Homestead mailing list

[Don Bowen <don.bowen AT earthlink.net>]

At 4/22/2006, you wrote:

> The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Keep thy eyes on those
> scoundrels in the DC Whorehouse. They are most interested in reelection.

And now is is a 24/7 donation search so anyone who can make it easier with 
a huge check or a free ride on a corporate jet get a listen to.  This one 
is a problem that must be stopped now and every time it comes up again and 
again.  We must have true campaign finance reform.  Law one should be that 
donations from outside ones district be outlawed.



Don Bowen                          Awl Knotted Up
http://www.braingarage.com

My travel journal
http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html  
> From JnLvngstn AT aol.com  Sat Apr 22 21:27:16 2006
Return-Path: <JnLvngstn AT aol.com>
X-Original-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Delivered-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Received: from imo-m28.mx.aol.com (imo-m28.mx.aol.com [64.12.137.9])
        by lists.ibiblio.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D15CE4C00B
        for <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Sat, 22 Apr 2006 21:27:16 -0400 
(EDT)
Received: from JnLvngstn AT aol.com
        by imo-m28.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r7.5.) id 3.3a4.15ffc19 (39330)
        for <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>; Sat, 22 Apr 2006 21:27:14 -0400 
(EDT)
From: JnLvngstn AT aol.com
Message-ID: <3a4.15ffc19.317c31f1 AT aol.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2006 21:27:13 EDT
To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Mailer: 9.0 for Windows sub 5121
X-Spam-Flag: NO
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.6
Subject: Re: [Homestead] asparagus farmer
X-BeenThere: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.6
Precedence: list
Reply-To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
List-Id: <homestead.lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Unsubscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
        <mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=unsubscribe>
List-Archive: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead>
List-Post: <mailto:homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
List-Help: <mailto:sympa AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=HELP>
List-Subscribe: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead>,
        <mailto:homestead-request AT lists.ibiblio.org?subject=subscribe>
X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2006 01:27:16 -0000

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