Time To Start Planting Asparagus

A few weeks ago, my father-in-law, Marshall Fleming, was hunting for some asparagus. He had a plan to start a new patch of them in one of his raised beds. They had them in the ground out back for years but wanted to plant a new one. He found what he was looking for at our local Southern States in Mt. Airy, MD, along with some onion sets.

Today he was happy to tell me everything was planted. He had a dump truck load of topsoil (used for many other things), so he used some of that along with the excellent soil already in the raised garden. All ten plants were spaced out to harvest the asparagus from each side of the bed. The onions were planted in another raised bed.

While this year Marshall knows he be able to harvest any asparagus this year, I am sure he will get a few next year. My in-laws have had asparagus for as long as I have known them. Enjoying a meal with fresh asparagus were always one of the first signs of Spring for me. The rule of thumb is to only harvest a few the second year. Once you are in your third year you will have plenty asparagus. For more detail instructions on growing asparagus you can check out this information from the Maryland Extension

Marshall wanted to get his onions in to have them early.  Once the ground dries out from that snow we had last weekend he will be planting his peas. What was up with that anyway?  While he was telling us about his homemade trellis for his peas, I remembered and shared the information I got at the Maryland Spring Home & Garden Show when I met Jim Nicholas and his wife.

Jim is the owner of Garden Trellis & Fence, and what a great system he has patented. These are a wire mesh panel trellis that you can use in any garden. Plus, his railing-type trellis would be perfect for beans and peas. It would work with pretty much any type of vegetable that ‘grows up.

Garden Trellis and Fence Company is the only company that features a multi-functional garden trellis and fence system modular, interchangeable, universal, and uniform.  Jim Nicholas is an avid gardener and inventor who says the two hobbies go hand in hand because “necessity is the mother of invention!” He created the system to help gardening appeal to more people by making it more accessible, more productive, functional, and enjoyable for everyone.

Luckily, they are for sale near me in Elliott City at the Clarks Ace Hardware.