What!!!! Oh Hive account@papa-pepper I just found your post in the nick of time!
I'd always been told that asparagus is a bugger to get started and that the growing takes about 3 years before a harvest can be taken. This year, was our first spring in our small house and I thought "That's it, I'm planting asparagus and I'm finally going to give it a whirl irregardless of what others advise. The longer I wait to plant, the longer I'll be continuing to wait." I bought roots at $1 a root and I planted 20. I know next to nothing about growing asparagus and it's been on my list to figure out if I should be cutting the ferny bits back or not before winter.
No kidding! I just raced outside to check them and I have what appears to be a mix between male and females...although my girls look like they are still flowering and no berries are red yet. I am so stoked about this because just this morning we had 2 dump truck loads of sand delivered to build up our small front yard. Top soil was planned next...my husband wants to plant grass because of ease of maintenance and now, I want to plant the entire front yard in asparagus!!! Hahaha!