Asparagus crowns.

[Philplot]

I have just bought some asparagus seeds, and was all ready to sow them when I noticed they do not produce crops until the 3rd, or 4th year.
( Silly me )

Trawling the internet, I have found some crowns that are already 2 years old.
They are priced at £1 each which includes delivery.
My questions.
A. Is this a fair price ?
B. How many plants would I need for an average family of five people ?

Thanks in advance,
Philplot

[Kristen]

Seed takes one year longer to crop than crowns - the first year potted on to, say, 2L pots (could be in the ground I suppose), and then planted out the second Spring much the same as Crowns, although I think they get less of a check. Some people might take a light crop the year after that, but advice is usually to forgo a crop to make sure that the roots have made enough growth.

£1 / crown is about right, but make sure you buy a variety that you like and that will perform well on your soil. You might want to have Early, Mid and Later varieties to spread the load.

I have about 60 crowns, but that is probably more than most people would grow - so probably no help in helping you decide how many you need! other than perhaps as an "Upper Limit"?!

[Philplot]

I have ordered "Millennium"
Not sure if they taste good or not.


Copy/pasted from internet

This autumn planting asparagus comes from Canadian breeding making it particularly cold tolerant and well suited to UK weather condiitons. Producing high yields of purple-tipped, green spears, Asparagus 'Guelph Millennium' is reliable in most soils. Height: 150cm (59"). Spread: 45cm (18").

[Kristen]

I have ordered "Millennium"
Not sure if they taste good or not.

Not heard of it ... not that that means anything! but I would have been more confident if I had done

Given that there are a couple of years wait for harvest, personally I would want first-choice variety (assuming price was not exorbitant!) rather than bargain price and unknown variety. Hopefully someone else knows of that variety; my first thought was that we don't need a variety suited to the cold in Canada, which probably means that it emerges late, and rather that a European-bred variety will do - varieties like Backlim, Gijnlim were bred in Holland.

I did found this via Google:

Millennium - Guelph, Canada. Late maturing and useful for extending the asparagus season into July in the UK. Spears start to emerge two to three weeks later than other varieties, often escaping late frosts. Although well adapted to cooler areas, the excellent spear quality is maintained in hot weather.

Dunno where you are in the UK (pop your approx location in your profile?) so that might suit you if you Up North.