The grocery stores all have asparagus now.

[LeftyMom]

I love asparagus. The first appearance of woody, overpriced spears in the store, and the promise of affordable and good ones in a week or two, always means spring to me and summer's soon to follow when they're gone. Like spring in California, they're a pure but short-lived joy, to be savored for only a few weeks. But at some point, when I don't really recall, somebody realized they could grow them in East Bumfuck, South America and send them up here and we'd have asparagus in the winter too. And apparently wages for farm workers are even lower in East Bumfuck than in San Juaquin county, because it costs less to get asparagus from half a world away than the stuff from thirty miles south costs in season.

So now in the autumn grocery ads with the pumpkin and the nuts, there's asparagus and I can't bring myself to eat it. Asparagus belongs at the table at easter, maybe even for my birthday if things warmed up early, but it's not for November. I don't think losing all connection to seasonal harvests and the natural cycle of the land that sustains us is progress. That seasonal variation brings us greater variety, as we cycle through asparagus and zucchini and tomatoes and peppers and corn and squash, on through the seasons, our bodies get all that they need and we get the best each season has to offer us. So I'll enjoy my asparagus the way I always have, in the spring, nurtured by cool, wet winters and a few weeks of springtime California sun. But a winter squash or some potato soup sounds really good right now.

[Left Is Write]

1. Hmmm....I never thought about it before....

but I don't really want asparagus right now either.

I made potato soup last week and it was really good. I need to make some pumpkin soup.

[LSdemocrat]

2. If its any consolation East Bumfuckian asparagus tastes like shit

[Elidor]

3. Nassssty asparagus! We hates it! Yes we do!

Slimy, nassssty plants. It makes our pee stink, precious, yes it does!

Sorry, I just channel Gollum when I think of asparagus. Ick! If I see other people eating it, I look at them accusingly like, "Please don't ask to use my bathroom later."

[Left Is Write]

7. Properly cooked asparagus is not slimy.

:P

[reyd reid reed]

4. I absolutely love it

and we have it every Easter...I don't do it for Thanksgiving but I Will splurge at Christmas if I can find it.

Hell, I've even been known to go canned for Christmas. Asparagus is asparagus.

:9

[Arugula Latte]

5. Me too. Asparahhhhhgus. *drools*

I know it's not natural to eat it now, but, damn, that stuff is so damn delicious, I give in to its siren call ... :9

[Left Is Write]

8. Blasphemy!

Asparagus from a can is nothing like the gorgeous fresh stuff!

:o

[reyd reid reed]

11. It's not...and I'm soooooooo ashamed...

but...it's Asparagus. And when you've gotta have it, you've gotta have it.

Shhhhhh...don't tell, but when desperate enough, I've been known to eat the tips out of the can.

Cold.

:blush:


:hide:

[Gormy Cuss]

6. I'm with you.

I'm close to a locavore at this point. We live in a state with a ridiculously long growing season. I don't want garlic from China, winter fruit from South America, or tomatoes from Mexico in January.
Not everyone in the U.S. has that luxury but I'm stunned by the amount of imported produce in this state.

We have a kickass farmers' market here and one of the things I like about it is seeing the pride of the farmer bringing in a new crop, or talking up how this season compares to last. It just feels right.

[bridgit]

9. yay asparagus!!

i had cream o'celery soup today it was yummy :9

[BrotherBuzz]

10. I'm with Ben Franklin

Benjamin Franklin, in a discussion of bodily discharges, once noted, "a few stems of asparagus eaten shall give our urine a disagreeable odor; and a pill of turpentine no bigger than a pea shall bestow upon it the pleasing smell of violets."

[qnr]

12. I waited a polite amount of time before saying this (so real replies could be entered) - but that

really sounds like a secret code phrase....

Howevere, I love asparagus too.

[ThomCat]

13. Excellent post.

That's why I like the farmer's market whenever I can get there. I want to know what's local and in-season.

[Jamastiene]

14. I don't eat asparagus.

I can't get it into my mouth for the memory of the gagging and the aftertaste, but...

One year, my stepdad bought some asparagus plants to grow. My mother loves it, so he got it to satisfy her. Well, he gave me a few he had left over. I can't resist a plant. I will never forget the first time I grew my own broccoli, yummy. Plus I remembered how fascinated I was with the broccoli plants. I decided to give the asparagus a try as an ornamental plant on the edge of my garden.

I looked around on the internet for planting instructions (depth and spacing). I planted what he gave me just to see what they looked like growing. I discovered something about asparagus. I can't eat it. You can have all you want when it comes to eating it, but when it comes to growing it, you can't beat the beauty of the plant with its little shoots. The leafy nonedible part is just gorgeous. It rivals the best ferns on the market for beauty. Plus the little shoots are so adorable. I began naming them, because I was just so in love with them as decorative plants. I wish I still lived back there. Someone who doesn't know them will probably cut them all down. You know asparagus plants are perennials, right? They are fun to grow, but it takes a year to get baby plants to produce. It's fun. Thought I'd mention that little experience.

[Kali]

15. There is another thing you and I can agree on!

[Ediacara]

16. Ya know.... Asparagus is a year-round vegetable

Granted, the stuff you get now comes from South America, but there's never a time when it's actually not available.