When to plant asparagus

I have never planted asparagus and was wondering when to plant it. I didnt know if I can plant it when there is still a chance of frost. Any advice is appreciated.

I would wait. Freezing/frost will kill any spears above ground. Might not kill the roots, but the first year the plant is tender.

In Kansas, you can plant any time now. When I lived in Northern Nebraska, I planted roots as soon as the frost went out. They will take longer to come up than established plants and it won't kill the plant if they freeze. You won't be able to harvest for at least a year or two, anyway

I plan on planting spears does that make a difference.

Is fresh much better than canned? All I've ever had was canned and it was pretty nasty imo.

Never heard of such a thing. I've only seen asparagus sold as roots or seed. If you are transplanting spears from your area, I see no reason why they wouldn't do fine. If you are hauling them from Mexico, might be a different story. If asparagus is, normally, up in your area at this time, you should be fine.

Fresh, sauteed in bacon grease, is fantastic. Not to mention, your pee will smell funny later!

I agree that canned is not great. Blanched and frozen is much better. Fresh is best.

To plant, in the spring when the soil was ready to be worked, I used the roto-tiller and a shovel to make a trench 10 or so inches deep. Put in 3 or so inches of good compost, put in the crowns with the buds up and roots spread out, and then covered. Now it is mowed in the fall when everything is brown, and covered with a several inches of dirty straw and sheep ship. Weed control, as everywhere in the garden, is an ongoing chore.

Larry, I've not heard of planting spears either. I've always bought crowns, and they are planted fairly deep, the spears are shoots from the crowns, and if you dug deep enough to get the crown with it, that would work. You have to wait two years to cut spears out of new plantings. If you don't, you may kill the plant. I've heard of folks planting seeds, and while they will grow, the crown takes a long while to develop, and the care to keep the young seedlings watered during our summer would be more intense than I want any part of. The best way is to buy crowns, and plant them as directed, then if you make ice cream, pour the saltwater on the bed to keep the weeds and grasses out.

My bad I am planning on buying crowns not spears.

If you buy crowns(roots) tomorrow, I would guess you could plant them any time now in Kansas.

not everyone can smell it , it is a specific gene

young tender shoots sauted are excellent canned anything is generally a sad way to preserve a vegetable fresh is so much better

with the exception of pickels and kraut