Asparagus in (or rather between) bales

I read somewhere that it is possible to plant asparagus crowns between bales and fill them in as you would trenched plants. I've avoided trying asparagus because the thought of digging a trench in my very solid clay is daunting, to say the least.
Has anyone tried it? I may just go give it a shot, but I'd love to have some tips if anyone can share.

I have heavy clay as well, I scraped out a 4" deep trench (2 actually) filled it to a hill with compost placed crowns on and buried them several inches with compost and manure there is several inches of straw on top of that.. albeit I am going into my second year, the did thrive the first year.

I think straw will be great for them, the are heavy feeders though. I maure the crap out of mine...(hee hee)

-joe-

If I understand, that means you actually have a "raised bed"?. If that works, Then the bales should work, too. You're colder than I, wonder how that affects them, if at all.
Okay, If I can get my hands on more bales (iffy) I will set up it up. Now I need to figure out where to put it. Fortunately, I have all kinds of spots....

Well, i never think of it as raised, but it is.. i lifted them because the clay doesn't drain, as you know.. i did cut channels in the clay around sections to keep the rain out from under the plants. unfortunatly that makes for sticky and muddy pathtways..

the bales should work, just remember that asperigus lasts 20 years, and gets to a seven foot tall wall of fern. it will take 2-3 (3 - but no one ever waits that long) seasons before anthing gets pencil thick. sonsider the spreading, replacement of bales if you need to.. perhaps manure and hay spread will do you fine as well. I enjoy the straw forum for straw use, i am not a bale gardener but a heavy hay spreader.

you do get a winter, i am sure the longer season and short winter will do well for the asperigus..

it's worth every bit of effort
-joe-

Hi all,
I'll chime in with my 1/2 cents. I think if you are going to use the bales, you will need to build some kind of box around the bales. Asparagus is a perennial and will last much longer than the bales. I guess you could just remove the old straw, use it for mulch and add new bales. Interesting concept.
In Central Washington they grow asparagus commercially, huge fields. They only get one
cutting per year, I guess you could get several at home because you can watch the spikes or spurs and cut them as they grow. I haven't grown asparagus since I was a kid we had several plants that came up on the corner of the garden. It seems to take a lot of space for the food you receive.
The mature plant has a nice fern-like top.
Paul.

you get several cuttings over maybe two months. and the ferns are a nice touch.. for me, it is edible landscape on the north fence.. requires little maintenence.. the box sounds like a good way to go.

I think that enclosing them is a great idea, especially as I have the wood handy *G*. We get leftover siding pieces from shed construction for $35 a pick-up load. They're about 18"x48". Sounds an odd size, but it actually is quite convenient for me, I can handle the pieces by myself with no problem. It's not very pretty, I guess, but the dogs and cows and chickens seem content:)

Okay, I'm gonna try it. I have a six bale "plot" set up, 3X3 about 8"apart. I'll enclose them. I've used bales that seem to be mostly dirt, and I think they'll hold up for a while. The old bales I've been dealing with this year have become about 1/2 the height they were, but very solid. If I enclose them they should stay together better. I'm thinking on planting strawberries on top of one "wall", and not sure what on the other. Can't waste that space.....