April 24, 2009

Introducing: our first veggie of 2009

A few days ago, we were concerned that our asparagus bed wasn't going to produce at all. Yesterday we were seeing little hints of greenish white poking through the soil and today we have a few lovely spears. The 80 degree days and rain have really helped. Now it will be wet and cold for a few days.

This is our third year with this bed so we will harvest lightly. I ate one raw while I was working in the yard. There is something special about munching veggies while still out in the garden. Although asparagus is great raw, I would also love it if you have any good recipes to share.

10 comments:

Connie said...

That is a very nice looking spear! We hope to work on our new asparagus bed this weekend. Or should I say, hubby will work on it, and I will supervise? hee hee

tainterturtles said...

After reading your post I thought I better go and check our asparagus garden, but didn't see anything yet. We need more sun and warmer days where I live.

We mainly eat our asparagus steamed with buttered bread crumbs...my favorite.

donna said...

What a lovely sight your asparagus spear is and I agree with you about chomping on the veggies while still in the garden. I don't have a vegetable garden, but if I did I'd tasting everything...dirt and all.

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

I wish my aspargus bed was as weed free as yours is :).

Dan said...

Nice looking asparagus! If you are looking to fancy up your crop you could:

-cut a peice of store bought puff pastry a little large then the asparagus
-line them up on it it leaving a nice crust around them
-brush with butter, season with s&p and top with some nice cheese
-bake until tender & golden brown

Yum!

Chris said...

Connie- how did the asparagus bed supervision go? I'm very good at direction and supervision in the garden!

Tainterturtles- hope the asparagus appears soon for you! I don't think you are much further north than we are.

Donna- yes, the veggies barely make it out of the garden. It's a blast to have lunch by grazing in the gardens.

Iowa Gardening Woman-my husband weeded and mulched the garden last week. Before that it was a bit of a mess. I'm so grateful that he has been able to get a lot of work done this year in the gardens.

Thanks Dan- sounds wonderful. Now we just need to manage to save enough of them for a recipe. They are so good raw too.

donna said...

Your asparagus post has stuck in my head. Last Sunday our newspaper had an article about a town (Empire, MI) that hosts an annual asparagus festival during the month of May. Locals dress up in asparagus costumes, there's an asparagus cook-off, and the highlight of the festival is a poetry contest called "Ode to Asparagus". There, now maybe I can get asparagus off my mind:).

Chris said...

Donna- I hope I am not putting asparagus thoughts back in your head :)

I checked out the Asparagus Fest in Empire. It looks like fun with some tasty asparagus treats. However, I am not sure about the asparagus beer!

ChrisND said...

Glad to know the asparagus is producing...I experimented a bit to see how we liked asparagus, but will have to find some good recipes too. Raw was nice though.

We don't have a bed yet, but it is now on "the list".

Chris said...

The asparagus is really coming up at a rapid pace now. I haven't had much time for recipes lately. It has been great raw, lightly steamed and in a smoked cheddar cheese sauce. No matter how we have it, it's sooooo good. I'm nagging hubby for another 4 X 8 asparagus bed :)

Thanks for visiting!