Hi, I'm Heidi Rader here in the Alaska garden.
I'm with UAF Cooperative Extension Service and Tanana Chiefs Conference and I'm
here in Homer, Alaska checking out all the cool things farmers are doing here
to extend the season like high tunnels, hoop houses, low tunnels and also the
other cool tools they're using as small-scale farmers.
I'm here with Wayne Jenkins here at Cynergy Garden and Wayne's gonna show us the asparagus he
planted last year and talk a little bit about the varieties he's growing and
some experiments he's doing with asparagus. So, Wayne you planted this
asparagus last year?
Wayne: Yes. Yes, we planted three varieties outside and in the high tunnels, which you'll see in a little while.
And we chose three varieties that we thought would give us good flavor and production, but no one
can really tell us - at least where we are in Alaska, which is going to perform best. So that's why we
chose three rather than maybe just one or two. And the three varieties that we
chose are Millennium which came out of asparagus research... research in Canada so
we figured you know we'd probably be alright on survivability through the
winter. We also have Del Monte 361 which was an old high production commercial
variety, but it was also known for really really good flavor and then Purple Passion
which is very popular right now in the lower 48 because of its deep
purple color. And it has it has a really good flavor.
Heidi: Nice. So when did you plant it in the fall?
Wayne: We actually planted this in the spring. And I'm thinking
it was probably May. Heidi: Oh, a full year ago. Wayne: That we worked the bed's up, yeah.
Heidi: Okay and so it's late May now and I
don't really that it's coming up yet.
Out here it's not up yet. And and we could speed it up a little bit.
We could pull the hay off and the beds would warm up even faster, but
it's you know and we're not really in a big rush. But there it is a world of
difference between what's going on out here and what's going on in the tunnels
which you'll see. But the ground is still really cold you
can tell by touch. This is really really good soil. These beds - these raised beds
have been amended specifically for vegetables and asparagus which means a lot of lime.
But this ground was alder ground and it's it's probably one of the
richest spots on the farm. So we'll see how it performs.
Heidi: And so you've got hay as a mulch here. How thickly do you mulch them?
Wayne: For getting it through the winter we start with about a foot - 8 inches to a foot because it's going to
compact down to 6 to 4 inches. But we really need a lot of insulation
protection. What we always hope for is, you know, six inches to a foot of
snow as a blanket. But a lot of times we don't get that. What we get is ice
and so these beds will just be coated with a layer of ice and you can actually
get - if your plants are in a cup of soil it can freeze solid and then it can
affect the crowns and freeze them out completely. We had an event a couple of
years ago and people that had perennials - for like 30 or 40 years - lost them.
And a lot of people - a lot of local people with peonies lost their peonies in that same year.
This weird ice freeze.
Heidi: Interesting. Well, let's go check out the asparagus in the high tunnels. Wayne: You bet.
Heidi: Wow, it's incredible how tall these asparagus plants are here in the high tunnel.
Wayne: Yeah they're doing great. They really like it in here.
Heidi: So it's near the end of May and your asparagus outside doesn't - hasn't even come up yet and these are taller than we are.
Wayne: Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. The same three
varieties as out there and they're the same age and they were
planted pretty much at the same time.
Heidi: Two year-old crowns. Wayne: Yup. Heidi: And since they're fairly new asparagus
you're just letting them grow and fern out this year? Wayne: Right.
Heidi: And how many years will you do that?
Wayne: Oh, you're supposed to do it about three -
I don't know if we can hold ourselves back. We've test tasted a few of these already
just try to get a hint of the flavor and they're pretty good. But they claim that
if you start harvesting too early, you actually slow down production later on.
So we'll see how much self-control we have.
Heidi: And then what size of a spear do you harvest? About this size or a little bit bigger?
Wayne: Well, yeah, that's small. I mean you would hope for something bigger. You know about as big around as
your your finger or your thumb.
Heidi: And this is the Purple Passion? It looks like. Wayne: Yup.
Heidi: That's beautiful.
And you mulch inside as well - inside the high tunnel?
Wayne: Yeah, we - because asparagus can last 15, 20, 25 years, we put in the permanent
made a permanent raised bed, but yeah we always mulch it - mostly
for weed control, weed suppression in the summer but it probably gives us some
protection in the winter but it doesn't get near as cold in here even but though
the soil does freeze solid down about 6 to 10 inches.
Heidi: Uh huh, interesting. Well it looks like you're gonna have a nice crop of asparagus in a few years.
Wayne: Yeah, it looks like it's doing well.