As I pulled the straw mulch off the asparagus plants yesterday I discovered a few of the plants had new shoots starting to poke their heads out of the ground. This post is specifically for those in Michigan or a similar growing zone (we are 6b). If you are growing your own asparagus or hunt for wild asparagus – it’s “game on”. What’s the game? The trick to harvesting asparagus is getting it when it is just the right size – between six and nine inches is usually good, but since under ideal growing conditions asparagus can grow 1/2 inch an hour the field, or plants, might need to be harvested twice a day for maximum yield. I expect we will begin harvesting within a few days and if all goes well we should be able to continue for at least 4-6 weeks.
I found it interesting when I looked at my blog from 2017 I wrote a similar post on April 25, 2017, about one week earlier than this year.
If you would like to learn a little more about asparagus check out this link – http://www.michiganasparagus.org/interesting-tips/ . Also I find the best way to store fresh asparagus is to put the cut ends in water (in a cup or jar) then cover the tops with a plastic bag and refrigerate them.
Do you have any great recipes for asparagus? I’m sure we will be eating lots of it soon.
Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Spring!
1/2” per hour?! Yikes! Lol
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I have the cooking prowess of a goldfish but I do love asparagus.
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You sound like my daughters. I have 4 of them and none can (or want to) cook. LOL Asparagus is easy to lightly steam or grill though. No reason not to enjoy. 🙂
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I’m a stereotypical bachelor, I admit it. Haha.
It’s not that I don’t want to cook; I’m just absolutely terrible at it. LOL!!!
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My two married daughters both found men who like to cook. LOL. I think with my daughters it’s more that they don’t try.
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I have no interest in marriage or children so I’ll just deal with what I can handle. 😛
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That sounds like my youngest two daughter so they like to visit for a home cooked me when they have time. 🙂
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Good advice about storing asparagus ( although I probably will never get to use it because it gets devoured right away )
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It was also interesting to read the facts. Have you ever had white asparagus? Do you know if it tastes differently?
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I have never tried white and digging it sounds like too much work. I’ll just wait until it pops out of the ground and just cut it.
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Asparagus is so tasty. Drizzled with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt and roasted. Or just covered in butter. But it makes my pee smell funny, so I limit its consumption.
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We like it with garlic butter as well. I never noticed my pee smelling funny we usually eat a lot when it is in season and I freeze some for the rest of the year.
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My husband and I just burned off our asparagus patch two days ago. Since then it has rained and those asparagus shoots are just popping out of the ground like crazy. You are so right…I am going to have to monitor that patch closely for the rest of the asparagus season….but it is so worth it!
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You just can’t get that flavor of fresh in the grocery store. 🙂
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Hi Faye
We are right now dealing with asparagus beetles attacking and laying their eggs in our patch. I remembered you comment about burning your patch and wondered if this helped to kill off the beetles. Do you have a problem with asparagus beetles?
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We have never had them. I wonder if we are far enough north that they freeze in the winter.
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I think we will trying burning the patch for next year. We hate to use any chemicals even if they are “organic”.
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Same here. That is why we started our own patch versus picking from ditches. Ditch asparagus can get sprayed as it is next to farm fields
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Asparagus is a hard one to invest on because it takes years before harvesting but once started and being look after well, the efforts will be worth it. How old is your asparagus crown Ruth,
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You are right. It usually takes a couple years before you get to harvest but they say the plants will then produce for 20 or more years. I think the oldest ones were planted six years ago we have added some new crowns each year since.
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I did a research about Asparagus last year because it’s one of the favorite in the house. Unfortunately a bunch of it is quite pricey if consumed all the time. 😁 So I was thinking of cultivating asparagus, but after knowing that it takes years before harvesting I had a second thought. Wow, 6 years. I hope you harvest a lot this year. ☺
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I think it is worth planting if you live in a place where you plan to live for a long time. That six years has gone fast. 🙂
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That is right Ruth.. actually that’s the main reason why I didn’t plant last year because we had the thought of shifting.. 🙂
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