Asparagus is always a delight in the spring. It’s the first thing to arrive and harvest in the outdoor garden, and after a few years at this elevation I have found that the asparagus needs just a little help staying warm in this cold climate. While I’m always able to harvest some for eating, it sometimes freezes, so the amount is always dependent on the weather. 

We get a lot of warm spells throughout April with daytime highs in the 70’s, which encourages asparagus growth. However, some of the nighttime lows can reach as low as 0°F. The asparagus shoots come up only to freeze in the cold. We have tried covering the asparagus with plastic over the hoops and/or frost cloth at night in early spring. We’ve placed bottles filled with water around the asparagus to help keep it warm. Even with all the precautions, sometimes it’s just too cold and we lose quite a few spears.

The first year of this garden (2017) we planted “Millenium” asparagus crowns, hardy to Zone 3, “a male hybrid asparagus variety bred in Ontario, Canada. The plant is hardy, tolerant to cold winters.” The second year I couldn’t wait and harvested about enough for one meal. The third year (2019) I was able to have a few meals of delicious asparagus. Since then, I take what I can get that isn’t too skinny or frozen.

2020: I divided a few of the largest plants and relocated the divisions to another area. This may have affected the growth on the “mother” plants. The divisions did not grow much during the summer–one may not have made it at all.

One of our favorite ways to eat asparagus is to grill it. Either full spears or cut, we drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and grill it alongside our meat of choice in a veggie grill pan.