I've mentioned before that it's a late spring here. But finally! The asparagus is coming up. These were volunteers from an asparagus bed in another area of the garden. Most places will sell you crowns of almost all male plants. Male plants are the ones that put up spears. The female plants however produce the seed and i got some that took in my bed. This is the time to plant asparagus. You buy crowns, and plant them now. Asparagus is a perennial plant, that can last up to 25 years. The first year you plant them, they probably won't produce spears, and if they do, you shouldn't harvest them. The next year, don't take many, the spears will help the plants get stronger and produce more. By the third year you can harvest most of the spears. It's worth the wait, and a great thing about asparagus plants is once their established you never have to plant them again. No seed starting, no seed planting.. you can fertilize your asparagus bed with a balanced fertilizer in early spring before the spears appear. Then again in June after they're done. Also keep the bed weeded so that the asparagus isn't competing with the weeds for nutrition from the soil. That should keep them happy and productive.