Foraging in our own garden!
Around a year ago we moved house. The place we bought is a grand old lady who had fallen on hard times and both she and her garden need lots of love to bring them back from the wilderness. Such chaos leads to some very special finds and so far, in this first full spring in the garden, we have discovered gnarled yet delicious morel mushrooms and, even more excitingly, an old asparagus bed that is throwing up spears left, right and centre and providing some delicious suppers!
Whether it is foraged or bought, asparagus needs little more than a hot griddle, lemon, oil and parmesan to make a real treat. I like Jamie Oliver's quick and easy explanation of how it's done.
If you go the whole hog and decide to grow your own you need to plan ahead.
A good harvest is usually possible in the third year after planting!
Cut spears that are 15cm in length and cut at an angle just below the soil.
Harvest for two to three weeks each year then let the remaing spears mature to produce pretty, ferny tops that will help the plants replenish themselves ready for next year.
