First Round of Asparagus Planted

With all the gorgeous weather we've been having, I took some time this past week to work on the asparagus (/grape?) bed at home.  I dug out the topsoil under the boxes and added some bagged "River Pebbles" I've had in the shed for too many years now, attached the two corner braces that hold the upper and lower boxes together, and put in 4 cubic ft of bagged garden soil from the big box store.  Then yesterday I transplanted three 12-inch pots' worth of asparagus started from seed last year. 

For anyone who doesn't know, last year around this time I decided to purchase and plant asparagus seeds in pots, rather than purchase 1-year-old crowns like normal people do.  I'd like to tell you that this decision was based on my concern that we might be moving cross-country in the near future, but then you'd probably just ask why I didn't wait for another year and then buy 1-year-old crowns.  So I have to admit I'm just contrary and Steve Solomon said everyone else is wrong about asparagus and I thought, "He must be right about that."  (For the record, he never suggests growing them in pots.  But when I received the seed the instructions on the packet were so different from what he recommended that I panicked.)  See Growing Asparagus From Seed and How to Grow My Asparagus.

Since I have never found any suggestions for starting asparagus in pots - normal people would take this as a sign that it's not a good idea, wouldn't they? - I'm completely making this up as I go along.  I decided I wanted to transplant them into the ground before the first spears came up so that I wouldn't risk breaking them and so that I could mound soil over them as the spears grow as I would do if I'd purchased nursery crowns.  It was really too wet for planting, but with the crazy weather we've been having I decided to go ahead and get it done before they surprise me by coming up.  When I took them out of the pots the roots looked strong and healthy; they were a little crowded at the bottom of the pot, but not too much.  I think there were two crowns in each pot for a total of six.  I planted them just a little deeper than the soil top in the pots, and I'll be adding more bagged soil and compost as the spears appear.

There are three more pots out at the community garden and I guess I'll be waiting a little longer to transplant them, mostly because I haven't found a good space for them yet.