AI-generated illustration — check edibility and toxicity notes, never eat from the picture alone.
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis
A 20-year crop, so prepare the bed thoroughly and keep it weed-free. Resist cutting for the first two springs while the crowns build up.
Asparagus or garden asparagus is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
Description from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
At a glance
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Water need
- Medium
- Mature height
- 1.2 m
- Maintenance
- Low
- Hardiness
- USDA 4–8
- Layers
- herb, root
Functional roles
Pollination & soil
Dioecious; modern all-male F1 cultivars crop most heavily and don't self-seed.
- Soil
- light/sandy
- pH
- Neutral
Light, free-draining, weed-free soil; raised beds suit it.
Propagation
How to make more of this plant for free — the permaculture way.
When: Sow spring; plant crowns early spring
In the kitchen garden
- Sow (months)
- Not yet checked
- Harvest (months)
- Not yet checked
- Spacing
- Take it from the seed packet
- Family
- —
- Frost
- Not yet checked
A permanent bed for decades. Plant one-year-old crowns in spring and cut nothing for the first two years while the roots establish.
Long-lived (20+ yrs); wait 2-3 years before cropping.
Where to get it
Read more
Seed data pending expert review. Identification photo and description are sourced from Wikipedia/Wikimedia; always confirm a plant in person before eating any part of it.