# Wild asparagus



## salt and pepper (May 17, 2014)

Went out this morning and pi
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





cked.....


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## Addie (May 17, 2014)

I love asparagus with big fat heads. More flavor. Those skinny ones they sell in the supermarket now have totally devoid of any flavor.


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## Aunt Bea (May 17, 2014)

Nice!

Reminds me of Euell Gibbon's "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" or TMEN from my hippie daze!

Now that I'm in my _*hip*_py days I buy it at the farmers market! 

I agree with Addie, I go for the old fashioned fat asparagus, none of that pencil style stuff for me!


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## pacanis (May 17, 2014)

I don't recall ever seeing wild asparagus... in the wild.


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## Bookbrat (May 17, 2014)

Nice. We used to pick grocery bags full along the irrigation ditch banks where DH grew up in southern Idaho. We gorged ourselves and I canned the excess (only way to get it 400 mi. home).

I just picked a fistful from the garden for dinner...yum.


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## Aunt Bea (May 18, 2014)

pacanis said:


> I don't recall ever seeing wild asparagus... in the wild.



The stuff that I used to gather was not truly wild.  We would find it growing near old building foundations when we went exploring in the country.  We used to find it in the summer when the stalks had gone to seed and looked like small boney Christmas trees then file the location away in our memory banks and go back in the spring.


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## Whiskadoodle (May 18, 2014)

Aunt Bea said:


> *We used to find it in the summer when the stalks had gone to seed and looked like small boney Christmas trees then file the location away in our memory banks and go back in the spring*.


 

Yep.  That's the way to do it.   Urban gleaning is a bit more of a challenge ever since I read that one shouldn't pick plants on park land property.


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## cave76 (May 18, 2014)

I prefer the fat ones too----- because they have more flavor. I used to pick wild asparagus all the time and they 'are' good but not as much..........

I was told that all the 'miniature' veggies that are oh so cute now and so popular don't have as much flavor as the regular kinds. (Not just the young/small ones, but ones that never get big, thanks to plant geneticists.)


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## Andy M. (May 18, 2014)

cave76 said:


> ...I was told that all the 'miniature' veggies that are oh so cute now and so popular don't have as much flavor as the regular kinds. (Not just the young/small ones, but ones that never get big, thanks to plant geneticists.)




I agree.  When on vacation in Aruba, we buy huge fat carrots at the supermarket that are sweeter and more flavorful than the bagged mini carrots we see at home.


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## Addie (May 18, 2014)

cave76 said:


> I prefer the fat ones too----- because they have more flavor. I used to pick wild asparagus all the time and they 'are' good but not as much..........
> 
> I was told that all the 'miniature' veggies that are oh so cute now and so popular don't have as much flavor as the regular kinds. (Not just the young/small ones, but ones that never get big, thanks to plant geneticists.)



They don't. Give me a big hunk of a carrot, potato or any veggie. Sure some of the big ones have more seeds, but that problem is easily solved. Scrape them out if they bother you. Grape tomatoes are totally flavorless to me. I want flavor, not cuteness.


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## cave76 (May 18, 2014)

Whiskadoodle said:


> Yep.  That's the way to do it.   Urban gleaning is a bit more of a challenge ever since I read that one shouldn't pick plants on park land property.



Also---- urban gleaning of food by a highway may have some problems with toxic materials spewed from the vehicles using the highway. Or lead in the soil.

But if I were starving, I'd take the chance!


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## Addie (May 18, 2014)

Up on Route 1A the old Italian women would go onto the median strip and dig up the dandelion greens. They would get into fights as what was their patch when someone crossed the imaginary line. Finally, the authorities had to put a stop to it. Too many were getting hit by cars when going to and fro from the strip.


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## taxlady (May 18, 2014)

I don't think there is any actually wild asparagus in North America. It isn't native. I think the "wild asparagus" is actually feral.


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## cave76 (May 18, 2014)

taxlady said:


> I don't think there is any actually wild asparagus in North America. It isn't native. I think the "wild asparagus" is actually feral.



I think you may be right. The 'wild' asparagus I picked was downwind from an area that had many asparagus fields.


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## Aunt Bea (May 18, 2014)

Whiskadoodle said:


> Yep.  That's the way to do it.   Urban gleaning is a bit more of a challenge ever since I read that one shouldn't pick plants on park land property.



I've been known to help the city or county reduce its maintenance expenses by removing some the items that they will eventually need to pay someone to dispose of, I feel it's my civic duty to help out where I can!


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## Steve Kroll (May 19, 2014)

taxlady said:


> I don't think there is any actually wild asparagus in North America. It isn't native. I think the "wild asparagus" is actually feral.


Actually, the other way around. Farmed asparagus is simply "feral" asparagus that's been cultivated. The stuff people pick and call wild asparagus in this country is the same variety you buy in the grocery store. And "white asparagus" is simply green asparagus that's covered over with dirt or plastic tunnels to keep the sunlight out, which in turn prevents it from creating chlorophyll.


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## taxlady (May 19, 2014)

Steve Kroll said:


> Actually, the other way around. Farmed asparagus is simply "feral" asparagus that's been cultivated. The stuff people pick and call wild asparagus in this country is the same variety you buy in the grocery store. And "white asparagus" is simply green asparagus that's covered over with dirt or plastic tunnels to keep the sunlight out, which in turn prevents it from creating chlorophyll.


I'm confused. I call it feral because it escaped from cultivation. It's not native to North America. It was brought here in the 1700s, presumably to cultivate it. I agree it's the same species as the cultivated asparagus.


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## cave76 (May 19, 2014)

Steve Kroll said:


> Actually, the other way around. Farmed asparagus is simply "feral" asparagus that's been cultivated. The stuff people pick and call wild asparagus in this country is the* same variety* you buy in the grocery store.



Not quite  because most of what we buy in the store are hybrids so their seeds won't reproduce true. But it's a small point.


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## Mad Cook (May 19, 2014)

Andy M. said:


> I agree.  When on vacation in Aruba, we buy huge fat carrots at the supermarket that are sweeter and more flavorful than the bagged mini carrots we see at home.



I buy 28lb bags of "pony carrots" (ie sold for owners to feed to their equines) for Horse from the local greengrocer and Horse kindly allows me to take some home. They are often peculiar shapes - corkscrew, bifurcated and other oddities that the supermarkets won't accept. They are delicious. Much better than the tasteless supermarket carrots. They're  a fraction of the price - less than 10 pence a pound, unlike supermarket ones at 55 pence a pound and, unlike the supermarket carrots, they come from the next county - about 30 miles away and don't travel three times round the country before getting to the greengrocer's shop.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (May 19, 2014)

Addie said:


> They don't. Give me a big hunk of a carrot, potato or any veggie. Sure some of the big ones have more seeds, but that problem is easily solved. Scrape them out if they bother you. Grape tomatoes are totally flavorless to me. I want flavor, not cuteness.



I agree completely.  Give me a flavorful, non-messed with, ugly veggie, with full flavor every time.  Spots on apples, no problem.  Spots or cracks in tomatoes, serve 'em up.  Carrots, the fatter the better.

Mini carrots, perfectly round tomatoes, skinny asparagus, why can't people be satisfied with real, natural food.  It's healthier, and engineered by nature, or Deity to work with out taste buds, etc.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## CWS4322 (Jun 6, 2014)

A friend invited me over to stalk the wild asparagus with her. Here's a pick of what I brought home. I've chopped some of the stalks and tossed those in the freezer for omelets (a la my dad), plan on having an asparagus-mushroom-cheese omelet for breakfast tomorrow. Definitely will steam some tonight...not sure what else I'll do with it, but I definitely am not sharing (except in pictures!):


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## Roll_Bones (Jun 6, 2014)

I keep hearing how some put left over or over abundant vegetables like peppers in the freezer.  How well would asparagus freeze?

I have a garden that I have to share as I cannot eat it all myself.  But I have never for example frozen bell pepper. I don't think all vegetables are suitable for freezing?


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## Addie (Jun 6, 2014)

Roll_Bones said:


> I keep hearing how some put left over or over abundant vegetables like peppers in the freezer.  How well would asparagus freeze?
> 
> I have a garden that I have to share as I cannot eat it all myself.  But I have never for example frozen bell pepper. I don't think all vegetables are suitable for freezing?



Take a look at your frozen foods section at your local supermarket. Can you buy a bag of raw bell pepper from the freezer? Then I would say you can freeze them at home. Same with onion, and may other veggies. Some veggies need to be blanched before they are frozen. Some have to be fully cooked.


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## CWS4322 (Jun 6, 2014)

I chop up sweet peppers and toss them in the freezer. I don't blanch them. I use these in dishes that require the peppers to be cooked in the sauce. I toss jalapenos and other hot peppers in the freezer whole. I toss chopped onions in the freezer, ditto re roasted garlic if I have any, chopped celery.


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## Addie (Jun 6, 2014)

My girlfriend in Atlanta sends me a crate of Vildalia onions and I spend the day chopping and dicing them. Some of them a small dice and some in long slices. I happen to one of those weird folks that doesn't cry when working with onions. I think it may be because I wear glasses.


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## GotGarlic (Jun 6, 2014)

Addie said:


> My girlfriend in Atlanta sends me a crate of Vildalia onions and I spend the day chopping and dicing them. Some of them a small dice and some in long slices. I happen to one of those weird folks that doesn't cry when working with onions. I think it may be because I wear glasses.



I'm sure you could buy a bag of Vidalias locally for much less than the cost of shipping. 

I wear glasses, too, but chopping onions does make my eyes tear up. I light a candle and turn on the ceiling fan when I chop onions.


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## Addie (Jun 6, 2014)

GotGarlic said:


> I'm sure you could buy a bag of Vidalias locally for much less than the cost of shipping.
> 
> I wear glasses, too, but chopping onions does make my eyes tear up. I light a candle and turn on the ceiling fan when I chop onions.



I am sure I could. But these are sent to me as a gift. I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I accept it with grace and gratitude. 

She has a standing order with the farmer that on the first day he is picking, he packs the crate and ships them off to me. I am thankful for them.


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## GotGarlic (Jun 6, 2014)

He doesn't allow them to dry first? That's odd.


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## cave76 (Jun 6, 2014)

GotGarlic said:


> He doesn't allow them to dry first? That's odd.



Here's how I cured the onions I grew (of course there weren't as many!).

But depending on weather----- then can also be cured in a barn or some such.


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## GotGarlic (Jun 6, 2014)

I cure mine on a wire shelf in the sunroom . 

Sent from my VS840 4G using Discuss Cooking mobile app


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