For a couple weeks, I looked for the familiar and odd spears to arise from the earth and gift my family with their green and delicious, vitamin-packed goodness...then I would promptly forget during the many other gardening tasks associated with agroforestry and planting for the spring season. 

Then I became suspicious. I'd learned so much about foods that ducks will eat in the past year. The main thing I learned is that ducks are very greedy, curious little birds. I only say that they are little because my flock is limited to Indian Runner Ducks and the heaviest of them is maybe 7 pounds, and that's at least 80% feathers, the other 20% being insatiable hunger. 

So I went looking for my asparagus patches and, LO AND BEHOLD, there were some asparagus spears sticking up...and they were missing their tops. I became immediately suspicious of a certain flock of birds. Anytime anything goes missing, it is usually because it has been turned into duck fertilizer. The ducks do not wait for your permission to pounce on delicious things. This meant I had to figure out yet another way to prevent them from eating another plant. This learning curve has been ROUGH. 

The solution was simple enough. The main issue is that, at this point, there are so many milk crates and tons of chicken wire scattered around my food forest that it is making it quite hideous. Both of these are feasible and inexpensive options to keep your garden birds away from your asparaugs spears. 

I also repurposed a pet play pen to enclose another patch of asparagus to keep the ducks out. Although Indian Runner Ducks are perfectly capable of climbing this little gate, they seem not to like the feeling of being trapped and thusly, have declined to climb inside of it to go hunting for bugs and crops. 

Since I've been using my asparagus as companion plants all around the edible landscape, there are overturned milk crates and chicken wire fences in several different places protecting my asparagus and other duck delights.

Also, these ducks can jump. So when fencing in other foods you want to keep for yourself, be sure they are tied or fenced in a way that they are not leaning over into the bird zone where your ducks (or chickens) will come by and harvest your food for you.