More on Asparagus

I have had many asparagus discussions this month and realised one of the things I didn’t cover was growing it from scratch.
I grew my asparagus from seed and it took about 2 years to be big enough to pick although I really didn’t start picking in earnest until the third year. It grows easily from seed and will readily self seed here. Tino on gardening Australia recommended weeding out the female plants but I have found no need to do this and find the size of the spears on both male and female plants quite acceptable.
Plant asparagus seeds in warm weather in pots or direct seeded.
Asparagus crowns can be bought from nurseries and are available in the winter. They are 2-3 year old plants that have been lifted an divided and these will produce a crop for you in a shorter time frame than growing from seed.
Plants can live for 20 years or more so the bed needs good preparation and plants need at least annual feeding and will benefit from mulching. Watering once a week should be sufficient for established asparagus.