Asparagus will perhaps be the first vegetable to make an appearance in the spring. It peaked through the soil on February 6 this year in our garden.

Asparagus can be grown from seed, but most gardeners plant rhizomes with crowns. Begin by preparing an 18 inch trench in loose soil with good drainage. When frost is no longer a threat, place 10 to 20 plants per person in the soil with the asparagus crowns atop a mound of soil within the trench, cover with soil, and as the plants grow the first year, keep mounding soil up around the plants. Do not cut the asparagus the first year! The second year spears may be cut for two or three weeks and then allowed to go to seed. Assuring that asparagus is planted properly initially, this is the single most important factor when growing asparagus. Third year asparagus can and should be cut each day. Your perennial asparagus plants should produce for 10 to 20 years so care should be exercised when selecting a plant site. Asparagus grows quite tall and will block the sunlight to other plants in the garden.

Each spring a side dressing of fertilizer should be applied. In various locations in the country asparagus has strayed from its cultivation strictures and grows "wild". A little patience in the beginning will produce rewards each year. If you like asparagus which is rich in Vitamin A and beta carotene, it is worth the effort to establish a future plot.

ASPARAGUS ESSENTIALS

Planting:

* The easiest way to start asparagus is from crowns.

* Plant in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked.

* Plants will take three growing seasons to become established.

* Allow ten to twenty plants per person (15 - 30 feet of row).

Preparation:

* Select a well-drained site; full sun is not necessary.

* Asparagus will thrive in slightly acid soil (pH of about 6.5), but will tolerate alkaline conditions up to 9.0.

* Eliminate all weeds by repeated tilling or by growing a cover crop a year in advance.

* About I week before planting, prepare trenches for crowns.

Planting:

* Soak the crowns briefly in lukewarm water before planting.

* Draw a hoe along each side of the prepared trench to form a mound in the center running the length of the trench.

* Set the crowns 18 inches apart on the mounds in the trench, draping the roots over the sides.

* To cover the crowns, mix 1 part manure to 3 parts topsoil and bury the crowns 2 inches deep.

* Water the bed thoroughly.

Care:

* First year; weed the beds carefully. Periodically add more topsoil/manure around emerging shoots until the trench if filled. Then spread a 4 to 8 inch layer of aged manure, compost, or shredded bark around the base of the ferns. Water regularly. In the early fall, pull back the mulch and side dress with 2 1/2 pounds of a balanced fertilizer per 100 square feet. Cut down dead ferns in late fall and side-dress with 2 1/2 pounds superphosphate per 100 square feet.

* Second year: cultivate lightly by hand until the new spears are several inches tall, then keep the bed thickly mulched. Side-dress with a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 at the rate of 2 1/2 pounds per 100 square feet in the spring and early fall. Follow first year instructions for late fall.

* Third year and beyond; Maintain as for the second year, but apply the spring side-dressing after the harvest.

Harvesting:

* Plants started from crowns can be harvested lightly in the spring of the second year; plants started from seeds, in the third year.

* Harvest only those spears that are thicker than a pencil.

* Cut or snap off the spears at or just above ground level when they are 6 to 8 inches tall.

Reference: Gardening: A Complete Guide to Growing America's Favorite Fruits and Vegetables, April 1986, Pages 78-79. Adison- Wesley, publishers.