[AT] OT Redbud/asparagus

[Ronald L. Cook]

Cecil,
         Doggone it!!  I must make sure my wife doesn't get a copy of your 
email!  You see, she was after me to get some straw last fall and I told 
her to just leave the old growth there for the winter and all will be just 
fine.  Worked great!!!  <g>
         We have asparagus every evening for supper now.

Ron Cook
Salix, IA

ps: for several reasons it looks as if we will be unable to attend LeSeuer 
this weekend.


>>--- Cecil E Monson <cmonson at hvc.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>         George, my daughter has quite a large asparagus
>>>>patch
>>>>and hers is almost ready to get the first cutting.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>>That first
>>>>cutting is always a real treat.
>>>
>>Cecil and all, a question.  Everyone is talking about
>>"cutting" asparagus, around Michigan we "pick" it,
>>literally.  Just grab hold and snap it off.
>
>    It must be a regional thing. I've never known anyone who broke asparagus
>off to pick it. Every place I've ever had asparagus or been where it was 
>picked
>a knife was always used to cut it. I guess the first one to teach me that 
>was my
>mother in sourthern Minnesota when I was a kid. I had my own patch years
>later and never thought about using any other method. I guess as long as 
>breaking
>the stalks to pick it doesn't do any damage to the roots or the plant, it 
>wouldn't
>matter. I see a low of asparagus in the local supermarkets starting pretty 
>soon
>this time of the year and it seems to me that it is always cut and not 
>broken off
>to pick it.
>
>    Same thing with clearing the old growth away from the patch. Most people
>seem to leave their old stalks all winter and clean them up in the spring. 
>I prefer
>to clean them up in the fall and spread a straw mulch over the bed for the 
>winter
>with the belief it will start growing quicker and is better off not being 
>disturbed
>in the spring as it is getting ready to grow. Same with my garlic, it is 
>better to
>cover with a good 6 inch deep bed of straw in the fall to protect it in 
>the winter
>and leave it right there in the spring. The new shoots will quickly warm 
>up and
>come right up thru the straw in the spring. Leaving the straw there keeps the
>moisture around the plants too in the summer and is a good thing to have.
>
>Cecil