I used to think of myself as being soooo fortunate.
You see, asparagus grows wild along the river and all I had to do is wait until after the spring run-off and there would be tons of it! My garden at one time was where I could throw a stone into the river and there was all this asparagus growing that I didn't have to do a thing to encourage! Then, I found out about all the heavy metal contamination from the mining upsteam :/.
There are a few plants here and there along fence rows and such. Unfortunately, I never know where they are until they are past the harvest stage.
I know 40 seems like a lot, but we have 5 in our immediate family who love it, then we have our neighbors up the road and both my parents and hubby's parents to share with, so I hope 40 does it!