Chinese Gardener says "The best time to plant a fruit tree is 20 years ago, 2nd best time is today!"

I’m getting close to harvesting this year’s asparagus crop from a bed that I helped my dad plant 45+ years ago- so worth a three year wait!

3 years. And most of my asparagus never even makes it into the house. It is so tender and sweet that a lot of it is eaten raw in the garden.

I grow asparagus and strawberries together in a 4’ x 8’ raised bed. I mulched with hardwood chips. It works great because, as you stated, the asparagus sprouts first, the strawberries flower during and fruit after the asparagus is finished. We also inoculated with wine cap mushrooms. I had a nice harvest of berries and mushrooms after only 1 year and am letting the asparagus mature for another year before harvesting anything.

This Spring I was given 6 Asparagus crowns, not knowing where I should plant them in my garden I tossed them into a large pot. Next winter, I'll move them into my strawberry patch and see what happens. Today's modern farming Conventional Wisdom says you must till, amend and till some more then spray with chemical fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides until nothing grows but the desired GMO enhanced crop you desire. I'll take unconventional wisdom any day. Thanks for posting.

I uprooted my first year asparagus and forgot to plant it properly in my new garden. I left it exposed on the ground during winter and had inadvertently covered it with mulch/soil in the new bed. It came up on its own this spring to my surprise. I couldn’t even remember where I left it and thought it will just decompose. So there’s random asparagus in my new plot now and I didn’t even try hard to plant it, LOL.

This is why I try to get the long-term perennial parts of my garden in ASAP. Because the invest takes time to pay dividends.

I remember collecting asparagus with my dad. It grew wild in the ditches. One of my favorite memories.

Even though you are the narrator of this channel, I love how you always use the word "We" when talking about what you and your wife have done in your garden. It's small, but very sweet and telling to your attention and care to your relationship. Power team garden!!! I hope I can own a house and land to garden/homestead with my partner one day

Did almost exactly the same thing this spring, also planting some asparagus from seed. I just did it the other way around, 2 rows of asparagus on the outside, spaced approximately 1.5 feet apart, strawberries in the center. I bought the asparagus plants in large pots, dug a deep hole, amended it it some horse manure compost and topped it off with a thin layer of straw. I also planted a few tomatoes in the middle as I didn’t have enough strawberry plants. Until now all is looking great! The tomatoes are shading out the asparagus somewhat, but the small plants from seed don’t seem to mind. The already 1 year old asparagus just send shoots up through the tomato plants that are growing „wild“, without staking or pruning. I think mother nature will take care of the rest. 😄

Asparagus and strawberry, never thought about it. A beautiful investment with life long returns. U know these two are costly In the market. Thanks for the video. Your way of treating soil is great.

I have harvested loads of asparagus along back roads under fences planted and fertilized and deposited by bird droppings. By the time you see where the asparagus ferns is it beyond prime so remember for next year where it was .......... and tell nobody. 🌱🌿🌱

I was only thinking about you the other day and checked out if I had missed out any postings. Glad to see you back. Hope everything is going well. Can't wait for the next posting

I have strawberries and asparagus growing together in my townhouse garden. It is small, but has been working fine. I bought some crowns and some seeds. Both have grown well. I don't harvest and eat as much as I could, but I really love the fronds when they open and been over the other plants. It helps like a mulch, but has lower risk of fungus. The berries don't produce lots, but they spread each year more and more. That's encouraging, but the few berries attract lots of slugs and snails.

I planted asparagus seeds in mushroom mulch last year in the spring and my ferns this year were 5 feet tall. I sampled them this year and they were amazing.

For anyone interested in reading more about this digging technique, it's called Double Digging. Also, be sure to let the asparagus fern complete its life cycle without cutting any stalks for the first year or two. It uses all that energy to build up its roots which then allows the stalk to come back bigger the next year.

It will work fine. You can do it without digging! Lay strawberries and asparagus cover it works! Use the old asparagus ferns you don't use at the end of the season for your paths. Encourage you to add another Storey above can't remember where you are but may be grapes? Perennials, fruit cordons, ground cover canopy...shade mushrooms. Get excited for you! You got exiting day's a head! Need a fruit and nut hedge all around your growing area. Thanks for sharing good stuff!

hi. great vid, I've tried this Companion Planting Asparagus and Strawberries and it's been working pretty well

Two months waiting for the video and now will be two years waiting for the asparagus? Just kidding, you two are amazing, thank you for all the videos.

I just decided to terrace my hillside and plant strawberries and asparagus... this video has just helped cement that decision

I planted asparagus back in 2016 and by now have very nice yields every spring. But a word of caution, in a few years their foliage will be so dense in the summer that it completely shades out the strawberries. No ground cover survives past June in my asparagus patch. Once that happens, you can however plant tomato plants every year along the south facing side of the asparagus patch.They will happily climb through the dense jumble of asparagus ferns and lean onto them for support. Cucumber or squash should work too, but asparagus draws a lot of water from the soil.

I planted Asparagus in compost and was able to harvest a bit in the 2nd season. I did none of the digging you outlined. I hope you enjoy your asparagus bed, they are a joy.

You always do such a great job explaining what you're doing and why! Both with the graphics and the commentary, plus shots of the actual plants -- makes it really easy to understand what's going on, even for those of us gardening newbies :-)

Great info here. The only thing that concerned me was planting the asparagus crown that deep. I build the mound on top of my trench above the flat ground this elevates the bed and provides better drainage. My process has been planting my asparagus crown around the same depth you planted the strawberries. Then I add a couple inches of mulch. Speaking of mulch I use mushroom compost for most beds hay doesn't have as many benefits or great water retention, the worms go crazy for mushroom compost. Cheers Marko

I have strawberries planted with asparagus And it's easy to grow! I only dug down a few feet and I have delicious asparagus. The purple is the best!!!

Just a tip from a guy who has been gardening for 40 years: If you want to turbo charge the growth of your patch cover it in two inches of horse manure (fresh is fine and often free from stables if you have a truck). Do this at planting and in the fall every 2 years and don’t bother digging in. Then cover with straw as normal. Thank me after you try it.

Just popped into say that your videos have really helped me with my own gardening and for first time ever... I GREW MY OWN GARLIC!!!

My daughter bought asparagus plants last year (late spring) that were already started...she stuck them in a part of the garden we didn’t use or really maintain. They grew and she had a few to eat the first summer. Fast forward to yesterday...second spring...cold and still flurries....but I was thrilled to see lots of asparagus popping up an they are stronger and thicker this year. There is even a lot more! We didn’t do anything, except add some 99 cent a bag soil from Walmart to plant them! :) so thrilled! Want to buy more plants!

I miss my Asparagus plants! I planted some in my old property. They were in the beginning of year three, when I had to relocate for work. I never did go back to drive by the property to see if they have continued to grow or not. One of these days, I'll have a plot of land big enough that I can grow it again!

I have successfully grown asparagus in a no-till bed. I mulch with compost (wood chips, horse manure, green material and veggie scraps.) and companion with strawberries, which was just a happy coincidence.

Harvested my first batch of asparagus today. 2 yr crowns planted 2 yrs ago. Walking back to the house I was surprised about the strong smell and the amount of water that was coming out of them. Buying from the grocery they are always dry at the stem. Pretty cool.

Fascinating! We had asparagus crowns a few years ago. They did great the first 2 years, but failed in the third. We moved them to a better part of the garden, but that sealed their fate. I've decided to invest in the future of my garden in a big way, part of which entails growing asparagus again...from seed! Wish me luck!

This is close to my plan for organic asparagus beds. I will till a 60inches wide X 324 inches long bed, adding lots of organic matter, then plant asparagus crowns 12 inches apart & 6 inches deep. The bed is 5 feet wide to give the crowns lots of room & 27 feet long for 25 crowns. The strawberris are a filler to shade the beds, because we will cover the beds with Hardwood chips to feed the Wine cap myceluim, which will compost the chips for us & all we have to do is shade the mycelium, feed more hardwood chips or wheat straw & water. Oh & eat the mushrooms that comse with the flush. Oh, asparagus only needs to be buried deep in the soil only if you want white spears, if you like green spears, 6 to 8 inches is fine. If the Wine Cap mycelium works as good, as I have read, then my crowns will be in 12 inches deep in less than 10 year.

You’re still alive !😂 Just had to tell you ! First crop of potatoes under hay. So easy! Cardboard--old horse pooh- seed--wait-- potatoes!!! Thanks for the inspiration guys. My 200 square feet of garden is now 700 square feet and expanding still. I’ve never worked so little for so much. Wish I could send you a picture

good video!! Three years ago, I bought maybe 5 crowns of asparagus...at $15-20 for those. I'm in growing zone 7. It's just the 2 of us and we're "older", and we were playing/hoping. Now, 3 years later (it actually might be 4?) we are seeing at least 25 plants and enough produce for us to enjoy for a meal, or a snack in the yard. And for us, that's fine. I don't want to can or freeze it...but this year, first time, we have had enough to make bacon-wrapped asparagus with enough for us to be full of it, not merely contented. We don't have room for strawberries with the asparagus, and that's fine. We're on a 1/4 acre lot just outside of town. Thank you for your videos! (and we too garden with deep old hay mulch. It's just the best)

The crown is the node where all the roots meet. The crown is where the shoots will originate from.

my patch of asparagus is about 30 years old (if not older), still spreading and still producing well.

Homegrown asparagus is the best. I eat them all raw. This was my 3rd year and I got quite a nice harvest with plenty left to grow. It is the no 1 vegetable I have ever grown.

My asparagus shoots 4 inches or so high..my strawberries have blooms..my patch is 4 years old. Asparagus is very easy to start from seed..makes a nice hedge fern like..give it a special place in your garden and let it alone..I use pine needles for the top dressing of the entire bed.

Another excellently produced interesting learning video. That's going to look like a beautiful ornamental garden when they come up. Your soil is so rich, your labors pay off. Looking forward to the next video. 😊👍

What an educational and yet very funny video to watch. Thank you.

Yeah you guys are missed awesome video as always 🇨🇦🇨🇦🛠🛠🛠

We grew Asparagus for over 20 years and just replanted the bed 2 years ago. We should start getting some Asparagus again this year. I top dressed it with composted horse manure over the Winter and top dressed it w/ hot chicken manure this Spring.

In my 8th year of strawberries and asparagus companionship in a raised bed under black weed barrier. Phenomenal asparagus harvest every year with only 5 plants and a ton of strawberries too. Since the barrier keeps the strawberries from re-rooting to an extent, I have relocated many of the offshoots (daughters) around my blueberry bushes in a retaining wall, in pots, and in the neighbors yards as well. The only problem we have here in RI are the chipmunks eating the strawberries. I don't mind sharing a few, but they never really seem to finish one. They take a few bites and grab another. Gluttonous! So I (shhh!) relocate them to a nearby park, just a mile or so away. If they ever make it back, I guess they deserve a few berries. Would definitely do this again.

Why do all canadians have infinite wholesome energy?

5hanks for the encouragement. Now I'm glad I planted asparagus, though it was a year ago already. Now I wish I would have tasted the scrumptious spear when it was only 4 inches tall.

Dude! This enjoy this video for so many reasons. -First of all, the way you say "sorry". Ha! -The fun animations! -The fun with words you had. -Plus the info. VERY creative! Thanks for sharing your talent.

The time, energy and talent you devote to visuals, as well as thorough explanations, is greatly appreciated. The typical format of talking in front a camera simply isn't helpful to novices like myself.

Asparagus is easy and pretty permanent. Get it started and walk away. My patch I started about 7 years ago starts shooting stalks out of the ground early April and if I keep it picked it produces all summer although when it gets hot it slows down.

I threw seeds on the ground behind some flowers a couple years ago and they came up skinny and small the first year and this past year cam up medium and tall. I am guessing next year I will be able to harvest some. Oh, and I covered the seeds with lots of mulch.

I did this a few years ago. Strawberries needed constant help to keep up with the weeds and never really spread much for me. Eventually the weeds won out. Asparagus did fairly well for a number of years but didn't survive last winter as we had a colder one that usual. Not sure if I'm gonna try again next year or just go with another perennial. I should note that our "soil" is horrible. 100% clay. I did asparagus when I first got the property to farm on and didn't really know what I was doing. Domestic strawberries are nowhere near as prolific as their native counterparts in poor soil. If I try it again I will amend heavily and be relentless on the weeds. I did find growing chives with asparagus and strawberries helped fill a weed void, but alas I discovered this too late.

Sooooooo glad to see you post again! I always learn so much.

Very true you need to start today instead of regretting later why didn’t I do it. We have done same with cassavas which can take 3-4 years to be ready and enjoyed our first harvest last year and every year since with succession planting. We have to make most of every moment.

Yay another video!! Sure miss you guys!!

I sowed asparagus seeds 4 consecutive years running down five rows, covering them with compost. The wild strawberries came naturally to the rows. I generally plant annual vegetables with the asparagus as companions but it is obvious the strawberries are taking over as ground cover. I had a good crop of asparagus last summer and a large crop of the largest wild strawberries I've ever seen. After adding the compost layer in the spring, I think I will spread the strawberry plants better among the asparagus.

I planted some crowns in my Greenhouse raised bed last year, I found Cucumbers and other Vines grow well with them because they climb and can be trained easily not to crowd out the light for other plants. Gonna Do Melons and Cukes with the Asparagus this year.

In the early to mid 1930s asparagus was grown in dozens of acres in Cearfoss Maryland until about the early 1960s. The fields have never been tilled up that i know of just farmers bail hay from it. Still to this day certain times of the year you can fill a 5 gallon bucket up in under an hour with asparagus. If you get there before anyone else that is.

Thank you. I did plant asparagus early this year. So -if everything works well- I'll only have to wait two more years. Coming spring I'll give them those nice companions, the wild strawberries. Plenty of them are growing in another part of the garden, I can take cuttings

Those strawberry crowns really needed some sun.

And where were you and all this wonderful info 50 years ago when I began gardening . . . LOL God bless you, your family and pets.

Such a fuss to plant asparagus! Mine went I as you do. I did a shallow trench, planted the roots, covered it up, watered with fertilizer tea, covered the rest in compost and mulch. The asparagus is Very happily producing over a decent season. We have nasty, shallow clay and a rather lazy gardener.

I planted my asparagus basically the same way, dig, remove rocks, flip and plant. Of the 10 Mary Washington plants, I got 8 to survive and after ten years, they are amazing! I don't over pick, let them bush naturally, and every year now getting asparagus about as thick as my thumb. Great fresh from the garden, raw or cooked. Only use leaf and grass clippings to keep the weeds away.

This will work for you, no problem. I did something similar in my hugel this spring - already had some asparagus and strawberries in it, but the deer had gotten in and a bunch were lost. You planted even better than i did! My asparagus I did a super lame thing (but very simple) - I just took a long spade, stuck it into the earth as deep as it would go, and rocked it a bit until I created a gap big enough to fit my hand into. Then while holding the shovel with my left hand, took the asparagus crown and pushed it down as deep as it would go into the gap without bunching up the roots. Had to do some careful positioning and it definitely wasn't ideal but I had very little time or energy! But every single crown I planted (24 of them) came up. It took very little time. I will give the caveat that it is a mature, seasoned LARGE hugel - 25 feet long and was roughly 6 feet tall when I initially built it about 4 years ago, but is now down to about 3.5 feet tall.

For these of us who have read Ruth Stout book 4 or 5 times & consider it one of the book of the garden bible, that proved it self while the new writer that are buzz words for people who are just starting down the life long garden path. We know that a seedling asparagus grew outside Ruth garden & she saw it & said no reason to plant asparagus in a deep trench, if a seedling can make it without help of any kind. I agree with everything but the trench, because the trench was not to protect or make the crowns stronger, the trench was for taste ONLY! The 12 to 14 inch trench was to grow the spears under ground, to keep the them white & tender, away from the sun & harvested with a special knife. What is White Asparagus and How is it Grown? White asparagus is the same as green asparagus but grown without daylight. Denying the spears daylight as they grow prevents photosynthesis from taking place and this is the process that produces the green colouring in plants. WHite Asparagus ready to peel The plants are grown in the dark by piling soil on top of the spears as they appear and then cutting them well below the surface with a special knife before they grow through the soil into the daylight. The varieties planted to produce this type of Asparagus are generally different from those planted for green asparagus.Growing the spears this way involves more labour and inevitably therefore makes the white spears more expensive. www.asparagus-lover.com/white-asparagus.html And all perennial beds have always been no till, in the home garden, just like the Blueberry beds.

My asparagus love green beans planted with them.

So much better than store bought.

I don't have much asparagus, but what I do have is in the middle of a strawberry bed. My original asparagus planting, many years ago, mostly failed, but a few plants survived. When I decided to put strawberries in that location, I couldn't bear pulling out the asparagus. My experience is that they're not really very good companions, space-wise,, because the asparagus grows in a clump that eventually takes up a lot of room. The strawberry runners are not long enough to route the to the "other side" of a row of asparagus. However, the strawberries that are overhung by the feathery fronds of the asparagus seem less likely to be chewed on by rabbits and deer. But they also are somewhat shaded and not terribly productive. And oh, that fresh raw asparagus is heavenly to eat. I've never cooked any homegrown, just eaten it raw while standing in the garden.

Ive eaten wild asparagus and wild strawberries. Holy Moly Delicious! Even gnawing on the thick stem of the asparagus to suck out the water. Yum!

LOLOL which means I’m gonna have to stick to ur channel for good two, three years AND THAT IS COMPLETELY FINE BY ME!!

Last year I planted some asparagus basically the same way, and eventually most of them came up. This year, they came back up, but still only 1 spear/fern each. I also planted some more this spring and so far 2 of maybe 10 came up. I got them from canadian tire right when they got them in stock, picked the heaviest thickest packages... and they were still like dried up strings inside of paper tubes when I planted them.. Yours looked atleast a little lively.. My strawberrys, also from CT were also pretty lousy. I too have the wild ones though and am letting them send runners into the asparagus beds. I find when they grow in new beds the berries are larger.

Thank you very much. I wish I could have seen your videos in my younger years; especially for asparagus.

Please quit you day job and make more videos! I’ve learned so much!

I have used your tips and i learned alot from you, Going to harvest my crops this fall!! Love your channel!

Ruth Stout rocks!

Ha! 😀I use to flip the sod when I was a teenager using the same logic. Strawberry plants need light. Because of the mulch, check often. Then clear a space for them. The Asparagus spears can seek the light much easier than strawberry plant.

Glad to see your content back Please keep it coming!

I grew up in south east Kansas near an old cemetery. Every road leading to the cemetery had asparagus in the fence rows. Floral decorations taken to the cemetery used asparagus plants as part of the flower decorations. So we thought we would move a particular plant with really broad nice spears closer to home. It did not work well. They survived but were small spears like the rest on our property. There was something in that particular fence row that produced those amazing asparagus spears.

Seven years ago I bought some asparagus seeds from Walmart put some compost on the ground spread the seeds over the top and put some light dirt on top. And they are growing beautifully. It really isn’t as hard as you are making it. Your way will work beautifully as well just wanted to let you know it’s not that complicated

You don't need to justify your decision for flipping the sod, but I am glad you did

I'm so jealous you live in such a rich area! I'm from the southwest, and it takes me years to MAKE soil out of dusty rock and sand. And rain..... well, sometimes. lol. You are blessed.

I'm so glad I found this video. I did exactly this during the spring unknowingly and thought I'd made a terrible mistake later. Ha! Now I'm just going to leave it alone and see what happens.

Strawberries do not like to be covered. They grow very close to the ground. In the winter they significantly slow up, but a few leaves are green year round.. I also do not let my strawberries start wherever they like. I cut runners or put 5-7oz old fruit cups filled with dirt under the budding runners to start new plants. I then cut the runner when the new plants root and transplant 15 to 20 new plants into a 3 gallon bucket. They are fine crowded together. After a few months, or over winter, I move the new strawberries to their permanent home. I now have thousands. This year I am planting strawberries on the south side of new fruit trees in holes in architectural fabric. I may get a smaller crop, but why not get the most of the space. Good luck.

I tried this in 1of my Hügelkultur bed last year, after I built them. Not 1 single plant took. Seriously didn't get anything. I replanted the asparagus crowns this spring, I got 1 plant that got an inch tall then died. I added a whole new section to my garden this year and build a new bed that's compost then top soil and compost mixed. I have tomatoes in it now but will be planning asparagus seeds in it next year. Hopefully they will take there. P.S. I did a quarter of my fence last year and a quarter of it so far this year, your not the only one procrastinating.

So crazy. I just planted asparagus and strawberry in the same bed. How ironic to find this video a few hours later. Thanks for sharing. 😊

omg, we have a hell of a time keeping the wild strawberries in check here! And i have left some large vines that seeded themselves into my raised beds to see if we end up getting some good yields eventually.

I dug up a male and two female asparagus plants I found in the wild and planted them in the fall 2 years ago. I have had asparagus every spring since.

Your concept is so cool, I'm so glad to have ran into this channel. Very helpful and thorough, most of all very simple. All you need now are bees! Thank you for sharing all your knowledge, you both are doing humanity a great service. Keep up the great work!

0:05 For a moment I thought you are talking about your wonderful videos :D Glad I can relax for another 11 minutes. Keep them coming!

I love your videos: I love how you explain the method and ideas behind the method in each video. I can't wait to find out if your strawberries came up!

The ground where I put my garden was so hard that even a tiller had problems. Could not use a shovel it was so hard. Tiller kept bouncing it was that hard. Took 3 years of tilling and adding leaves and such to get it straightened out. Even added Gypsum to loosen it. Added biochar too. Now I have about 10 inches of awesome soil that is easy to plant in. Nice and loose, fluffy, COAL BLACK in color. Not deep enough for carrots (those like deep fluffy soil) but plenty for all the other plants. Don't condemn tilling as it is sometimes necessary. About tilling - look up the Mormon Cricket and how it nearly became instinct (which was the goal).

Planted some last year, so this year I will be doing the first cuttings

I bought strawberries crowns once, soaked them and planted them. They never came up. Was disappointed. But on the other hand the strawberries I grew from seed had a great germination rate and thriving very well. Great video

Thanks for an other inspiring video. We’ll be starting the stout method after harvesting.

Just planted my asparagus this year. Can’t wait until the first harvest!

Interesting.. I put this pairing out on my Huglebed like 3 years ago, having never heard of it, just.. did it. Working great so far.

It grows without any help in the weeds along fence lines. And is very productive.

I have asparagus growing in the middle of my strawberries and it works very well but I keep the asparagus area clear. My very well established asparagus now continues to give me spears until the end of June. My strawberries best month is June and they also have a lot of foliage and do very well but I would not be able to see them well if they were mixed together and I also might step on the young spears and crowns which are very delicate. Also, I think you planted the strawberries too deep. Anyway, we only learn by doing, so good on yah!

Just ate my first homegrown asparagus this morning and it was literally the best asparagus I've ever tried

Love your videos! Love the animations, background information and detailed steps, simply amazing! Well done...

I have wild strawberries growing my asparagus bed. They are the *nastiest* tasting berries I'd ever had the misfortune to taste. They're small, tasteless, gritty pieces of yuck, and they've taken over the asparagus bed. I'm having a hell of a time yanking them out of the ground. Instead, based on your comment that strawberries and asparagus are companion plants, I've decided to plant decent strawberries next year instead. Hopefully, I can get rid of the nasty stuff before then and keep them from cross-pollinating with the good stuff. BTW, when I planted my purple asparagus about 5 (?) years ago, I simply put them down about 8 inches in the ground (I have raised beds over hard clay you can make bricks out of) and that was that. They keep coming up year after year and they're so good, I don't even get them in the house. I end up eating them raw, right of the garden! :)