Asparagus

I planted asparagus a while back. I planted "Purple Passion" and "Mary Washington". I probably should have taken pictures but I didn't. To plant asparagus, you dig a hole or trench about 12" deep. That was harder than I thought it would be, because my loose soil just kept filling in my hole. It was like trying to dig in pea gravel.
In the bottom of the hole you put some compost or composted manure, then set the asparagus roots on it. They look all ropey and dried out. Kind of alien. Then you only put in enough dirt to cover the crowns. I was worried because the night after I planted my asparagus the temps plummeted to 18F. And my asparagus only had a minimal covering of dirt. Some of them may have frozen, but not all, as evidenced by the photo.

When the asparagus starts to sprout, you add enough dirt to your hole or trench to cover the sprout. You continue watching and covering until you've completely filled the holes or trench. Then you're done! Above you see an itty bitty Purple Passion sprout shortly before burial. Purple Passion will turn green when cooked. Below you see my cratered asparagus bed-in-progress.
The first year you don't harvest any asparagus. You let the plants develop strong roots and get established. The second year you can harvest some (for about two weeks) but leave the rest to grow and help plant development. After that you can harvest all season.

The wonderful thing about asparagus is that unlike other vegetables, you get the produce first, then you do the work of weeding, mulching, feeding the plants. The bad thing about asparagus is you have to make yourself do all the work or next year's crop will suffer.