You know how tall those spears are? We put the Cowboy in there for scale. See him? Right down there at the bottom—that fluffy white speck? Babs Young writes: Here’s another sign that summer will come to Northern Michigan. Don’t know when they will harvest these but they look healthy.
Looks ready to me. Lessee . . . asparagus omelette with a slender little curl of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano sounds good.
Torch Lake Views 
sybiln
May 6, 2012
I’ve got to plant asparagus !
Gerry
May 6, 2012
I should think so. Time’s a-wasting.
Heather
May 6, 2012
Good thing you put the Cowboy in there…for a second I thought it was normally-sized asparagus.
Asparagus is a spring favorite, second only behind morels. Yum!
Gerry
May 6, 2012
This is the good stuff, grown in a hidden valley between two drumlins. We harvest it using two-person crosscut saws handed down to us from our logging forebears. It is exacting work, but lucrative.
We grow pretty good-sized morels, too (see The Mother of All Morels) but not large enough for these asparagus spears to hide behind.
Nye
May 6, 2012
I think it’s ready. This is one plant that I don’t think I want to plant, the wait to harvest is too long.
Gerry
May 6, 2012
It takes patience – but it is so good. Of course I don’t have the patience to grow lettuce, so you can’t pay any attention to me!
P.j. grath
May 7, 2012
Lettuce is fussy. Asparagus does its own thing, once it’s established. A nice quality in a food plant.
Gerry
May 7, 2012
I’m just glad Antrim County is filled with farmers who grow this stuff. Without them I’d be reduced to munching on birch twigs and ice fishing.
kiwidutch
May 7, 2012
Green asparagus! I LOVE it when we can get it… here in the Netherlands 99.9% of asparagus grown is white. It tastes nice but personally I think the green ones have more intense flavour so I love it when we can buy them every now and again.
Cooking tip: wash and break the stalks off (they should break naturally between the tough and the tender parts) throw the tender bits into a hot fry pan and sauté for 2 minutes… take off heat and add a dash of balsamico and serve … Heaven!
p.s. this recipe works with green asparagus but not with the white ones because they have a far stringier/ tougher exterior and will always need to be well peeled.
Gerry
May 7, 2012
‘Morning kiwidutch. I am pleased to hear that you think of green asparagus as a delicacy. We grow a lot of it in Michigan and will be happy to ship some off to the Netherlands. Your preparation sounds exactly right.
We are fools for asparagus. We grill it and steam it and saute it and bake it into casseroles and simmer it into soups and eat it raw in salads. We celebrate it at the National Asparagus Festival in Oceana County and the Empire Asparagus Festival closer to home. Nuts. Now I’m hungry.
Kate
May 7, 2012
“Lessee . . . asparagus omelette with a slender little curl of fresh Parmigiano Reggiano sounds good.”
I’ll be right over!
Gerry
May 7, 2012
Give me a little minute – I have to run to the market.
uphilldowndale
May 7, 2012
I don’t grow, it cook it or eat it… I’ve tried a couple of times on the ‘cook eat’ it front, but it was (or I was) a disapointment.
I do however remember a feast of delicious aspargus I ate in Borneo…
Gerry
May 7, 2012
Mrs. Uhdd! You are full of surprises. If you ever visit Michigan in the springtime–which may be less unlikely than I thought, given the Borneo experience–we will treat you to a feast of delicious asparagus and other excellent treats as well.
uphilldowndale
May 7, 2012
Gerry, what an adventure it was, back in the late 1980’s We’d been staying in a ‘tribal long house’ which was an amazing experience and a privilege . My English constitution didn’t cope very well with local food or water, I was very sick. The village elder said that this was because ‘my spirit was restless’ (which ever since has seemed like the perfect description of nausea!) and that if I wasn’t better soon they would call in the witch doctor!!
The meal of asparagus was the first thing I ate, when we got back to ‘civilisation’ it was dressed in some sort of soy sauce, I think my body was desperate for the salt by this time, it was a feast. We’d love to come and see you one day..
Gerry
May 7, 2012
Wouldn’t that be something? No longhouses here, but plenty of other wonders. We could take you to the herbalist if your spirit were to become restless. Also to the brewpub and the farm markets and some very nice lakes. I’d best start cleaning the house.
shoreacres
May 7, 2012
You’re going to have to call in the Jolly Green Giant to deal with that stuff! What a great photo – and double yum on the asparagus. I’d go to that festival, too. I didn’t like eating it as a kid, but loved it after it went to seed, or whatever happens when it gets all feather-dustery on top.
I was glad to see kiwidutch confirm what I’ve always done – letting the natural break be the point between tough and tender. I might have to try the omelet – that’s something I’ve never eaten.
Gerry
May 7, 2012
The “break-don’t cut” technique is sound. You can’t hurt yourself and you don’t have to wash a knife afterward. I was looking at the Empire Asparagus Festival site and it looks like they might have some really good recipes. I like reading recipes. Every now and then I even make something I’ve read about, although usually cooking at our house is . . . spontaneous.
WOL
May 8, 2012
Being mostly a city girl, I get my asparagus from cans, but I like to put a can of spears in the fridge, then drain them, put the whole can of them on a plate, drizzle them with Ranch dressing. That makes a lovely summer lunch. Your picture made me think of that wonderful Charles Addams cartoon of the giant tree sized asparagus coming up in this couple’s yard and the man running up to where his wife is standing by the door. He says, “You start the Hollandaise sauce, I’ll phone Better Homes and Gardens!”
Gerry
May 8, 2012
That does sound like a good lunch. I might crumble just a bit of bacon over the dressing, as I am fond of bacon. I like the joke, too.
Dawn
May 8, 2012
YUMMY! Can’t find Cowboy…but I trust you that he’s in there.
Gerry
May 8, 2012
It is good to be trusted.
Robin
May 12, 2012
It looks ready to harvest to me. One of the best things I ever did was establish an asparagus bed. It makes spring extra yummy. 🙂
Gerry
May 20, 2012
How did I miss this? Sorry. You must be a patient person, though – you established an asparagus bed.
flandrumhill
May 20, 2012
Asparagus with cheese sauce on toast is one of our favorite cozy suppers, asparagus with sliced hard-boiled eggs on English muffins with Hollandaise sauce our most festive breakfast.
I had no idea what the plants looked like in the ground. Not what I would have expected.
Gerry
May 20, 2012
Must. Try. Cheese sauce.
That is definitely what the asparagus shoots look like. That’s the part we eat, so after that I more or less lose interest. I understand that if they’re not harvested the shoots turn into a ferny sort of thing.