Yesterday, I posted about rhubarb. It is one of two perennial vegetables that we grow in our garden. The other is asparagus.
Doing well and ready to harvest
Our asparagus patch is producing well this year. We’ve enjoyed several meals with it already and more coming soon.
Last evening, I steamed a big batch of it to go with beef and noodles. My was it tasty!
This morning I did a couple of experiments with the unused portion of the harvest. First, I cut off the butt ends and chopped those into short lengths. These I washed, dried and put in the freezer. Later, I’ll add more in the freezer bag. These are destined to end up in soups.
The head ends, I cut to length, blanched and then cooled in ice water. After drying they went onto a tray, which I placed in the freezer. When they are individually frozen, I’ll place them in a freezer bag for storage. (Should be good for up to seven months I’m told.)
As I wrote, these are experiments. The cutting season only lasts six to eight weeks. We may eat it over a longer period if these work. Alternatively, drying and pickling are other options, but I’m not inclined to try either method.
I’ve found an interesting Website for Asparagus Lovers. It has everything you’d like to know about this tasty perennial vegetable.
Oh, my. Like Vanilla said…..I am envious of the crop for you are harvesting many of my faves. Enjoy the feast! Will they keep producing all summer?
Had some more fresh today. :food: It was an excellent companion for the shrimp creole.
Unfortunately, the season only lasts six to eight weeks. Then we have to stop harvesting and let the tops grow to feed and sustain the roots. As our plants are still fairly young, we’ll probably err on the shorter side for the harvest period. Some plants, I’ve already stopped harvesting shoots.
We just got a big bundle of it from one of the customers on my husband’s mail route. I am very excited to dig in. 🙂
Great! I like it best steamed with a bit of butter, salt & pepper.
Oh, my. From my favorite pie vegetable to my favorite steak go-with vegetable. *drool*
Those are just a first taste of good things to come out of the garden. :food:
My friend Ellen (of many hikes) makes the BEST pickled asparagus. I haven’t had much good luck with freezing it. Tastes funny.
I only froze a small amount for my experiment. I don’t hold out high hopes for the results, but it seems worth a try.
So that’s what an asparagras patch looks like. Since we don’t eat it, I’ve never paid attention. Good thing we don’t eat it since it was $5.86 for a small bunch at the grocery store this week.
That price tag is one reason that we grow our own. Knowing what has been applied to it is the more important reason. We garden organically.
Hey, Chuck! We take asparagus and pickle it. Really simple. We save the brine from Clausen’s pickles. We place the asparagus into an green olive jar, one of the tall ones, then pour the pickle brine into the jar with the asparagus and refrigerate. In a few weeks you have pickled asparagus!
Perhaps I should reconsider, Bill. I don’t know Clausen, so I’ll have to brew my own brine. :haha: