Spring Fever – Wild Asparagus Season is Upon Us!
We are in the middle of Wild Asparagus season at the moment. And, a delightful season it is too. Local wisdom has that the only way to eat wild asparagus is fried in lots of olive oil and then added to an omelet. We disagree, wild asparagus is delicious served up however you would like to serve farmed asparagus.
The Wednesday Wild Asparagus Poachers visit the finca weekly. They spend all day clearing all the fincas on our side of the valley of any new spears of asparagus. We don’t mind – they leave us all the good bits that we ‘manage’, nearer to the house. Besides, it gives the dogs something to bark at all day, which they enjoy as they don’t get to see many people up here. Managing the wild asparagus just means we burn it each winter to encourage new spears to shoot. Wild Asparagus doesn’t need much encouragement to grow strongly. Even the exceedingly well managed finca next door – immaculate (if desolate) due to a never ending routine of ploughing and spraying – has a pretty decent crop each year.
This is where I should make a confession… At times I can be exceedingly blond – and so too can BigD!
Everyone from the UK who mentions that they may possibly, one day, move to the Spanish countryside will be inundated with books written by expats in Spain. Things like ‘Tomorrow Manana’, ‘We’ve Got a Parrot’ or ‘Driving Over Nectarines’, you know the ones I mean. They will all somewhere mention how daft they felt when, after spending months trying to remove the sharp bristly weeds all over their land, a local mentioned that it was all edible wild asparagus. We knew the story but when you see wild asparagus without any new shoots it is evil scratchy stuff that absolutely will not die. So in typical Brit fashion, we wasted lots of time pulling it up, tearing gloves only to see it re-emerge days later. But then, one day when the previous owner of the finca decided he would be happy to give us a mini tour and roughly explain the boundaries (only six months or so after we bought the land – very silly) he explained how delicious this nasty looking weed is to eat.
Let me tell you, we haven’t looked back since! At this time of year wild asparagus is a nearly daily source of greens in our diet. Not bad for free!
I no longer buy cultivated asparagus or bemoan that we do not have ample enough water to grow our own. Instead we wait for spring and the bumper crop of wild asparagus which appears all over the land. It can be frozen really well (blanching and draining first) but we are happy to wait for those two months of iron rich healthy vegetable treats. Well we would freeze some I suppose, had we a proper freezer! Very occasionally we get a little mini-harvest in the autumn too. Now that really is special.
If you have wild asparagus you really should be eating it. It is super healthy (some googling shows up possible cancer fighting benefits) and yes its a bit spindly when put next to a farmed variety. But the taste is fantastic and it needs such quick cooking that it really makes sense to use this resource.
Wild Asparagus is prolific in Europe, Asia and the United States. Also it is creeping back in the UK, with some help from the National Trust and local government.
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I’ve always wanted to look for wild asparagus but I’ve never gotten around to it.
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OK I’m guilty! I didn’t realise that’s what it was, growing in amongst the fig trees. But what do we do with it? Do we have to chop the top growth off, or will it be there coming through the ground? Sorry, I’m writing this without having trecked down three terraces to have a look, which I really should have done first before posting.
Hi, having spent most of the autumn tackling the weeds in my garden (in Mallorca) I’ve found that the asparagus seems to grow most on the terraces that I have cleared (ie the new growth of the prickly weed) whereas the terraces that I’ve not got round to doing yet (huge amounts of the prickly weed) don’t have as much…good to know that it can be frozen, will try that instead of forcing it upon everyone I see!
I used to have asparagus in the garden and didn’t realise what it was for years. What a waste!
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Chiot, have a look its definitely worth tracking some down! I bet yours would be fatter than our spindly stuff too.
Jan & Michelle – glad its not just me! If I’m organised I cut it just below ground level when its 6″ or so tall. But most often I’m not organised so I just snap the top 6″ off the long shoots which are towering over me! Just try to get it before the ferny leaves start to open. Best griddled with salt & lemon juice/butter on top.
Carla – sods law isn’t it. Our best patch is near the front of the house in our bit of flowery garden that gets pulled up religiously – it refuses to give up!