Thoughts on Asparagus
I’ll throw out a quiz I remember my father giving me when I was a kid: Can you name the three vegetables that are perennials?
His answer: Artichokes, Asparagus and Rhubarb. I’m not convinced that Rhubarb is a vegetable – some sources classify it as a fruit, some as a vegetable, but asparagus and artichokes are perennials that will come up in your garden every year.
Our first stalk of asparagus appeared late last week, poking its head through the soil toward the sun. For the next four weeks or so, we will be able to have asparagus for 2-3 meals a week. By the end of May, however, it will be time to leave the spears to grow into the large, multi branched and feathery plants that store all the nutrients for next year’s crop.
You have to be patient to grow asparagus. In our Bainbridge garden, we first planted the crowns (or roots) in 2000, and got our first crop of three asparagus spears in 2004. Each year after that, happily, our crop grew to where we now harvest about 100spears over a one month period. Considering I spent $4.98/lb for organic asparagus at the grocery store last week for Easter, I’m pretty happy with our results.
Washington is a relatively easy place to grow asparagus. In Eastern Washington, where it is commercially farmed, the seeds spread and wild plants proliferate. Our old neighbor Max, who grew up in Yakima, remembers picking wild asparagus for his Mom every spring. She’d send him down to the railroad tracks with a paper bag and he’d come home with a full load for dinner. Max says you can also find asparagus growing in the Yakima orchards between the rows of apple and cherry trees.
Quebec, on the other hand, is not such an easy place to grow asparagus. My poor father is still babying a patch he planted 15 years ago. He’s lucky to get 20 spears a season, but he still plugs away at the patch every year, replacing the rotted crowns each summer and keeping the patch well weeded and mulched. Don’t think he does this himself – my father is expert at exploiting spousal/child/grandchild labor.
Asparagus is best steamed or sautéed. It is also excellent when grilled: Grilled Asparagus
His answer: Artichokes, Asparagus and Rhubarb. I’m not convinced that Rhubarb is a vegetable – some sources classify it as a fruit, some as a vegetable, but asparagus and artichokes are perennials that will come up in your garden every year.
Our first stalk of asparagus appeared late last week, poking its head through the soil toward the sun. For the next four weeks or so, we will be able to have asparagus for 2-3 meals a week. By the end of May, however, it will be time to leave the spears to grow into the large, multi branched and feathery plants that store all the nutrients for next year’s crop.
You have to be patient to grow asparagus. In our Bainbridge garden, we first planted the crowns (or roots) in 2000, and got our first crop of three asparagus spears in 2004. Each year after that, happily, our crop grew to where we now harvest about 100spears over a one month period. Considering I spent $4.98/lb for organic asparagus at the grocery store last week for Easter, I’m pretty happy with our results.
Washington is a relatively easy place to grow asparagus. In Eastern Washington, where it is commercially farmed, the seeds spread and wild plants proliferate. Our old neighbor Max, who grew up in Yakima, remembers picking wild asparagus for his Mom every spring. She’d send him down to the railroad tracks with a paper bag and he’d come home with a full load for dinner. Max says you can also find asparagus growing in the Yakima orchards between the rows of apple and cherry trees.
Quebec, on the other hand, is not such an easy place to grow asparagus. My poor father is still babying a patch he planted 15 years ago. He’s lucky to get 20 spears a season, but he still plugs away at the patch every year, replacing the rotted crowns each summer and keeping the patch well weeded and mulched. Don’t think he does this himself – my father is expert at exploiting spousal/child/grandchild labor.
Asparagus is best steamed or sautéed. It is also excellent when grilled: Grilled Asparagus
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