Well, we plan to shot our own video on growing asparagus, but until then you can check out this nice and informative video that I found on youtube:
Asparagus KB3
Asparagus KB3 Hybrid is a disease resistant and a heavy yielder of tender, flavorful spears. This is an open pollinated variety. Hardy in sub zero and hot desert areas, KB3 Hybrid's lower winterkill percentage makes this a popular variety grown by home gardeners. Click here to order it!
You can prepare this easily, it’s low-calorie and nutritious.
Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients
2 lbs asparagus
5 oz shredded mozzarella cheese (you can also use parmesan or some other cheese you prefer)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sliced parsley
salt and peper
Preparation
1. Wash asparagus and then boil them in water until they become softer (around 10 minutes).
2. Pre-heat oven. Coat cookie sheet or pan with oil.
3. Dry asparagus stalks on paper towels. Put them on cookie sheet and cover with shredded cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Place cookie sheet or pan in oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.
5. Cover it with parsley and serve hot.
This is very easy to prepare, it is tasteful, nutritious and healthy.
Ingredients for 4 persons:
50 dkg (18 ounces) asparagus
5 eggs
4 table spoons sour cream
salt, pepper
twig of parsley
1 onion
olive oil or butter
Preparation
1. Steam the asparagus in salty water for 5 minutes.
2. Heat sliced onion in a pan with olive oil (or butter) for few minutes
3. Add sliced cooked asparagus and sliced parsley. Salt and pepper to taste
3. Whisk the eggs and add sour cream to the mixture.
4. Pour the mixture to the pan and cook on medium heat for few minutes, until it is firm.
Serve warm as an appetizer or serve it as a meal with a salad.
Asparagus are harvested by hands, and because of high wages this very delicious vegetable is too expensive and almost inaccessible! But when ones stabilized in your garden, asparagus will give the fruit a year after year with very little effort and with almost no costs. Feather like green foliage is used in floral arrangements, but cut it tightly if you want to have a good crop next year.
POSITION AND SOIL
Choose an open sunny position and good soil that has good drainage. The best are light soils, which tend to sandiness. For a very difficult soil, add sand to improve drainage. In the fall turn over the soil thoroughly to remove all the roots of weed and add whatever more mature compost and manure you can. Once planted, the culture may stay there for twenty years, so it is therefore wise to ensure that the culture gets a good foundation without permanent weed.
SOWING AND PROPAGATION OF ASPARAGUS
At the end of April sow a seed 5 cm deep to grown new plants. When seedlings are large enough to handle put them in intervals of 15 cm. Always use fresh seed. If the seed is older than one year, it loses its germination. Usual way is to buy crowns that are one or two years old and plant them in spring as soon as possible. This will save you a whole year of development. Do not let crowns dry up - if you have to wait several days before planting them, put them in a moist peat.
ASPARAGUS GROWING
Dig a trench 20-25 cm deep and 30 cm wide. Then at the bottom, form a low ridge7.5 cm high. Put crowns in the intervals of 38-45 cm so the thread-like roots lie on both sides of the ridge. Then cover the plant with 5 - 7.5 cm thick layer of soil, and then gradually, while digging to destroy weeds, fill the trench with soil. If you grow more than one line of plants then the lines should be at a distance of 120-150 cm. When the leaves fully emerge, it may be necessary to put a few stakes between plants and to connect stakes and branches with some rope or wire to support plants. This way you can prevent a wind from breaking your plants. In autumn trim the leaves to a height of 5 cm above the ground. In fact, it usually needs to be done immediately after the first frost when the leaves are yellow and before berries of female plants drop to the ground. If you allow berries to fall on the ground, they will appear as scattered crowns that will be difficult to distinguish from the grown plants. If the leaves are cut too early, the exuberance of the sprouts will be reduced next year. Every fall and spring apply 2,5-5 cm of soil on each side of the lines. The higher the depth of soil that covers the branches, the longer white part of the stem. If you prefer green stem, then reduce the covering. Put complex fertilizers on the lines in the amount of 60-85 grams per square meter. Cover the surface with mature compost after mid-June to counter the weeds, retain moisture and improve soil and growth of asparagus in the coming years.
ASPARAGUS HARVESTING
Year after planting you can cut one asparagus from each plant. The following year, all the asparagus can be cut for a period of four weeks, a third year (when the plants are four and five years old) asparagus can be cut for six weeks. Stop with cutting in late June, to provide plants an opportunity to gather strength for the coming year.
Helpful Tip
Be sure to regularly harvest asparagus, the best every day, to get delicious crops. If you don’t want to prepare them immediately, put them in a cold water for some time before storing them in a cold place. If they stay for too long, they will become flabby, stale and bitter.
Cut asparagus when they are 10-15 cm above the ground. Always cut them before the top starts to open and transform into the crop foliage that creates branches. This means that asparagus should be cut about every three days in cold time, and almost every day when the weather is hot. The old kitchen knife with a broken point is the perfect tool for cutting. Sharpen the broken end and slightly intrude it near asparagus so you can cut around 5-10 cm below the soil surface. When you acquire the skills, it is possible to bend a crop toward yourself and to break the crop of the plant with your hands.
POSSIBLE PROBLEMS WITH ASPARAGUS
If you see that the leaves and branches are eaten by some gray larva and their parents, common asparagus beetle, spray them with some licensed insecticide.
Note
Asparagus is a perennial plant and is not subject to crop rotation, which makes it unsuitable for growing in a garden smaller then 3 x 4 m. The best would be that you find a place elsewhere in the garden for yours asparagus.
Take a look at our asparagus garden. It’s like a jungle sometimes in there 
There you can also see our freshly picked asparagus
Asparagus Garden
Asparagus facts
Name asparagus comes from the Greek word which means sparrow grass offspring. Plant fruit asparagus contains over 300 species, of which for food we use listed species officinalis, while some species are used as decorative plants.
We usually encounter two main types - wild and cultivated asparagus, and they differ in color and form. White asparagus is not a special type, but they are produced with special technique in which the offspring is covered with earth and protected from the effects of sun. You can also find a colored asparagus.
Asparagus growing history
Asparagus is one of the oldest wild cultures of the Mediterranean, where it was grown since ancient times. Egyptians used wild asparagus, which was grown on shorts of the river Nile, as addition to diet, as a gift for the gods, and in the Pharaoh Tombs pictures of asparagus were found. Greeks harvest wild asparagus, and as well as the Romans, they believed that asparagus have healing properties so they used it to heal the bite of an insect and toothache.
Romans first began to cultivate asparagus, and knew how to freeze it: after harvest in the south, carriages would deliver asparagus in the Alps where it was kept out in the snow up to six months, and then returned to Rome for great celebrations. Arabs have believed that asparagus has an aphrodisiac effect and in the 16 century old lovers’ guide asparagus is referred to as the stimulus for love wishes. The same considered Madame Pompadour, and the French king Louis XIV was growing asparagus in a greenhouse in order to have them throughout the year. In 18th century asparagus was replanted in North America (the U.S. is one the largest manufacturers of cultivated asparagus).
Asparagus nutrition
From nutritional perspective asparagus is a very balanced grocery. The best plant source for FOLIC acid, which participates in the synthesis of DNA and creation of erythrocytes, it contains vitamin C, while the dark colored asparagus contain even some beta-carotene. Asparagus contain very little energy - 100 g, 44 kcal (184 kJ), it has no fat or cholesterol, and sodium content is very low. Asparagus contain some fiber and vitamins thiamin (B1) and pyridoxine (B6). Of the minerals sodium, phosphorus and some iron are present.
From phytonutrients, the most important is glutathione, which is by its nature antioxidant and has anticancerogenous effect. Glutathione is one of the strongest anticancerogen and antioxidant in the body and its role is the protection of cells from oxidative damage and damage of the DNA. Glutathione participates in the detoxification of the body - linked to toxins, heavy metals, solvents and pesticides, and metabolize them into water-soluble compounds that are excreted in urine.
Asparagus contains rutin, which strengthens the surface of the blood vessels and protect capillaries from damage. A few hours after eating asparagus, many will see extremely intense odor of urine - which originates from mercaptan, metabolic by-products. This phenomenon was already described in 1702 by French scientist and physician Louis Lémery, in the book Traité des alimens. Mercaptan does not represent a danger to health, and asparagus must certainly not be disposed as a food because of that. It is a strong natural diuretic (stimulates the secretion of fluid from the body).
Asparagus
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 20 kcal 90 kJ
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy 20 kcal 90 kJ
| Carbohydrates | 3.88 g |
| - Sugars 1.88 g | |
| - Dietary fiber 2.1 g | |
| Fat | 0.12 g |
| Protein | 2.20 g |
| Thiamine (Vit. B1) 0.143 mg | 11% |
| Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.141 mg | 9% |
| Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.978 mg | 7% |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.274 mg | 5% |
| Vitamin B6 0.091 mg | 7% |
| Folate (Vit. B9) 52 μg | 13% |
| Vitamin C 5.6 mg | 9% |
| Calcium 24 mg | 2% |
| Iron 2.14 mg | 17% |
| Magnesium 14 mg | 4% |
| Phosphorus 52 mg | 7% |
| Potassium 202 mg | 4% |
| Zinc 0.54 mg | 5% |
| Manganese 0.158 mg | |
Percentages are relative to US recommendations
for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database
Now you have met with some basic facts about asparagus, its history and nutrition information. I hope we have managed to convince you to incorporate this ingredient in your diet, if you haven’t already. In further posts we’ll show you how to grow asparagus in your garden, and suggest some tasty asparagus recipes.