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Here's how to grow asparagus With a little special care and preparation, you can grow your own asparagus and enjoy it year after year, says Asparagus Research Ex- tension Specialist Shalin Khosla of the University of Guelph's horticultural science department. "Asparagus is a peren- nial crop that can grow in the same garden for 20 to 30 years," he says. Asparagus has a crown consisting of underground stems called rhizomes. It also has an extensive network of fleshy roots that store food reserves. Education number The hottest issue in Simcoe County has both Simcoe Centre MPP Earl Rowe and the Ontario Conservative concerned. According Progressive Party to Rowe, Buds - formed on the rhizome - develop into edi- ble spears, which, if not harvested, develop into the green fern foliage that manufacture food reserves for the next season. A sunny, frost-free site is ideally suited for asparagus culture. The soil should be well- drained (sandy, sandy loam) with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Add lime to the soil if the pH is below 6.0. Then incorporate peat moss and a 10-10-10 fer- tilizer at a rate of eight kg one concern = MPP his appointment on the Conservative's new Task Force on Education comes.at a Woman falls beneath wheel of her own car A Midland woman was seriously injured in a bizarre and tragic ac- cident at 2:07 p.m. Friday, after being run over by her own motor vehicle. After her vehicle stalled and began to roll backwards, near her 752 Bir- chwood Drive home, Annabel Ellery apparently panicked and attempted to jump from the car. It is understood her coat caught on wheels. Ministry the door, throwing her beneath the She was rushed to the intensive care unit at Huronia District Hospital. Her injuries were determined to be major, and she was Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, at 11 p.m. Friday aboard the Ontario later evacuated to of Health helicop- ter / ambulance Bandage One. time when calls are flooding into his con- stituency office daily over the educational system in the province. Rowe said his first priority as a member of the force, which will commence work April 22, is to find out what is wrong with the system that between 40 and 60 per cent of all students who start out in grade one never finish high school. _ Next we have to pinpoint how we can correct the system per 100 square metres in the top 30 centimetres of soil. (Applying a 10-10-10 fertilizer at a rate of eight kg per 100 square metres every spring just before the spears emerge, will help maintain plant vigor and ensure a good stand). Asparagus plants may be started from seed (four years before first harvest) or crowns (three years before first harvest) and both are available from garden centres' or nuseries. The cultivars currently available are the Viking lines derived from Mary Washington. Newer cultivars, Centennial and Lucullus, should be avaialable soon. If the planting is started from seed, sow the seed in early May in a nursery bed 2.5 cm to four cm deep and five cm to 10 cm apart in the row. (Sow some radish seed _ with asparagus to identify the TOMORROW IS McHAPPY DAY! McHappy Day. That's the day when everyone , pitches in to help. Local personalities, business people and celebrities put on their aprons and go to work behind the counter selling Big Macs. So come on in. Have a Big Mac and have a McHappy Day. Hwy. 93, Midland 526-4631 It's the day we all work together. $1.00 from every Big Mac sold goes to help Ronald McDonald House, and Huronia Big Sisters Association. McDonald's & Bi. abe Page 2, Tuesday, April 1, 1986 rows since asparagus ger- minates slowly.) Maintain -a weed-free seed bed and water fre- quently throughout the growing season. Asparagus seedlings will emerge two to four weeks after sowing, depending upon the soil temperature. Allow the seedlings to grow for the full season. The following spring, transplant these seedlings (one year old crowns) to a permanent bed. Place the one year old crowns, buds up with roots spread out, at the bottom of a 15 cm deep trench and cover with two cm to five cm of soil. "The crowns should be planted in early spring before the buds on the crowns break dormancy," Khosla says. A spacing of 30 cm in the rows, with the rows 100 cm to 120 cm apart, is optimal for rapid root growth and minimum crowding. Maintain a good weed control program, together with adequate moisture, throughout the growing period. As the fern grows, the trenches are filled in gradually. This controls weeds and prevents suf- focation of the plants. Allow the plants to grow for the whole season and permit the fern to overwinter. In the spring of each year, (before the spears emerge in late April or early May) mow down the fern, apply fertilizer and add manure, if it is available Incorporate these light- ly into the soil (five cm deep); avoid deep cultiva- tion to prevent crown damage. Commence harvest in the spring, usually early May, of the third year after the second full season of growth in the permament bed (for exam- ple, if the permanent bed was planted in 1985, you will harvest your first crop in spring 1987). In the first year of harvest, only a two to three week harvest period is recommended. A four to six week harvest period is recom- mended in the second season and a full harvest of five to six weeks can be carried out in subsequent years. Cut off spears at the soil surface or snap them off when they are 15 cm to 25 cm high. At harvest, remove all spears that emerge. After the harvest period, maintain optimal growing conditions and allow spears to develop in- to full ferns for the re- mainder of the growing season. Asparagus beetles can be a major problem in asparagus plantings since the beetles chew the fern - thereby decreasing the food manufacturing abili- ty of the plant. A recommended insec- ticide can control this pro- blem. Two ~ diseases, asparagus rust and Fusarium crown and root rot, are often a problem too. The incidence of these diseases can be reduced by minimizing plant stress such as weed competiton, over cutting, deep tillage, moisture deficit and so on. on | Specials of the week Mon-Sat March 31- April 5 Elitra Bounce Shampoo or Conditioner 350 mi reg. *4.75 SPECIAL 99° Dep Gel 400 ml reg. *3.03 SPECIAL *1.99 Clairol Conditioner Il Shampoo or Conditioner 450 ml reg. *4.81' SPECIAL *3.99 Jheri Redding Styling Gel 150 ml reg. *3.39 SPECIAL *2.49 Flex Mousse 150 g reg. *4.53 SPECIAL *2.89 Final Net Hair Spray reg. *4.01 SPECIAL *2.89 Your one stop for shopping QUALITY, SERVICE & DEDICATION JORY'S LD.A. PHARMACY 526-2781 264 King St., Midiand