The past several weeks I have been busy dealing with the aftermath of my February seed frenzy, sorting seeds, organizing orders, writing thank you notes to companies that donated seeds, etc. After double and then triple checking each order, weighing corn, placing online orders, and oh so much more I finally got to see a little bit of the excitement that all this work will bring when we had our March Grow Appalachia meeting, during which we distributed seed to our participants. Everyone was so excited to see the bounty of things they can plant this year, and the beautiful weather has us all ready to get our hands dirty!
Several of our participating families have been requesting rhubarb and asparagus plants for the past several years, so this spring we decided to make that happen and allowed our participants who have been in the program for at least 1 year to order them. Because rhubarb and asparagus are both perennials we wanted to make sure we had gardeners who are committed to the care and upkeep of their gardens from one year to the next and who would make good use of these plants. However we did make the mistake of neglecting to tell these people that rhubarb cannot be harvested until its second growing season and asparagus needs a full three seasons before it can be harvested, so it seems we disappointed those who had visions of pounds of asparagus on the table this June, whoops…. Please wait it out, I guarantee it will be worth it in the end!
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| Asparagus grows into large fern-like plants |
For any of you who are interested here is a bit of general information to get you started:
Because rhubarb and asparagus are perennials it is best to plant them somewhere out of the way, near one end of the garden or in a separate plot that you won’t be tilling up and planting each spring. They also do well with full sun, good drainage, and nutrient dense soil. Both plants require good healthy soil but rhubarb is an especially “heavy feeder” and will benefit from several applications of compost/manure/fertilizer during the season. Both rhubarb and asparagus should be planted in early spring while they are still dormant. As I mentioned before you cannot harvest rhubarb or asparagus fully for several years so patience is key, but with proper care you should have productive plants that will take minimal care once they reach full maturity.
Because rhubarb and asparagus are perennials it is best to plant them somewhere out of the way, near one end of the garden or in a separate plot that you won’t be tilling up and planting each spring. They also do well with full sun, good drainage, and nutrient dense soil. Both plants require good healthy soil but rhubarb is an especially “heavy feeder” and will benefit from several applications of compost/manure/fertilizer during the season. Both rhubarb and asparagus should be planted in early spring while they are still dormant. As I mentioned before you cannot harvest rhubarb or asparagus fully for several years so patience is key, but with proper care you should have productive plants that will take minimal care once they reach full maturity.
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| 25 mature asparagus plants will produce about 10 lbs of food per year! |
Rhubarb is not a commonly grown plant because it isn’t very appealing to eat fresh, but there are many things you can do with a good crop of rhubarb including making delicious pies, cakes, jams, jellies, syrups, and more!
Asparagus is best eaten fresh, I enjoy it sautéed or roasted with a bit of salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, but it can also be incorporated into pasta, omelets, and used to top pizza, etc.
If you would like more detailed information on planting and care email me and I will send you a copy of the guide that we gave our participants: k_powersvista@pinemountainsettlementschool.com
Thanks Kathleen. Our Sr. Kathleen looovveesss rhubarb and our last plant went bye bye this year so thanks for the link. KC
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