Good Eatin': Asparagus

A little belatedly for some parts of the country, the instructions for growing asparagus, "one of the first vegetables ready to harvest in the spring," from University of Illinois Extension's Watch Your Garden Grow, cover planting, care, harvesting, problems (even asparaguses have their problems, namely, asparagus beetle and asparagus rust), selection and storage, preparation and serving, and preservation. For a slicker look at asparagus, there is the professional website of the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board, Asparagus.org, which includes links to a commercial site offering asparagus guacamole and salsa. The best source of recipes -- roasted asparagus, asparagus guacamole, sesame asparagus salad...yum! -- comes from the California Asparagus Commission. LOL's Your Deepest Questions Answered Dept., meanwhile, recommends WebMD's Eau D'Asparagus, a piece that addresses your concern that eating asparagus makes your urine smell funny. The sulfur compound mercaptan, "also found in rotten eggs, onions, garlic, and in the secretions of skunks," all favorite smells of LOL, btw, is the culprit, although genetics also plays a part in determining both the odor of asparapee and whether or not you can smell it; the site includes more on the nutritional benefits of this wonderful vegetable.