Behold my first asparagus spear of the spring!  It was poking out even before I had a chance to trim the remaining stalks from last year - those are the brown stick-like things. 

If you’ve been checking in for a while, you know that I’m frequently humbled in the vegetable garden.  It’s been a matter of not-so-great soil.  

I put a lovely lattice fence around the place where my predecessors gardened, the ones who abandoned Dexter, so I should have known better.  And I wasn’t patient enough to have the soil tested.  Sadly, it turns out that this is where the old barn stood, and when it burned down it put a lot of elements in the soil that are not great for growing.

But onward.

After several years of amending from my heaping compost pile, and adding raised beds in other places, things seem to be falling into place.  I’m particularly excited about the asparagus, because it was one of the first things I planted, knowing it needs several years to settle in. 

Here’s hoping this is the year.

Roasted asparagus -the simplest spring recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Trim the asparagus by bending it until it breaks - each stalk will show you where the tough part ends and tender part begins.  Place on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Shimmy the pan until the asparagus spears are coated, then season generously with salt and pepper.  Bake until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 - 20 minutes.

If you enjoy this post, please consider subscribing to my newsletter, or my feed.  And are we Twitter friends yet?  Recipe and photos compliments of Janine MacLachlan, The Rustic Kitchen, www. RusticKitchen.com. All rights reserved.