Of course I'm excited to get things growing, so it's hard to wait until my entire plot is dug up. Last week, I looked up Sunset magazine's Northwest Checklist February and saw that it's time to set out bare-root asparagus crowns and start sweet pea seeds indoors. I especially love the taste of asparagus and smell of sweet peas, so down to the garden center I went, and home I came with a package of six USDA organic Jersey Knight asparagus crowns from Van Bloem Gardens and a royal family mixture of sweet pea seeds from Ed Hume Seeds. Ed's been a gardening guru around the Pacific Northwest for ages, and he, too, has a blog.
Although I've never grown asparagus before now, it seems like a good place to start this year, not just alphabetically, but because it's almost Valentine's Day and asparagus is supposedly an aphrodisiac. I read where ancient Egyptians offered it to the gods. It's a good source of folate, potassium, and vitamin C, and China, it seems, grows most of the world's supply. In the United States, production is concentrated in California, Michigan, and Washington. Tomatoes are recommended as a companion plant in the garden to repel asparagus beetles.
So I looked up asparagus in The Organic Home Garden: How to Grow Fruits & Vegetables Naturally by Patrick Lima, another book I have checked out from the library, for guidance. Lima said you should make sure all of the persistent weeds are out of the bed before you plant any perennial vegetable, make sure you have full sun, and have a place where the ferny asparagus fronds, which often grow over six-feet tall, will not cast a shadow on other vegetables. Lima has a nicely detailed four pages on how to prepare an asparagus bed, plant and harvest it, as well as information on other vegetables and berries. His Larkwhistle garden that he maintains with his partner, John Scanlan, is located in Toronto.
So far, I have two of the six asparagus root crowns planted in a farm animal water trough. The spot meets all of Lima's requirements, so I'm crossing my fingers all will go well. Of course, I have a long time to wait for harvest since it's recommended that you wait until at least the second season of growth to pick the goods in order to allow the feathery fronds to feed the roots and produce robust stalks.
In the meantime, I'm still left buying asparagus at the grocery store. Last night I needed to eat dinner quickly because I had an appointment in the early evening. So I roasted some store-bought asparagus and had it with buttered fettucini. It's easy; try it!
Roasted Asparagus
Ingredients:
1 lb. asparagus spears (thick spears are best for roasting)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
sea salt
black pepper, freshly grated
parmesan cheese, shredded (optional for the vegan folk)
To cook:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Rinse and clean the asparagus. Break off the tough ends and discard into your compost bin.
Lay the asparagus spears out in a single layer in a baking dish or foil-covered roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the spears and roll them back and forth until they are covered with the oil. Sprinkle the spears with the remaining ingredients.
Place the pan in the oven and cook for approximately 10 minutes until they are lightly browned and tender when pierced with a fork.
Another simple way to prepare asparagus spears is to marinate them. This next recipe makes a great potluck dish, which is where I first encountered it one Easter Sunday in the Bay Area:
Oriental Marinated Asparagus
Ingredients:
1 lb. asparagus
1 cup low-sodium tamari sauce
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
To cook:
Rinse and clean the asparagus. Break off the tough ends and discard into your compost bin. Cook asparagus spears in boiling water 2 to 5 minutes or until just tender-crisp, in large pot. Rinse in cold water, drain.
Lay the asparagus spears out in a baking dish in a single layer. Whisk together tamari sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Pour over the asparagus spears, and turn them to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for three hours. Before serving, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, if desired.
You can always steam asparagus, too, of course:
Steamed Asparagus
Prepare as usual, breaking off the tough ends. Cut each spear on the diagonal in 1 1/2-inch pieces and steam for about 11-12 minutes. Some like to eat steamed asparagus dipped in mayonnaise; a friend of mine says she dusts hers with a bit of nutmeg.
A bunch of yummy, more involved asparagus recipes can be found here.
Eat some! It's awesome!
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