Reap Less Than You Sow

Caption

Asparagus

TRANSCRIPT:

Chuck Reece: Spring is here in the South. Farmers all over our region — even the ones who just have a little spot in the backyard — are planting vegetables that Southerners want. Tomatoes, of course, given our regional love of the tomato sandwich — cheap white bread, mayonnaise and slices from a tomato that was on the vine less than an hour ago. And okra, without which there is no gumbo.

And, of course, asparagus.

"Wait!" you’re saying. "There is nothing distinctly Southern about asparagus." True, that. Although there are many cooks here who make asparagus Southern by turning it into a casserole — two pounds of the stalks plus heavy cream, butter, onions, cheese, salt, pepper, one full sleeve of butter crackers, and cream of celery soup from a can.

That recipe is a testament to the stubbornness that is part of Southern culture, both for good and for evil. Want another example of stubbornness? Try growing the asparagus yourself, from seeds. If you plant some right now, you might — and that’s a big might — eat your homegrown asparagus three years from now.

Asparagus seeds are notoriously difficult to germinate. You must start them indoors—in a place with friendly light and warmth. If you can get them to sprout — and that’s another big if — they come up beautiful, like tiny, wispy ferns. Once they are 4 to 6 inches high, you can take them outside and replant them.

Then you wait. For three years. Your job is just to keep those delicate plants properly watered and mulched, typically under wood shavings because other mulches are too heavy. For the first two years, you simply let the plants come up and let them die back in the winter, always keeping the bed mulched.

Then, in the third year, amid the feathery plants, you will see asparagus stalks rising.

At least that’s what they told me when I first planted asparagus six springs ago. I should have been eating homegrown asparagus for the last two years, according to my research from back then. I still do as instructed: I cut the plants back in the winter, and every spring, they return. But not in thick, crunchy stalks. My plants stay as wispy as those seedlings from six years ago. The only difference is that they grow 3 to 4 feet high. Like weeds, but prettier.

I have harvested a few thick, edible stalks. A precious few. The truth is I have eaten from my garden precisely three stalks of asparagus: two the year before last, and one last year.

If anyone within the sound of my voice lives in the South and has been successful at growing their own asparagus, please send me your advice. Someday, I’d like to harvest enough to try that casserole recipe.

Come see us anytime at SalvationSouth.com.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. Salvation South Deluxe is a series of longer Salvation South episodes which tell deeper stories of the Southern experience through the unique voices that live it. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and wherever you get your podcasts.