How Many Asparagus Plants Per Person?
How many asparagus plants per person do you need to plant in your garden? That depends on how much you love asparagus and whether you plan to share it, freeze it, can it, pickle it, or ferment it. Detailed breakdown immediately below!
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Generally speaking, each asparagus crown planted will produce up to 25 asparagus spears each year and anywhere from 10-20 plants per person is likely an ideal number. This number assumes eating your asparagus fresh and not preserving it.
These numbers also depend on the variety of asparagus you’re growing, but assuming 20-25 spears per crown (or seedling) is a good base to calculate how much asparagus you should plant for yourself and your family.
Note: hybrid varieties of asparagus are the ones that will produce this amount of spears. Some varieties will only produce around 10 spears in total per crown or plant.
It is also important to note that in the first 2-3 years, the yield from a newly established asparagus patch will be considerably smaller, and light harvesting is necessary to ensure the continued health of the entire plant.
You will not get close to 25 spears until after this time has passed.
It is also important to note that the harvesting will occur over several weeks, and you do not get 20-25 spears at one time per plant.
And yields will be less in poor growing conditions too.
In the first few years, your asparagus harvest will only last for 2-3 weeks, but eventually, as the years go on, you will be harvesting for as long as 6-8 weeks the full amount that the plant is able to give.
Your asparagus is a wonderful and tasty perennial that will yield food for you and your family for 15 to 20 years — or more. But it requires patience.
If you’re growing asparagus from crowns, you will begin to harvest very lightly in year 2.
And if you’re planting asparagus seeds instead of crowns, you will only begin to lightly harvest from your patch in year 3.
If you have the space and love asparagus, I strongly urge that you plant as much as possible. And remember that those young children of yours will be growing up alongside the exact same asparagus patch — and their appetites will increase too!
Read More
- How To Grow Asparagus From Crowns (Complete Guide)
- Planting Asparagus Seeds: A Comprehensive Grow Guide
How Many Asparagus Plants For Preserving?
If you plan to share, freeze, ferment, pickle, and can your asparagus spears — plan for more plants. I would plant at least 10 just for this, with 20 plants in total probably being more ideal.
We really love asparagus.
We’re putting in a bed of 100 asparagus crowns of different varieties in the new homestead, and my family (as of this writing) consists of my husband, myself, and two toddlers. We want more children, and I plan to preserve my asparagus in numerous ways so we can all enjoy them after their brief season.
You might not have the space that we do.
Remember that asparagus (and the post-harvest season ferns that will grow to 3 feet tall and very wide) requires full sun, well-drained and rich soil, and a spacing of 18 inches between plants.
And keeping asparagus mulched is also beneficial.
But companion planting asparagus is a way to maximize your space if it’s in short supply, and delicious perennials like strawberries make for wonderful companions for asparagus, as do bush beans and many other plants.
Read the grow guides I linked above for more information on how to grow asparagus.
Read More
- The Best and Worst Companion Plants for Asparagus
- The BEST Mulch For Asparagus {Protect Your Asparagus Patch}
Final Thoughts
10-20 asparagus plants per person are how many you should aim for when planning out your garden. If you want to preserve your fresh asparagus spears — add 10 extra plants minimum, with 20 in total extra being ideal.
