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