Good advice from all above. I fertilze with a generous application of aged horse manure in the fall.
You can start picking (very lightly) in the third year. That is, if you start from seed, start picking after three years. If you start with year-old crowns, pick after two years. If you start with two year old crowns, pick some the following year. The idea is to let the root system get well established. Once well established, then you can pick for six to eight weeks in the spring. You can often judge when to stop by noting the size of the spears--once they get pencil-thin, stop. After that, let them go--the root system needs to be replenished. I started my current bed in 2004 from two year old crowns and picked for four weeks last year and the full 6-8 weeks this year.
The work the first year is brutal, but it's worth it. I don't think one can ever have too much asparagus.
