I had Mary Washington at my old house. I am wanting to establish an asparagus bed at my new house but was wondering if that is the best variety for GA?
Growing Asparagus in GA
I would like to know the answer to this question also. I had some at my old house in Lawrenceville, but it didn't do too well. I have more room here to establish a bed and would like to plant something that does ok in the heat.
Well I went searching, and here: http://www.ag.fvsu.edu/teletips/vegetables/126.cfm , it says that Mary Washington is the best for Georgia: "The variety of asparagus most often recommended for Georgia is Mary Washington. This variety seems to be resistant to the rust fungus. Other varieties used in Georgia are Reading, Giant and Palmetto. It's advisable to buy root stock for asparagus rather than planting seed. This saves a year of growing time."
Thanks Jenks. I know that's not the variety sold at HD or other big box stores here. I think I've only seen Jersey Knight or Jersey something. I will be looking to get some Mary Washington this fall. I wonder if the Giant they mention is Jersey Giant. That's all I could find on google.
I just bought 25 on ebay for $35. I don't know if they were a good price or not, but the seller was hirtsgardens.
I have grown Mary Washington in north Georgia for nineteen years. It has produced well and reseeded. We have not had disease problems or pests and have used no chemicals on our plants. We fertilize with composted manure. We inter-plant with winter squash and pumpkins below and zinnias on top and enjoy the beautiful foliage and butterflies after season. I'd recommend Mary Washington 'cause it's going in our garden for these many years.
Laurel
Well I got my plants. They're in good shape, but it looks like it may be a few years. They are very seedling like with about 7-8" ferns. I have them acclimating in the shade of the back porch.
I do companion planting with corn and beans, etc....can you tell me what you mean by "pumpkins below and zinnias on top"? And do they help each other, or just work well together?
I have a horse manure compost area and a bin for grass and leaves. I plan on mixing the two into the soil, but was considering raising the bed with RR ties or something.
Asparagus stays in a designated space for many years so it's important that you set your beds up properly. Farmerdill has given good advice here in the past and I'd be happy to help too. I often find stray seedlings and shuffle them back to the asparagus space. I'm not a "pro" framer, just have a country kitchen garden, but I'd not plant corn with asparagus. Corn is very nutrient intensive and will drain your soil. Beans are beneficial, but they will be difficult to harvest in a mature asparagus bed. Your asparagus fronds (you pick some and let some shoots grow) will be six feet tall in a few years and the bed will be a lacy mass.
I don't know what your garden philosophy is. We avoid treated wood, including RR ties in our garden. I have tried raised beds in multiple situations in GA, but have not found them helpful (plus I'm always tripping over the edges). Our asparagus was planted in trenches that were enriched with organic matter and then had their roots spread over mounds of manure/compost. Pretty self-maintaining after that.
We do a very shallow till in our asparagus bed in February or March and add some composted manure. I broadcast saved zinnia seed at that time. We plant winter squash/pumpkins to wander in the bed and keep the soil cool during the hotter months. The dense asparagus fronds look lovely with giant zinnias and help keep bugs from landing on the squashes and pumpkins below. Birds enjoy the berries, bugs and cover. Since I can't really walk on the asparagus bed after Winter, I can tiptoe in to cut squashes in Fall. I've posted photos before, am out of town now, but will be happy to send photos next week when I return to Georgia.
Laurel
Ha! No, I plant my corn with the pole beans and they help each other, the beans provide nitrogen for the corn etc. I just was wondering if the pumpkins did anything for the asparagus? I gotcha - provide cooler soil - I bet the zinnias do look good with the ferns.
I don't have any raised beds. We don't keep wood laying around due to a fear of termites and with one of my neighbors' practice of cutting down trees and stacking the logs against my fence leaving them for years and years? I have an abundance of termites which, to be blunt, freak me out. So I can't use anything untreated, but if there no reason to use them, I will try the trench method. I assume you mean that the chemicals leach into the soil?
So I need to do a trench about 18" deep and then till in the organic matter? My soil is 100% red clay. It looks like an area of erosion (what do you call a mini valley?), and for 3 years I've been working to stop it. With the amount of manure I've accumulated and composted during that time it's better, but not perfect.
We started our asparagus bed in what had been a gravel road/parking space for heavy equipment. In fact, our entire garden is on that former road. We hand dug with a pick'matic, over many years, sifted gravel and then enriched the garden a few feet each year until we could afford a tiller. As for asparagus, the bed needs to be set all at once. With that in mind, we created very deep trenches (about 18"), back filled with the original soil, much amended, to 12" and made mounds of compost and well rotted manure about 18" apart. We spread the roots around the mounds and back filled the trenches with the original clay, amended with compost. Our bed is about 15' deep and 20' long. So here's an October pic and I'll send you some others through DM. I normally till the top soil (wearing light shoes) to bury weeds and add compost/manure in late February. I do not otherwise fertilize. I'm posting an October pic and will send you others, with pumpkins, privately. Hope this helps. If you need more specifics, DM.
Laurel
Very pretty!