Neckties decorated with asparagus spears

Yesterday evening, I ate asparagus for the first time in almost a year. This was a very long time in-between eatings, especially considering my intense love for the delicious pretty green spears. Why did I refrain from eating asparagus all winter long? Well, it all started with reading a section on asparagus in Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:

Pushing a refrigerated green vegetable from one end of the earth to another is, let's face it, a bizarre use of fuel. But there's a simpler reason to pass up off-season asparagus: it's inferior. Respecting the dignity of a spectacular food means enjoying it at its best. Europeans celebrate the short season of abundant asparagus as a form of holiday. In the Netherlands the first cutting coincides with Father's day, on which restaurants may feature all-asparagus menus and hand out neckties decorated with asparagus spears. The French make a similar party out of the release of each year's Beaujolais, the Italians crawl over their woods like harvester ants in the autumn mushroom seasons, and go gaga over the summer's first tomato.


I thought a lot about waiting to enjoy food after reading Kingsolver's book. I tried to think of a locally grown vegetable that I had ever spent a year of my life waiting for. I couldn't come up with anything. I tried to think of an annual holiday centered around the celebration of a just-harvested crop. Again, nothing. I felt like I was really missing out on something. Last summer I picked strawberries in Ferndale, WA and could NOT get over how much better they tasted that the ones you buy at the store in December. I decided that I would wait for spring to eat a few things in particular: berries, melons, tomatos, and asparagus.

The funny thing about giving up some of my favorite fruits and vegetables during the winter is that it was in no way difficult. I did not spend my winter unable to resist picking up containers of strawberries at the grocery store and then forcing myself to put them back. I am not the least bit tempted to spend money on a tomato that is not heriloom, or flimsy and flavorless asparagus from China. After realizing how much better these fruits and vegetables taste fresh, there was no going back.

Waiting was not frustrating; it was actually quite exciting. Instead of dreaming of spring and summertime foods, I was falling in love with squashes and beets during the cold months. The kind of foods that warmed me up and left me thinking, "of course this is what I'm supposed to be eating in December."

Joel picked me up from work yesterday and we went to the co-op to find food for dinner. When I saw asparagus, my heart seriously lept. I looked at the tag below the basket full of asparagus to find that, yes, this asparagus was from California. Not as fresh as possible, but only a state away! We decided to steam asparagus for dinner. And we did. Not only was the asparagus delicious, but the meal felt symbolic and meaningful. It was a delicious and satisfying way to spend the evening before the first day of spring.

This spring I am going to create some new holidays centered around eating just-harvested fruits and vegetables. In the Netherlands they wear ties with asparagus on them; perhaps in Oregon we will wear paint strawberries onto our faces while eating our first fresh strawberries of the season. Or something like that. I just came up with this idea while writing this entry, so the brainstorming session has only just begun.

Photo taken by my wonderful little sister

I have a terrible cold (I know I just raved about not getting sick all winter, but I've spent the last week working full-time with very young children, and I guess when you're around snotty-nosed kids, there is only so much your immune system can do) but this is not going to stop me from spending the first day of spring sowing my first seeds (!) and spending some time in the sun.