"Srgnt Billko" wrote in message
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"Hobo" wrote in message
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Srgnt Billko wrote:
"Chas Hurst" wrote in message
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"Srgnt Billko" wrote in message
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"Srgnt Billko" wrote in message
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actually you can almost see it grow. What was just barely peeking
through the ground Tuesday is now 10" high and will be picked
tomorrow.

Picked a few pounds - we ALL ate good tonight.
Did you ever try mounding the soil up around the shoots as they do in
Europe? Keeps them from getting green and makes for a different flavor.

Didn't realize that but maybe we'll try it around a few plants.


The idea is to keep the spears from turning green. Cut them off well
below the soil level just as they start to break through. The white
spears are very tender and tasty. They can be sauteed lightly in a pan
with butter, or eaten raw just like a piece of celery. Wonderful texture
and flavour. White asparagus is (or was) a delicacy of the region of
southern Germany along the Rhine.

I notice that you guys say "cut" the spears. We don't cut - we were
taught to "break" them off and that would happen automatically at the
correct point so the plants wouldn't be damaged. How do you determine the
correct point when the are hilled up ? And how high should you mound up
?. I need to know more because all the spears from a given plant don't pop
up at once - so when and how much ? What happens to the slower spears if
the hilling is done based on the first spear ? We cover them with a few
inches in the fall after growing season. Do they do that in Europe ?

I never raised asparagus but I have taken it from wild plants.
Here's an article I found about white asparagus.
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/whiteasparagus
White is common in most of Germany-maybe there are some folks from the old
country in your area you could ask.