Last spring we planted a raised bed with asparagus crowns. Background on asparagus can be found in my previous post on Asparagus. The crowns produced ferns which we carefully monitored for asparagus beetles, removing adults, eggs and larvae by hand during the summer. The ferns were allowed to die back over winter, and were then cut, removed and composted. The bed was then covered with a layer of leaves about 4" deep. New spears have now emerged and we have begun harvesting our first tasty asparagus crop, removing fewer than 50% of the newly emerged spears in this second year;
We are hopeful that the stand will last a good 10 -15 years if we don't over-harvest.