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April showers bring May flowers! Here we are in the middle of May, one of my favorite months because it means asparagus season!

My dad started growing asparagus in 1992 with only ½ acre and 18 years later we have increased to 3 acres total for both green and purple certified organic asparagus crops. Asparagus is a unique crop that takes an investment of time and patience. When you first plant the crowns you have to wait 3 years before harvesting your first crop. The plant must take time to fully mature and build sugars in the root system. Allowing the plant to go to mature or go to seed means that you let the spears feather out into wispy sun-catching ferns. The ferns stretch their long featherlike arms up to gather as much sun as possible and this is what is stored into the root of the plant.

Our Sang Lee asparagus so sweet I simply snap it off just below soil level and enjoy a crisp sweet snack whenever I happen to stroll through the fields. For most of you I am sure "strolling through the fields" might not happen every day, but for me- the manhattanite farmer's daughter I get to par-take in this fantastic experience once a week when I go out to visit.

Last year I ran a small educational event with Food For Thought Tours and had a small group of "city folk" come out to the farm for a day in the life of a farmer. They embarked on a harvesting lesson that started with strawberries and ended with asparagus harvesting. Our visitors could not even imagine how much work was cut out for them! They remarked at how much squatting time and perfect precision the harvest took, especially when holding the elongated, extremely sharp fork-like cutting tool. Everyone wanted to learn the correct method as not to kill the root system and damage the plant for future crops. After the harvest process the long ragged ended spears are laid in crates and brought into the barn. Fong, our oldest Sang Lee employee then counts, weights, measures and bunches each spear together in a perfect bundle which is then carried up to the stand for sale. Once you have the concept of the amount of heartache and effort goes into getting this delicious veggie to grow properly you appreciate the taste and the cost immensely. Seasonal produce is something that I try to pay strict attention to because seasonal is often also local. Seasonal means that you are eating the fruit or vegetable at the time when it is ripe and ready for picking. Unfortunately due to the American grocery system most people are not familiar with when asparagus season starts and ends. They simply go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of asparagus for Christmas dinner, even if it is in December. Funny enough, those same people might also wonder why their kids despise asparagus, or can not stand spinach. Perhaps, they have never tasted fresh Sang Lee's produce, or eaten the vegetable when it is at its very best! Seasonal freshly cut produce is the only way to eat in my opinion because you gain maximum taste and flavor and support local farmers at the same time. As promised I will share my favorite asparagus recipe. Amazingly simple, I feel this method maximizes taste and flavor and if you live in the city (like me) and were not able to stroll through a farm and spend a few hours harvesting your own bunch, you are probably time crunched and want to run out to the latest sale at Barneys instead of slaving over a hot stove.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the very ends of your Local organic asparagus bunch about one ½ to 1 inch. Rinse and dry spears and lay them on a flat cookie sheet or baking tray. Take a large pinch of mineral large grain sea salt and sprinkle lightly over spears. Take your favorite organic extra virgin olive oil and drizzle over each spear, turning them to coat evenly. Slide spears into hot oven for about 30-40 minutes- until the tips of the spears are lightly crispy and the stalks are very tender. If you are lucky you might just have time to run out for a quick manicure... and you’ll be back in a New York minute, just in time for dinner. Remember to think about where your food comes from, and how it arrived on your plate because food matters!