[mountainhippie]

So, I've got lots of wild asparagus in my area. There's a few big ferns out in my back fields, and a few others on some road cuts near work. Like I said, these are big ferns right now because I didn't know where they were when they were coming up or I'd still be taking spears from them.

So, what can I do with these? If I cut them now, will they send up spears that I can take this year? Can these be dug up and replanted so I don't have to hunt for them next year?

 

[InVenangoNow]

MH can you post a pic?

 

[Woods walker]

It reproducec by roots and seed so cutting doesn't hert it. It takes 2 years or so to get any good reproduction from roots so I wouldn't dig roots and replant. If you want to your own patch you would be better off buying commercial roots. When I was kid, my mother would give me a paring knife and a paper bag and I would just walk down the road from my house and cut all we could eat untill it all went to seed. Today with the use of herbicides you can't do that any more. The use of road salt back then helped the stuff grow.

 

[Farflung]

John S- your mentioning salt brought to mind thast my uncle always used to salt his asparagus beds. He said it made it grow better by keeping the weeds down. I also wondered if the asparagus needed the chemicals in salt for better growth. Any thoughts?

 

[Woods walker]

Yes, I do know what it is but there is something in salt that asparagus likes. My uncle grew it commercially and he salted his beds periodically and it ws for nutrician not weeds.

 

[mountainhippie]

So, here's what I'm wondering: These things are a few years old, so their roots are well established. I know when you have roots that you're harvesting, if you cut a spear, a new spear comes up. If I cut these big ferns, will spears come up, or will it be done for the year?

 

[Woods walker]

They are done for the yer, when it gets this hot the new growth will bolt into seed.

 

[DIYASUB]

Salt on the asparagas? Not a bad idea. A little butter helps also, or ya could go with a nice hollandaise sauce.
Om Nom Nom Nom Nom!

 

[Sqrlhntr]

John is it regular table salt? I just started using Epsom Salt this year in the garden. Plants are looking real good using it especially peppers

 

[Woods walker]

I think my uncle used rock salt on the asparagus patch. I also use epsom salt on my tomatoes and peppers since I read about it here. It works.

 

[Sqrlhntr]

I read the Jerry Baker book about the Epsom Salts. He says to use it on just about everything. Under the tomato he says to put 1 tablspoon of epsom 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of powdered dry milk and you will get bigger and sweeter tomatoes and it will take care of the blight that most of us got hit with last year.

 

[mountainhippie]

You really want to test your soil first and make sure you need it.

For instance, epsom salts are really great for peppers but only if you don't have enough magnesium. My peppers do great without it, my buddy's garden had alright plants but they weren't fruiting, so we ran a little experiment where he added epsom salts to a row of his and I added them to a row of mine. His started fruiting like crazy, but mine actually stopped.

The soil in my garden is really high in mineral content, to the point that it's obvious when you just look at a handful of dirt. I think it's because it's where the cattle used to wait to get into the milking parlor below the barn 30 years ago when my place was still an active dairy farm, so all the mineral supplements given to the cows built up in the soil there. If you already have enough Mg in your soil, you don't want to use epsom salts, if anything you might need to boost your Ca level with some composted egg shells.