Asparragus.

[carrust]

After 2yrs of weeding, watering, feeding & general pampering I will at last be cutting my first asparagus this afternoon. A fanfare is prepared for the event, followed by a marching band:-)

[ummmm]

Hip Hip Hooray :-)

I love asparagus. So, what's on the menu?

[carrust]

Probably a pork chop in breadcrumbs, some spuds & rhubarb crumble with ice cream. Got a lot of forced rhubarb to get through, i picked about 10lbs last night...It'll make me a regular guy:-)

[RATTER15]

2 years!!!!!

Does it normally take that long?

I love asparagus, just out of the question at the minute due to diet and all that melted butter!! :-((

[FredPuli43]

They are a sweat, aren't they ! What always gets me , is that the so and sos want such care and quite a rich bed, nicely stacked up with food for them, but, in the wild, asparagus grows in the most unpromising soil.

[ummmm]

yes, Ratter, that's why it's so expensive.

You don't have use butter.

I like it chargrilled and wrapped in parma ham...with a poached egg.

I want that now!!

[RATTER15]

ummmm, that actually sounds quite nice, the parma ham is a little high in calories but nothing to worry about I don't think. We may give that a sot today, I really need to use up these eggs we got eggs coming out of our ears at the minute, I wish I could turn down the egg production on our hens sometimes!!

Anybody want free eggs!!!!

[mccfluff]

yes please i love eggs

can i have some aspargoose as well :-)

[Svejk]

That rhubarb would cost £30+ in the shops, Carrust.
Breaks my heart paying for it now. Couldn't get rid of the bloody stuff when I was a kid.

[carrust]

Sorry about delay in answering. I've just caught some scrapmen scrounging round the back gardens on my road. I 101'd it, and by the time I'd got through the police has turned up.
I've just finished last years rhubarb from the freezer, but i prefer the forced fresh.

[society]

Carrust, do you ,make apple pie? If so, mix rhubarb together with the apples. It makes a delicious pie. And add a bit more sugar, as you know rhubarb is tart.

[SlackAlice]

Success with the Asparagus and enjoy your feast! Of absolutely no use to you and just to wind you up, asparagus used to grow wild in my Mothers garden with great abandon, always a bumper crop year after year.

[Clanad]

Better hurry though! Our asparagus grows wild along most of the fence lines and irrigation ditch banks here in the western U.S.

After spying the tell tale left over big, dry bush from last year and cutting (under the soil) of the delectable spears, one returns just a few days later to find they've already overgrown and are tough and nearly unedible.

Try just steaming them until tender (maybe 5 minutes), place them in a shallow bowl and cover with Japanese rice vinegar and chill for at least an hour... great as a side with almost anything...

[carrust]

Society. I've had rhubarb in ALL its forms. Mixed with apple, blackberries, in jam, chutney and on my porridge. Thank you for you reply.

[alavahalf]

I'm really jealous ... planted my asparagus in October last year. It is just coming through now, but I can't touch it this year as it was all new last year.
But I do have the forced rhubarb, not to mention loads of newly grown lettuce.
It's a good time of year when everything starts to shoot up.
Had to cover the spuds up tonight..!

[jaynethepain]

We've just had a rather special risotto with our first asparagus ever - delicious!
Try it chargrilled with a poached egg and Parmesan shavings - extravagant for breakfast but delicious.....& it's not cost anything for the most expensive part - yum yum.

[EDDIE51]

You have done well , all the literature I have seen says it takes 5 years at least to get a good Asparagus bed prepared and getting a good crop.