And boy, does he know a lot about it. That wasn't always the case, though - it turns out that asparagus isn't as easy to grow as it is to eat. Soil, fertilizer and pH level all need to be properly balanced. Asparagus also requires plenty of patience after it's planted - three years' worth. It is only then, the third year after planting, that an asparagus crop can be harvested for the first time.
Temperature is a key factor.
In that temperature range, Kennerty can pick 110 pounds per day of asparagus. As pretty as it is practical, this is a crucial phase for nurturing the root system, because it is through the ferns that the roots receive energy from the sun that will fuel them during growing season. The plants lie dormant through the winter, and the whole cycle begins anew when the spears start showing through the ground in February. The relative fragility of asparagus has led to a surprisingly large number of hybrids out there - well into the hundreds, Kennerty estimates. According to Kennerty, the story goes that after a disease wiped out a widely used American hybrid, an agricultural scientist named Benson started looking for disease-resistant samples around the world, and eventually found the beginnings of the purple variety in Europe.