My Busy Home Canning Season Starts With Asparagus

While I home can year round, my busy canning season runs from mid-May through mid-October.  Since buying our vacation home I have had to shorten that timing to run June through September which really cuts it close for missing the local asparagus.  Our first local crop is asparagus usually appearing the third week of May.  This spring was unseasonably cool and wet so the asparagus crop was delayed.  We were leaving for our vacation home in sunny Florida just after lunchtime on May 6 so I kept a close eye for the signs to go up for local asparagus.  The first sign actually went up the day we left.  I was disappointed to think I may miss the local asparagus season but knew one of our kids could get some near them where their season starts about a week later than ours.

We arrived home just before midnight on May 29.  The following day I bought local asparagus while grocery shopping.  It wasn't from the farm I usually buy from but it was raining and I was more concerned about getting some asparagus canned.  This asparagus was from a farm 40 km from our home so still local.  The going price for asparagus this year is $2 to $3 per lb in the grocery stores.   I paid $9.42 for 6 bundles of asparagus at $2 per lb.   It will be so nice when my asparagus bed is mature enough for harvesting, two years from now!

Home canned asparagus is perfect for making cream of asparagus soup.  I will likely make another batch if I can find enough local asparagus.  I'd like to dry some asparagus as well for asparagus powder.  Off to do a bit of shopping...