wild asparagus

dean nelson · Mar 27, 2020

Just wondering if you could give me a hint on the best locations to find asparagus to help narrow down the area's that are best for searching, it would be greatly appreciative. Needless to say I'm not looking for GPS coordinates but instead just the general area and habitat types that I would likely find them in and at which point they are also likely to be coming up out of the ground. If you have any old spots that you have no plan on using I have no problem being a freeloader but obviously that's clearly up to you. So over all the main thing is just to see what type of ground do they frequent south of Bismarck. Like said before any tip would be greatly appreciated but also fully understand if you are tight lipped.

Main reason I ask is I'm just trying to find something for my mom to do, my father is in a nursing home 13 years into an Alzheimer's diagnosis and she loves to cook and she especially loves to cook wild things but can no longer get in out the Wilderness on her own so I'm just hoping I can find her some asparagus because they are her all-time favorite and her birthday is coming up and the world is in a pile of shit she cant go see her friend so just trying to get her ubeat as she sits in that house alone. so I'm just hoping I can go up and do my social distancing by serching for things she likes. Hopefully I can find myself some of the asparagus and perhaps the morel mushrooms.

So with that said if anybody has any ideas thanks for the info at a time. And if you choose to be tight lipped that fine to.

Davey Crockett · Mar 27, 2020

I'm no help for this year but for future harvests if you have a spot to grow, We planted just a couple and let them go to seed for two years and just hit the area with a spring tooth hand rake in the late fall or early spring and they grow wild .

Magpie · Mar 27, 2020

Old farm yards.

1bigfokker · Mar 28, 2020

Anywhere the plow can't go.

RNinND · Mar 28, 2020

I've been looking for asparagus for 2 years now and have only found a few patches thus far. There's no specific habitat I can recommend but I would avoid wetter areas. It seems to live with surrounding grass or trees only, not in marshy spots. The best advice I can give is to learn what it looks like in dormancy and start driving around. Unfortunately it's about the same color as sweet clover this time of year. A little snow is always helpful. Good luck

Bohica · Mar 28, 2020

Start looking in the fall. Start looking for a yellow tumbleweed with red berries. Usually come find them under trees, fence row, road ditches.
Tough to find them in the spring as they look like grass.

LBrandt · Mar 28, 2020

Sunny side of shelterbelts surround by vast numbers of wood ticks.

riverview · Mar 28, 2020

the thing to do is to look in the fall after it is all gone to seed, then go there in the spring,

Kentucky Windage · Mar 28, 2020

If you have the space, plant your own patches. I’ve seen Gus around the Bismarck area, but never the numbers to where your gas money would pay for your outings to pick it. Timing is key when it comes to picking. Hot weather is terrible for picking. It bolts too quickly. Cooler weather is your best friend.

fireone · Mar 28, 2020

RR right-of-ways, fence lines, old tree claims and abandoned farm yards. You can grow it from seed you pick or transplant the roots which are deep. I like wild better than domestic as the sprouts aren't as big.

BrokenBackJack · Mar 28, 2020

I commend you Dean for thinking of your Mom. Too many nowadays don't give a hoot about how their parents are feeling or what they are going through, like the old saying out of sight out of mind. Also too many raise their kids the same way.
Good luck in your search!

shorthairman · Mar 28, 2020

I have a lot of places to pick wild asparagus around where I live and I would be more than happy to take you out, but unfortunately I live 6 hours south of Bismark. Down here it usually does not get ready until the middle of May. Also, the best patches of wild asparagus down here are also found with the best patches of poison ivy...
Like others have said drive around and find old plants and as RNinND said it looks a lot like sweet clover right now. If you can find old plants new shoots will grow right around the old plants when it starts to warm up. I hope you find some for your mom. If you want to drive south send me a PM.

NDSportsman · Mar 28, 2020

We have a ton of it around our farmstead in east central ND if anyone's interested.

Kickemup · Mar 28, 2020

Sandy soil if best. Look up what last years plant will look like when it dies. Drive slow once the grass starts to grow the asparagus will be taller for a couple weeks.

wild asparagus

dean nelson

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Davey Crockett

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Magpie

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1bigfokker

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RNinND

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Bohica

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LBrandt

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riverview

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Kentucky Windage

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fireone

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BrokenBackJack

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shorthairman

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NDSportsman

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Kickemup

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