Friday 31 August 2012

Sparrow's Grass


Spring has sprung! The Sparrow's Grass has ris'! Spring is wonderful for all sorts of reasons, but there's nothing quite like the morning you go out and notice that the asparagus has noticed it too. This will be our first year of really good spears. It's taken four years to get to this point with mostly sprue spears (the thin ones), not that they taste bad either. But more bang for your buck with these fat fellows. Asparagus used to be belong to the Liliaceae family, but this split into two, the Amaryllidaceae  (onion family) and the Asparagaceae.

It's easy to grow, and once established it should keep producing for around 30 years. It's high in potassium, low in sodium, high in fibre and packed with mineral goodies, selenium, phosphorus, iron, copper, manganese, chromium as well as vitamins  A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid.

The interesting thing about asparagus is that it makes pretty much everyone's pee smell terrible, but that only 20% of us are lucky enough to be able to smell it. I can't.

The ABC have put out a fact sheet about growing asparagus. Also known colloquially as Sparrow's Grass, though around here it's slug tucker if we're not careful.ABC Gardening Fact Sheet

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

So I am "lucky" that I can smell asparapee?!!! Another minority "victory" is mine! I am also one of the minority that sneeze when I get glaring sunlight. Not too sure that they are anything to crow about though ;). I love asparagus and discovered a bed of it on our property under a tangle of blackberries and the birds must have been spreading the seed all over the place as Serendipity Farm is covered with it! Asparagus futures...YUM! :)

Jo said...

I am currently trying to decide where in our small garden to locate an asparagus patch. This will take some thinking about if it is going to stay put for 30 years...

A dumb question. Apparently Tasmanian soils are low in selenium. I imagine that would make asparagus grown here low in selenium as well? I don't imagine it manufactures trace elements itself? Or does it?

Anonymous said...

Just wondering when you'll be blogging? I've checked every day, but nothing.Have you gone away perhaps?