Surely many of you saw delicate delicate "Christmas trees" with bare stems and thin, thread-like branches collected in bunches in village front gardens as children. And some even remember that in August, bright red spherical fruits-berries appeared on some "Christmas trees".
But not everyone knows that this plant is called asparagus, or asparagus, and its young shoots are grown all over the world as a delicacy vegetable crop (it is often called a miracle plant, and also - a royal vegetable). But asparagus has been cultivated not even for hundreds, but for thousands of years - it was known in Ancient Egypt, and in Ancient Greece, and in Russia asparagus has been cultivated since at least the 17th century.
What is so valuable about the young shoots of the plant? They are distinguished by a significant content of vitamins (especially C, PP, group B), mineral salts (especially potassium and iodine), protein, amino acids.
Juicy shoots up to 20 cm long with a head that has not yet blossomed are used for food - while they are underground, they are white (the softest to taste), rising above the surface of the soil, they acquire a green or purple color, depending on the variety, and lose some of the nutrients, but are just as tasty, low-calorie and widely used in cooking.
In addition to cooking, asparagus has long been widely used in medicine for liver diseases, kidneys, gout, diabetes, edema and as a remedy that has a positive effect on the heart.
Most often, asparagus chemistus (also known as medicinal or common asparagus) is grown both as an edible and as an ornamental plant. It is a dioecious herbaceous perennial with powerful horizontal rhizomes, straight smooth branched stems up to 1.5 m high and thread-like lateral branches collected in bunches. The decorative value is primarily female plants, which are decorated with colorful berries in the fall, but in order to obtain edible shoots for cooking, it is better to plant male plants, which are more productive and durable.
How to grow asparagus in the garden
Under optimal conditions, asparagus can grow without transplanting for more than 15-20 years, giving consistently high yields. But there are some nuances and even difficulties in the process of cultivating the crop.
Asparagus is usually grown using seedlings, which although takes a long time (you can get the first harvest only in the third year), is more reliable. The best time to sow seeds for seedlings is March-April.
Before sowing, the seeds are soaked in warm water (about 25-30 ° C) for a couple of days, possibly with a growth stimulator. They are sown in a light fertile substrate to a depth of 2-4 cm in rows with row spacing of 20-25 cm (if these are not pots, but common wide containers), covered with glass or film and wait for the shoots to appear at a temperature of 20-25 ° C.
The first shoots appear in about a month, but be prepared for the fact that the percentage of loss will be very high, sometimes only a few can sprout at all, so you need to sow with a large reserve. After the shoots appear, remove the film and thin out the crops if necessary, leaving a distance of 15-20 cm between the shoots. Of course, during this time, the plants need to be regularly watered in small portions, preventing stagnation of water.
In June-August, the strengthened seedlings (with 2-3 stems and a developed root system) are transplanted into open ground, but not yet to a permanent place, but to a nursery, where they will remain until the end of next spring, primarily growing rhizomes. The place should be warm and sunny.
Care for growing seedlings consists of the already mentioned regular watering, manual loosening and weeding and fertilizing. Carry out the first fertilizing 20 days after the emergence of shoots with fermented mullein infusion diluted with water (1:6-8). Carry out the second fertilizing with complex fertilizer 20 days after the first.
Adult asparagus plants (especially male forms) are quite cold- and frost-resistant, they can withstand frosts down to -30°C even in winters with little snow, but planted seedlings and seedlings developing from seeds are very sensitive to frost. Therefore, for the winter, cut off the above-ground part at a level of 10 cm and mulch the soil in the nursery with rotted manure, compost or peat so that the young plants do not die.
In the spring, asparagus sprouts will appear above the ground again and again you will have a season of regular care according to the above-described scheme - manual weeding, careful loosening (so as not to damage the superficial roots), watering and fertilizing. After the fruits ripen, you can sort the plants into male and female - to send the former to the vegetable bed, and leave the latter as decorative, if desired. For the winter, cut off the above-ground part again and mulch the nursery well.
Meanwhile, we form a permanent bed for asparagus - do not forget that it can grow in one place for more than 10 years, so choose the location carefully (many gardeners, for example, plant plants in a long row along the fence).
Asparagus prefers loose, nutritious, humus-rich non-acidic soils (pH not lower than 6.5) in well-warmed (sunny or slightly shaded), elevated areas not flooded by melt water. Even on slightly acidic soils, preliminary application of lime is necessary, and with superficial placement of groundwater - drainage. Good predecessors are cabbage, pumpkin, root crops.
The selected specimens in the spring, when the soil has completely thawed, are carefully dug up with a pitchfork and transplanted into the soil, deeply dug in the fall and fertilized (6-8 kg of humus or compost, 30-40 g of superphosphate, 20-30 g of potassium sulfate are added per 1 sq.m.) in prepared furrows 30-35 cm deep at a distance of 50 cm from each other and at least 1 m between rows. It is advisable to add more fertilizer to the bottom of the furrows before planting - 3-4 kg of compost and 15-20 g of complex fertilizer such as azofoska per 1 sq.m. After planting, the plants are watered abundantly and at first this continues to be done every 2-3 days.
In a permanent place of growth, asparagus care is repeated during the season - periodic careful loosening, weeding, regular watering at least 6 times per season (from lack of water, the shoots become fibrous and acquire a bitter taste) and fertilizing (in early spring after the snow melts, add a complex mineral fertilizer at the rate of 20 g per 1 sq.m, at the very beginning of summer and in autumn, the same fertilizer in half the dose, in the middle of the season you can feed the plantings with an infusion of bird droppings at the rate of 1 liter per 20 liters of water).
As the plant matures, the root system goes deep, and watering can be reduced, as well as the frequency of weeding.
The crop is quite resistant to diseases, only if the soil moisture is too high the plant can be affected by root rot (fusarium). Shedding of branches is the first sign of this disease. Also, adult asparagus specimens can be damaged by rust. Prevention of the disease is the separation of young and old plantings, compliance with the watering regime, regular destruction of weeds and inspection of plants with the removal and destruction of damaged shoots.
As for pests, asparagus can be affected by the larvae of leaf beetles and asparagus flies, which perforate the foliage, cause deformation and yellowing of the stems (mainly the youngest), sometimes up to the cessation of growth and even death of the plant due to mass reproduction of insects. Insecticides (Fitoverm, Fufanon-Nova) are effective against the asparagus leaf beetle, and the asparagus fly can only be controlled mechanically. In the spring, before the onset and during the flight of the fly, it is necessary to carefully inspect the hatched plants, cut off and burn all damaged shoots with egg-laying (in extreme cases, before the young fly out, it is even recommended to destroy all emerging shoots), and in the fall, if there is a pest on the site during the season, remove all, even healthy, stems, since the insect pupae can overwinter in them, and dig deep into the soil for the same reason.
Adult plants are frost-resistant and do not need shelter for the winter, usually at the end of the season only weakened and stunted specimens are removed, adding compost or humus to the vacated areas.
Asparagus harvesting season is from May to about the end of June (and earlier if the winter was warm). Juicy white shoots that develop in early spring from buds that overwinter on the rhizome, and young green shoots that come to the surface of the soil are suitable for food. They finish harvesting by July to give the plant time to regain strength and prepare for winter.
As you can see, in order to get a full harvest of asparagus (and even growing it not from rhizomes, but from seeds), you will have to spend time and effort, especially at first. However, the constant presence of such a home-grown delicacy on the table will certainly diversify and decorate your menu.