The Modern Victory Garden

We are in our second year of a new asparagus bed. Lots of healthy plants that gave us a two small harvests before we let them fern out for growth (now 2-3' tall). Question: when specifically do we cut back the fern growth this summer/fall? I cannot find my notes that told me when to cut it back last year.

Let the ferns grow all summer and be sure to water the bed occassionally so the plants stay healthy.   The fronds are the food factory that feed the roots.   You want them to do a good job so the roots are plenty strong enough to send up shoots that you will then steal from the plant by harvesting!   Because we cut the shoots away it begins to deplete the root - which is why you have to stop harvesting after a few weeks of harvesting and why you let the fronds go for the summer.   Late this fall when they are died back, you cut away the dead debris and I like to add a compost mulch at that time.   In the early spring, I fertilize the bed and weed it and that is pretty much all I do with the asparagus bed on an annual basis.