Reach For the Sky! Asparagus Makes an Appearance.

Spring has sprung! A few days ago I harvested my first asparagus of the season. Since the oven was aleady hot, cooking my meatloaf, I had a moment of inspiration. I threw the asparagus onto a baking sheet, sprinkled with salt, pepper and olive oil, and roasted away.

Mark's comment, "Is there anything you won't roast??" fell on deaf ears.

45 minutes later, I took the spears out of the hot oven, stuck a fork in the biggest pieces to make sure they were tender and snuck a taste. Amazing!! Roasting the asparagus made them crunchy, sweet, tender, melt-in-your-mouth-while-beating-everyone-else-away-from-the-serving-dish awesome! I immediately put the rest of the asparagus (that I had stashed in the fridge in case roasting went terribly wrong) back in the pan for round #2. I'll never eat another boiled asparagus again.

So many people claim to hate asparagus, and I know why: store-bought (or maybe just old) asparagus tastes bad! It's bitter and stringy, not at all like the sweet spears we grow. Try some local, organic asparagus and you may be pleasantly suprised.

We've been busy on the farm, and have many early spring crops in: potatoes, onions, spinach, peas, swiss chard, beets, arugula, mesclun mix, carots, broccoli, cabbage and herbs are all in the ground. All we need is warm weather to see new growth. These cool, rainy days keeps everything wet, but does not encourage much growth.

Oh, an if you've inquired, our CSA program is now full. I've been turning away 3-5 people per week! Amazing what interest there is (especially as spring progresses) in local agriculture. It just warms my heart.