Asparagus

President Bush Sr. was well known for not liking broccoli although it is supposed to be very good for you, being green and all. I will eat but am not fond of asparagus. In Ithaca we had an asparagus bed in the back of our house, and it produced and produced and produced. In those days before freezers, you could can your vegetables, and they had to last you all winter, so by spring you really wanted fresh vegetables. Dandelion greens were one of the first spring vegetables. You had to get them before the greens started blossoming because after they blossomed they got too tart to eat. Some root vegetables would winter over in the garden like parsnips. Parsnips when peeled and pan fried in butter are wonderful. Asparagus was another early vegetable, and we ate it often, usually with warm milk in a small dish. I thought the dishes could be smaller.

When we finally bought our first small farm in Newark Valley, someone planted an asparagus bed on the north side of the house. I swear it was 100 feet long and produced and produced and..... One of my jobs was to weed the darn aspargus bed. That is a great deal of weeding, I might add. It had to be weeded and then straw applied so that the tender asparagus sprouts would be protected until they decided to show up. Tender, my eye!!! They showed up by the millions and millions and...

As you who eat asparagus know, but probably don't talk about, when you have eaten the stuff, approximately ten seconds later, if you have to go to the bathroom, you are well aware from the unusual smell that you have eaten asparagus. Now, what's that all about? I always thought that if asparagus did that to you, then what else was it doing in your body, and how soon would you die of eating the stuff?

Now if you think that is bad, try eating mushy canned asparagus or the uncommonly white kind that is grown in the absence of sunlight and has to push up through its covering of manure and straw. Tasty huh??

I have tried to like the stuff and do eat it when I must. HW2 is a frugal shopper and will not buy bunches of asparagus especially when they cost about $3.00 a pound. My charge to all asparagus growers is, "Grow less and charge high prices." Maybe the Asian Asparagus Blight will sweep the globe and put the plant out of its misery and save the day. Read your newspapers for more news of this blight. I am sure it is coming and soon. Happy eating!