Kitchen Garden Forum

Spring is truly here. We had the first asparagus today from our local farm. Delicious but I wish we had the space to grow it ourselves.
OH is now busy making soup from the tough stalk ends and the water it was cooked in to ensure nothing is wasted!
When I asked how much a bunch it was, he sheepishly refused to tell me so I suspect he knew it was more than I would pay !

Worth it though! Well done Mr Primrose

We, ahem, now grow our own, and its the first year of proper cutting. Yum, yum and yum again! I wonder if we'll get tired of it, and moan about having to eat compulsory asparagus

I've never come across this particular variety "Frist"!

I've just picked the first ever spears from some plants that I sowed as seed three years ago!

Before you start thinking that I'm showing off, I had better be honest and admit that it was only two spears!

Unfortunately, the plants were badly attacked by asparagus beetle last year, and some died back very early. Even if they have survived and make an appearance this year, I will have to give them another year to gain strength before I can think of harvesting anything from them.

Oh well - there is still something magical about seeing those spears forcing their way up through the surface, isn't there?

Just thought I would mention that the new plants I bought from Pomona fruits already have some shoots appearing. I only received and planted them on 16th April. They were nice sturdy little plants, six each of three varieties, but its a pity I'll have to wait until next year to sample them.

I shall be picking my first of the year today. A few plants have sent shoots up a bit earlier this year for some reason. Most of them are not showing anything yet.

We were away in Sussex for 3 days last week & made a regular visit to a farm shop where they were busy chopping off the stalk ends of some delicious looking 12 inch long asparagus stalks. I asked what they were going to do with the stalk ends thinking I thought I'd buy a quantity to take home to make and freeze asparagus soup to enjoy during the winter. (Remember all those mushroom stalks which greengrocers used to sell back in the 70's which were ideal for soup making?).
"Oh no, they're not for sale" I was told. We feed them to the pigs!"
Lucky pigs!