It seems there’s a National Day for pretty much anything you can think of: National Walk Around Things Day was April 4th. National Root Beer Float Day is August 6; National Cheese Curd Day is October 15.  While not nearly as exciting as National Static Electricity Day (1/9), National Asparagus Day is coming up on April 23rd. And in some locations it’s a pretty big deal.

Festivals celebrating the green spear of spring are held in places as far and wide as England, Germany, Italy, Canada, and several US states including California, Massachusetts, and Michigan.  Oceana County, MI, is known as “The Asparagus Capital of the Nation”.

Asparagus appears in markets in abundance during April and May.  And the price is right. Usually around $1/lb or so.

Do NOT buy what I was shocked to see this week:

Asparagus is sold at other times of the year, but tastes best in the spring, especially when bought locally. If you have a spring farmers market near you, definitely buy your asparagus there rather than the grocery store.

Asparagus Quick Facts:

• Cooked asparagus has more nutrition than raw
• Turns a dark green when cooked
• Power vegetable:  Folate, iron, potassium, magnesium, vitamins A, C, E, B vitamins, fiber
• Green, purple, and white varieties  (White asparagus is tampered with: the farmer covers the stalks with soil so they don’t get sunlight.  Hint: you WANT your veggies getting sunlight, so maybe skip the white)

• Asparagus is one of only a few perennial vegetables, meaning plant ’em once and they come back year after year
• As a member of the Clean 15 list, if organic is too expensive, it’s okay to buy non-organic. (Case in point: the other day asparagus was on a big display for $1.99/lb.  A few feet away I saw the organic: $6.49/lb!)
• Keeping the stalks cold and moist helps asparagus stay tender longer

Try it!

If you haven’t eaten asparagus in a long time because you didn’t like the way your mother prepared it, I’ve got a few suggestions for giving these tender treats a second chance.

Start by trimming the stalks to remove the tough ends.  (You can also gently bend the stalks until they break at the right spot.) Compost the ends, freeze them for soup, or do what I do and feed them to your chickens!

Basic side dish: Simply sauté several spears in a teaspoon of olive oil over medium heat until they get a nice little char going. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (Sometimes I can’t be bothered with a fork and will eat them with my fingers if no one’s looking!)

Try this Spring Salad with Asparagus adapted from The Roasted Root.

And since we can’t always count on warm spring days, it’s good to have a Creamy Asparagus Soup option.

Do you have a favorite asparagus recipe?  If you do, please share!

-Sue