ornamental-- but I'm ready to start eating rather than looking at my asparagus.
There were a lot of little bright red asparagus beetles this summer. I killed as many as I could, and became quite adept at capturing the sneaky little creatures. I discovered that they tend to avoid predators by dropping straight down when disturbed, and used this knowledge against them by positioning one hand under the bug and then waving the other nearby. Sure enough, most beetles dropped right into the waiting trap-hand, and were quickly squished.
But I'm sure some beetles laid eggs or pupated in the asparagus foliage, so today I cut it back and trucked it across the yard to my most distant compost pile, then packed dogwood leaves around the asparagus crowns to keep them cosy for the winter. In the late winter I'll add some lime (my soil is a bit acid for asparagus) and compost to give the asparagus a good start. Here are some pictures of the clean up, with Sol supervising.
Sol thinks the leaves are for him to sleep in, not for the asparagus.
Happy Thanksgiving.
