In Season: Greens and Asparagus, Early-to-Mid Spring
In Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food, he explains that you can often follow the ripening of a certain vegetable northward, thus eating the exact same thing, in season, for weeks. It’s nice to know this, as I can look southward in anticipation for what will be coming next month. I can also consult a harvest calendar for my zone, and get a head start on recipe planning. Some seasonal eating guides are available at Sustainable Table, but for most, you will need to type “harvest calendar” and your state name into a good search engine.
Of course, I didn’t know any of this my first year of eating local. Thanks to the grocery store experience, I had become very much out of touch with what was in season when. Each week’s CSA bag and trip to the farmers market brought a surprise, and then I had to scramble to figure out how to fix the bounty while it was still at its best.
Early spring crops must be frost-tolerant and hearty to withstand the cooler temperatures. The vegetables that get planted earliest include cole crops like broccoli and kale, lettuces and greens, carrots, turnips, beets and onions also go in the ground in the first month of spring. Asparagus, which is a perennial, has to be planted three years before it can be harvested. (seasonal guide and recipes after the jump).
