5 Jersey Supreme Asparagus Bare Roots – High Yield Asparagus officinalis Crowns

Overview

Introducing the highly sought-after Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots, a premium choice for any home gardener looking to establish a prolific and delicious asparagus patch. This offering includes 5 dormant bare-root crowns of the ‘Jersey Supreme’ variety, renowned for its exceptional vigor and productivity. Asparagus officinalis ‘Jersey Supreme’ is an all-male hybrid, which means it dedicates all its energy to producing flavorful spears rather than seeds, resulting in a significantly higher yield compared to traditional varieties. These bare roots are the ideal starting point for cultivating your own gourmet asparagus, promising years of fresh, tender harvests right from your backyard. Enjoy the sweet, slightly nutty flavor of freshly picked asparagus, a true culinary delight that elevates any meal.

The ‘Jersey Supreme’ variety is particularly celebrated for its robust growth and disease resistance, making it a reliable choice for both novice and experienced gardeners. Planting these Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots in your garden is an investment that pays dividends in delicious, homegrown produce for decades. Prepare to be amazed by the sheer volume and quality of spears these plants can produce once established.

Key Benefits

Growing high yield asparagus like the ‘Jersey Supreme’ offers numerous advantages, transforming your garden into a source of fresh, healthy produce. Here are some of the key benefits:

• Exceptional Yield: As an all-male hybrid, ‘Jersey Supreme’ produces significantly more spears than female or mixed varieties, as it doesn’t expend energy on seed production. This means more delicious asparagus for your table.
• Superior Flavor and Texture: These asparagus spears are known for their thick, tender, sweet, and slightly nutty flavor, making them a gourmet addition to any dish.
• Disease Resistance: The ‘Jersey Supreme’ variety exhibits strong resistance to common asparagus diseases such as fusarium wilt and rust, ensuring healthier plants and more consistent harvests.
• Long-Term Productivity: Once established, an asparagus bed can produce for 15-20 years or even longer, offering a perennial source of fresh vegetables with minimal ongoing effort.
• Nutritional Value: Asparagus is a powerhouse of vitamins (A, C, E, K, B6), folate, iron, and potassium, contributing to a healthy diet.
• Garden Aesthetics: Beyond its culinary benefits, mature asparagus ferns add a beautiful, feathery texture to the garden landscape after the harvest season.
• Easy to Grow: While requiring patience to establish, growing asparagus crowns is relatively straightforward, making it accessible for gardeners of various skill levels.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

To ensure your Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots thrive and produce abundantly, proper care is essential. Asparagus prefers a site with full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Choose a well-drained location, as asparagus crowns are susceptible to rot in waterlogged soil. Before planting, amend the soil generously with organic matter like compost or aged manure to improve fertility and drainage. A soil pH between 6.5 and 7.0 is ideal. Dig a trench about 12 inches wide and 6-8 inches deep. Create a mound of soil in the center of the trench and spread the roots of each bare root crown over the mound.

Space the crowns about 12-18 inches apart in the trench, with rows 3-5 feet apart. Cover the crowns with about 2-3 inches of soil, and water thoroughly. As the spears grow, gradually fill the trench with soil until it is level with the surrounding ground. During the first year, avoid harvesting any spears, allowing the plants to establish a strong root system. This patience will be rewarded with a more robust and productive bed in subsequent years. From the second year onwards, you can begin to harvest spears for 4-6 weeks, and in the third year and beyond, harvest for 8-10 weeks. For optimal asparagus plant care, keep the bed free of weeds, as they compete for nutrients and moisture.

Water regularly, especially during dry periods, ensuring the soil remains consistently moist but not soggy. Fertilize in early spring with a balanced fertilizer or a side dressing of compost. After the harvest season, allow the ferns to grow and photosynthesize, which helps to store energy in the crowns for the following year’s crop. Cut back the ferns to the ground after they turn yellow or brown in late fall or early winter. This prepares the bed for winter and helps prevent disease. Monitoring for pests and diseases, though ‘Jersey Supreme’ is resistant, is still a good practice to maintain a healthy and productive high yield asparagus patch.

Size & Details

This offering includes 5 Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots, which are dormant crowns ready for planting. Each bare root is carefully selected to ensure vigor and health, providing a strong foundation for your future asparagus bed. Asparagus plants typically grow to a height of 3-5 feet with a spread of 1-2 feet once mature, forming a beautiful, feathery fern after the harvest season. These bare roots are shipped without a pot, in their natural dormant state, which is ideal for successful transplanting and establishment. With proper care, you can expect your first light harvest in the second year after planting, with full production commencing in the third year and continuing for many seasons.

The ‘Jersey Supreme’ variety is known for its rapid establishment and vigorous growth, making it an excellent choice for gardeners who want a reliable and productive asparagus bed. These crowns are designed to produce thick, succulent spears, offering a significant improvement over older, less productive varieties. They will arrive ready to be planted directly into your prepared garden bed, allowing you to begin your journey to homegrown gourmet vegetables immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big do these Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots get? A: Once established, Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots develop into mature plants that typically reach 3-5 feet tall and 1-2 feet wide. The spears themselves will be thick and tender, perfect for harvesting.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: Asparagus is an outdoor perennial vegetable. These asparagus officinalis bare roots are intended for planting directly into your garden bed, where they will grow and produce for many years.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: Asparagus requires full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day, for optimal growth and spear production.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? Is it good for beginners? A: While growing asparagus crowns requires patience for the first year, the ongoing care is relatively straightforward, making it suitable for beginners willing to wait for the first harvest.
• Q: What condition will the bare roots arrive in? A: Your Jersey Supreme Asparagus bare roots will arrive dormant and without a pot, which is the ideal state for planting. They will look like a cluster of roots with a crown in the center.
• Q: When is the best time to plant these bare roots? A: The best time to plant asparagus bare roots is in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked. This allows them ample time to establish before the heat of summer.
• Q: How long until I can harvest the asparagus? A: You should not harvest any spears in the first year after planting. A light harvest can begin in the second year, and full production for 8-10 weeks will occur from the third year onwards.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: Asparagus plant care includes winter dormancy. ‘Jersey Supreme’ is a hardy variety and will survive winter in its appropriate USDA hardiness zones by going dormant and re-emerging in spring.
• Q: What is the benefit of an all-male hybrid like ‘Jersey Supreme’? A: All-male hybrids like ‘Jersey Supreme’ are prized for their high yield asparagus production. They don’t produce seeds, so all the plant’s energy is directed into growing more and thicker spears, resulting in a more abundant harvest.