COMPANION PLANTING
Strawberries and asparagus are natural companions. Both are early spring crops that will begin to produce after your last frost date. They root on different levels to maximize the nutrient return in your garden. Both should be mulched to keep down weeds and to maximize yields.
Strawberries usually have a 4-year life span, but the plants runner, self-planting new strawberry plants in the same area for years. To prolong the lifespan of your asparagus-strawberry garden, you’ll want to pick varieties of strawberries that runner and manage the runners to keep them within the rows. When you’re considering how to grow strawberries and asparagus for best results, chose self propagating varieties.
plant your asparagus at least 12 inches deep, and plant your strawberries 4 to 6 inches deep. In this way, they will draw nutrients from different levels of the garden bed.
While you can grow asparagus from seed, you will have a more productive patch if you begin with 1-year-old or 2-year-old crowns and choose an all-male variety. Asparagus plants are either male or female. The male plants produce more spears than female plants. The female plants spend their energy in seed production, which curtails their spear yield the following spring. By choosing an all-male variety, you will have bigger harvests each spring.
Asparagus likes well-drained soil. Too much soil moisture will rot the roots. It likes full sun but will grow with some dappled shade. Pick your spot thoughtfully. Your asparagus will be growing in the same area for decades. You are going to prepare an area that is 10 feet wide by 20 feet long or around 200 square feet. You will have a space large enough for 50 asparagus plants and 75 strawberry plants. Placed on a gentle slope the bed will frost drain, protecting the plants from late spring frosts.
Twenty-five asparagus plants are enough for a family of 4 for the asparagus season. Fifty plants will give you enough asparagus to preserve for winter eating.
To prepare the area, remove all the weeds . Rototill the area or prepare it with a broad fork to loosen the soil. Add 4 inches of finished compost, 1 gallon of bone meal, and about a 1-gallon bucket of wood ashes. Fully incorporate these amendments into the bed. The initial planting time is your chance to amend the soil for long term harvests.
we wont plant until later in year , but at this time of year you want to start your garden prep with feeding the soil with compost so the rains will water it in .
In New Zealand plant asparagus from July to December in warm areas and from September to December in cooler areas.
You’ll plant the asparagus first and then place the strawberry plants between the asparagus in the same rows. Later the strawberries will send out runners into the spots between the asparagus, filling in the area. You will want to thin out the runners as the plants are growing to leave room to step inside the bed so that you can harvest both asparagus and strawberries in June and July every year. Depending on your strawberry variety, they can fill all available room in the bed with runners. Runners can also be pruned back in the early portion of the growing season, to encourage more berry production.
Plant asparagus in trenches. Mark 7 rows using a plumb line, to ensure that your rows are straight. Dig trenches 6 inches wide by 12 inches deep. Place your trenches 2 feet apart. Then mound the soil up inside the trenches at least 6 inches.
Soak your asparagus crown roots in compost tea while you prepare the trenches. They will take a long drink and be ready for the soil if they’ve had a chance to draw in some moisture before planting.
When you are ready to plant, drape the asparagus crowns over the mound in the trench, letting the roots wrap down on either side of the mound. Space your asparagus plants 17 inches apart with 7 plants per 10-foot trench. Cover the crown with dirt, until the soil is level with the ground.
Now place two strawberry plants in between each asparagus crown, 10 to 12 strawberry plants per row. Plant the strawberry plants 4 to 6 inches deep, ensuring that the crown of the strawberry is above the soil surface. Firm the soil in around the plants.
Water well. Then mulch with 4 inches of straw between the rows to keep the weeds in check and control the moisture levels.If you planted 2-year-old asparagus crowns, you would get your first small harvest in the 3rd spring after planting. Harvest only those spears that are at least finger thick. Harvest for 6-weeks and then allow the rest to grow into tall ferns. These ferns feed the root and prepare it with nourishment for the winter. Once the ferns die back in the fall, you can clip them and remove them from the bed.