Oh what a wonderful addition to the new home! I too like the thicker spears, people grab the bundles of skinny ones, and I like the thicker ones. Roasting is our favourite way to eat asparagus, and thicker ones are best for that. We also love it sauteed, as you did Annie.

That's it...I need an asparagus patch. I'm not much into gardening, but for certain veggies that MUST be fresh, I'll make an exception. That includes tomatoes and asparagus. They look yummy!

Lucky ducky! My aunt used to have asparagus growing in her garden & I remember stealing the emerging spears & munching on them raw - so yum!

AnnieD, asparagus is good for 20 or 25 years, once you get it started, so other than maintenance, you'd not have to plant again. At least with asparagus, it's perennial gardening!

Carol, the raw asparagus is sweet and crunchy, it loses some sweetness when cooked. I really don't know why more people don't just eat it raw, it's delicious.

Jasdip, I like it nearly any way, I think. My girls always liked to take a slice of turkey or ham, spread on a bit of cream cheese and roll up a steamed spear of asparagus. No bread needed for that sandwich. (grin)

Annie

Yummy! Always worth the wait. Of course you used the asparagus peeler I gave you LOL!

LOL, Cathy, I didn't take it up the hill to the patch with me, so we just snapped off stems and ate them right there! These were so tender they didn't need peeling anyway, but thanks for the thought.

For newer posters, Cathy once sent me an asparagus peeler. It came in a package with no note and I didn't even know what the heck it was, as no one I knew ever peeled asparagus. I was completely confused and I think Cathy was kind of laughing at me. (grin)

Annie

Growing up on a farm in the Great Lakes area, (in the 40's and 50's) I thought asparagus was a weed that was good to eat.

It grew 'wild' along the roadside, beneath the black walnut trees, and we always looked forward to it. I often ate it as I picked, usually ate almost as much as I brought home, it was so good!

Not long after I left there, the 2 lane country road was widened, and all the asparagus and walnut trees were gone forever. I never did know whether it had grown wild there, or if a previous farm owner had planted it.

But what a surprise I had when I finally discovered that asparagus was a very expensive delicacy in the stores! And it's never been as good as what we picked was. My mouth is watering, Annie!

Rusty

A few weeks ago, I was in the Food Market in Grand Central Terminal in NYC. Saw these and took a picture.

The picture has not been Photoshopped.

dcarch

I would love to be able to go out and pick asparagus - it is definitely one of my favorite vegetables, but I prefer the green to the white. I tend not to peel the asparagus and use the stem ends in making vegetable stock. Maybe I should try peeling them... I peeled artichoke stems when I had artichokes in my back yard in Venice.

I was never really aware of Spargelpiss before someone started a thread about it a few months ago, and then I became super aware of it. Thanks a lot, cooking forum!!

I like to make ham and cheese quesadillas with asparagus, and that is one of my favorite ways to use leftover asparagus. I also like to eat it raw (or blanched) and serve it as crudités.

Leftover asparagus? What is that? (grin) Actually, Elery says he's having an asparagus omelette for breakfast, and I think I'd like it in a quesadilla. I tend to just eat it, overlooking the fact that it's very good in quiche and other "main dishes".

Rusty, I'm one county away from the "Asparagus Capital", Oceana County. I don't think asparagus grows wild here, so you probably had the leftovers of a farmers garden plot, but it sure grows well. I just now am seeing signs advertising "local asparagus", a sure sign of spring along with the morels.

dcarch, I like the green asparagus better than the white, I like the more distinct flavor of the green. And be sure to go for the big thick spears, trust me on this.

Annie

I agree annie, the thick ones are far superior; and I always snap them and have no idea why anyone would ever need a peeler. I have a small garden and have enjoyed finding the new spears every couple days, but unfortunately two years ago I wasn't watching what I was doing and hit them pretty hard with the rototiller; they haven't really recovered.

Um...Lars, that was me. I was a chemist and thought I was really on to something. S.P. (a new term for me) not surprisingly didn't generate that much interest in a cooking forum. And then I had varied later results that made me think I was incorrect on my 'interesting' finding. However, after more experimentation, I believe my initial hypothesis was correct. Black tea does seem to knock it down, either to zero or at least by half.

It is all so good...thick, thin, white/blanched by covering...but it has to be fresh. When i had a good patch going, i was shocked how good it was right out of the garden! I need to start over...i had a pup years ago that would race to the spring garden ahead of me and snip-n-eat every tiny spear coming up. grrrr. I fenced it but it never recovered. On a gardening forum a woman in her early 80's started 16 crowns in her 40's and now has about 700 spears.

So jealous Annie.

It takes patience to grow but so worth it. Once established it does not need much care.

Reminds me of my sugar snaps last summer...I brought a bag into work, picked the day before. Offered to a co-worker and got a 'no thanks'....try one, i grew them...so she did. Her response?....'you just changed my life!. I had no idea a pea pod could be so good!'.