transplanting asparagus

[flight control]

Anyone ever do this? I found a bunch of wild plants last fall while duck hunting and went yesterday to dig some up. I'm not sure how much root I should have left on them, but I dug about the size of a 5gallon bucket (thats what I was carrying them in) around last years stalks.

I'm not much of a gardener but planted them as best I could between my house and driveway, facing southeast, lots of sun in the mornings. Its raining now, hopefully that helps.

Has anyone ever done this or something similar? Any tips for transplanting, asparagus or otherwise? Time will tell if I killed these ones or not.

[assateague]

I would imagine they'd be fine. I planted some about 8 years ago, and the root balls that they came with were about the size of a small dinner plate when spread out flat. They grew great for a couple years, then I got tired of asparagus (I like it, but not having twice a week- just too much) and tilled it under. Stuff still came up for another couple years after that.

[jarbo03]

Burn that nasty ass gross shit to the ground.

[flight control]

Well if they can survive the tiller, they might stand a chance then. I should'nt have to wait long to find out, some of them were just starting to shoot up their spears. I love asparagus, and I've heard they can be made into pickles when you get sick of eating them.

Thanks Assa, I'm a little more otimistic now

[flight control]

Not a fan jarbo?

[assateague]

Well if they can survive the tiller, they might stand a chance then. I should'nt have to wait long to find out, some of them were just starting to shoot up their spears. I love asparagus, and I've heard they can be made into pickles when you get sick of eating them.

Thanks Assa, I'm a little more otimistic now

Granted, mine wasn't wild, but generally I've found wild transplants to be far hardier than any store bought items, at least when it comes to trees.

[jarbo03]

Not a fan jarbo?

To say the least. I used to leave home for days when my dad would cook asparagus, the smell is rancid.

[flight control]

I'm thinking they came from a house that has some about 1/4 mile from where I found them. They were all growing around the high water mark during storm surges. Storm probably dropped the seeds there.

Next thing on my list of wild eddibles to find is morrels.

[jarbo03]

Haven't seen a morel yet, been too cold, usually have a bunch by now. Supposedly have a warm up coming, should be everywhere.

[flight control]

Haven't seen a morel yet, been too cold, usually have a bunch by now. Supposedly have a warm up coming, should be everywhere.

I've never found one. Any tips on where to look? I've been told they come out at the same time the Lillacs bloom. Would that be a good time to start looking?

[assateague]

Don't even bother with "strategy". I've been looking for those sonsabitches for years, and never found one. Tried all the "usual suspects" among the recommended places, no dice. Just go for a walk in the woods, and don't bother pretending like you're morel hunting. If you're on a walk, and you happen to find some, it's a bonus. If you're going out morel hunting and don't find any, then the morning was a bust. Seems to work for me, since I still "go for walks in the woods" from time to time.

[jarbo03]

I rarely go looking for them, I find them while turkey huntibg. Not sure as to what to be looking for.

[assateague]

See? And that's why you find them. I suspect it's like night vision- if you look directly at something, you can't see it.

[flight control]

Heres how it goes here:
What? Oh those! Yeah they grow in that flower bed every year. Eat them? Heavens no! Now get off my lawn.



Sonuvabitch

I guess I'll just stick to chanterelles. They are pretty safe from what I've read. Few look alikes and if you do make a mistake you just end up with a bad case of the shits

[aunt betty]

I was wrangled into every job or task that involved digging when I was a kid.
Kinda like digging and am good at it.
Planted many apple trees, Christmas trees, and most every garden variety vegetable by the time I was 13.
Had my own gardens.
The parents ordered some asparagus roots. Enough to do four rows that were 30 feet long or so.
I had to dig trenches about 2 feet deep to plant them roots. I recall thinking, "what in the fuck did I do to deserve this punishment?".

Bury the roots just a little and let them sprout, then you bury the sprouts...repeat until the ground is level.
That's how we did it. That is also why your roto-tiller isn't killing the asparagus patch. The roots are WAY down there.

[flight control]

They're doing well, I buried them about six inches down and all of them have at least two shoots out. Some of them are ready to branch out, but it's been cold and cloudy for the last week so they pretty much stopped growing for now. I'm not going to harvest any until next year to let the roots establish themselves.