[Homestead] asparagus farmer
JnLvngstn at aol.com
JnLvngstn at aol.com
Sat Apr 22 21:27:13 EDT 2006
In a message dated 4/2/2006 1:27:47 AM Eastern Standard Time,
chembrook03 at sprintpcs.com writes:
My name is Rose. I am an asparagus farmer. Are there any asparagus farmers
here. Also I was wonder why more farmers do not grow asparagus. I have been
doing so for 8 years with little problems. Easy to grow really. And you dont have
to plant every year. Brings us in a nice profit with minimal labor. I sell big
asp roots to other farmers expanding or just getting started plus home
gardeners. I harvest for 8 weeks early Spring and that is already sold to select
restraunts. Out of the field, on to a truck = job done.
I am happy to be with the group. Hope I get some feed back on this topic
Hi rose,
This is quite late, I hope you are still around.
I grow asparagus, though not in the quantities I imagine that you do. How
much does a person grow, to become a workng asparagus farmer? Four 4x4 beds is
all that I have at this time. Way, WAY too much for the family to eat fresh.
And once frozen, it gets mushy, and even I don't like it as such. We're
currently, in early spring, cutting 2 to 3 pounds per day.
We give quite a bit away, make and keep lots of friends each spring. We also
cook it every way I can conjure up, from steamed to rolled with swiss and
bacon.
Heck, if I was to count, dollar wise what return I get per square foot of
garden, using the grocery store price of a vegetable to determine the price
taken out of the garden, asparagus would by far be the best return. Even the
strawberries don't give such a return. For me anyway. And the best part, except
for weeding and the fall application of compost, the only work is the daily
harvest for 6 to 8 weeks each spring. Well, I take that back. Bug protection
is a summer long process.
How do you handle asparagus beetles? Being organic I pick and pick, scraping
eggs and squeezing catepillars and beetles. A few years ago, they were
gaining the winning hand and I resorted to some 'organic' spray. I can't remember
the name sitting here.
Have you had asparagus long enough for a bed to get old and stop producing?
Do you dig up and replant roots? How do you get roots for sale? Do you dig
up old plants or dig the edges of the planted area? I'm curious as I've had
some friends ask about getting some root, and I've never read of how it should
be done.
Thanks in advance
John
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