Say hello to Mary Washington
Eleven years ago, I scattered a packet of Mary Washington asparagus seeds into a round tray of potting mix, and every seed sprouted. I transplanted the seedlings close together at the end of a bed for their first year and then 12 inches or more apart in a permanent location the next spring. Every year since, the spears burst through mid-spring like a bunch of A students raising their hands, “Pick me! Pick me!” day after day.
The spears rise out of underground crowns, and healthy crowns might sprout spears 15 years of more. After a month or so of sending up the edible spears, the crowns send up fern-like fronds, some of which bear red berries. The ferny foliage can become ungainly, leaning into pathways, but it is important to keep all foliage until it has dried up in autumn because the foliage is feeding the crown for next year’s spears.
Very thin spears should also remain uncut so they can become ferns which feed the crowns.
Asparagus plants are either male or female. Males send up more but thinner spears. It is best not cut any spears during the first couple of years so the crown can develop at a natural pace or else the early harvesting will affect production thereafter.
Greeks 2000 years ago used asparagus medicinally to treat stomach distress and as a diuretic. Romans drizzled it with olive oil and ate it with fish. The Greek language might have borrowed the Persian word “asparag” for the plant which would indicate Persians knew about asparagus before Mediterraneans. Researchers speculate it was first cultivated in the Fertile Crescent, but it can be found all around the world nowadays.
China grows far more asparagus than any other country, but China keeps its asparagus. China is not even in the top ten list of exporters. Peru is second in production and second in exporting which included selling 48.4 million pounds to the United States in 2019. The United States is third in production, mostly from California and my garden in northern Madison County.
There are green, white and purple asparagus varieties. Green is most common. Smarty-pants plant breeder people introduced the disease-resistant Mary Washington variety in 1919, and it has remained the most popular variety since. Conover’s Colossal is a 19th-century heirloom with larger spears.
White asparagus, popular in Europe, is created by blocking sunlight from reaching a green asparagus spear. A gardener can accomplish this by covering emerging spears with a light-proof bucket, tub or container. You can mound dirt around the spear or even construct a light-proof tunnel over all the plants. Fans claim blanching asparagus this way makes it milder in taste and more tender.
Purple asparagus originated in the Albegna region in the northwest part of Italy near France. A handful of farmers gathered beside Angelo’s barn after a long day of laboring to share some well-deserved vino. After enough vino had disappeared, they concluded there were not enough purple things in the world, so they began propagating asparagus plants from open-pollinated seeds, and, somehow, voila! – purple asparagus. How do they know these things?
Asparagus is a low-calorie food packed with a healthy dose of Vitamin K and folate, plus ample portions of vitamins C and A. It is high in antioxidant compounds including quercetin, isorhamnetin and kaempferol, but you knew that already. A modest amount of asparagus provides a moderate dose of daily fiber requirements, and its potassium lowers blood pressure. It also has a healthy amount of the amino acid asparagine which aids in flushing excess salt and fluid from the body.
So, now is the time to start your asparagus. Seeds are usually available in seed racks, and crowns might be available locally but certainly online. Asparagus is easy to grow and a tasty way to get your daily kaempferol. Thanks. Mary.