Walking The Line

More storms today but it looks like it's getting a little bit better out there before I have to leave for bookclub out in West Jordan's afternoon. The picture I have at the top of the page is of Dutch asparagus, what I mean is that it's asparagus purchased by a woman who is Dutch and lives in the Netherlands my friend Elske. I asked Elske is she harvested the asparagus herself or had her son or daughter assist her in finding and cutting the asparagus. My vision of the Netherlands is that there are many ditch banks which would make sense that there could be a lot of asparagus growing on the side of those banks. Alas, sadly Elske replied no she purchased the cut asparagus at her local market.

My mind began to wander down good old memory lane as I chatted back and forth, texting my friend. As the dedicated reader knows I was raised in South Boise in the rural area on a small farm. We irrigated of course like most other farm types in the area. The giant sprinklers that ruled the irrigation process in the southeast Idaho area were not that prevalent in the southwest portion of the state. We had irrigation which means we had lots of ditches. I don't know when my mother realized there was free asparagus to be had for the cutting that soon my older brother and myself were enlisted in searching for and finding is much said asparagus is possible. After all, free food for a family of seven it seemed like a great deal. It's not like we got tons and tons of asparagus but we got enough to make a decent side dish to pot roast or steak that we often had for dinner. My mother had a powerful belief that asparagus fell in that group of foods that were almost medicine. After all, my family had quite a history of belief and health foods and restorative foods and asparagus and alfalfa were two of those which where green, I assume healthy and free to the taking when found in the “wild”. Alfalfa we would cut (which was easy to do, since we often raise alfalfa for our cattle)we would then take the cut alfalfa place it on some flat surface with good sun exposure and let cure. The herb now dried, high in vitamin C and iron seemed the perfect medicine for bladder infections and other urinary tract issues and the alfalfa is free.

It's best to “walk the ditch” in the early morning at least that's what we're told and had to do before school and even after school. It seems like asparagus sprouts overnight and I guess it wouldn't surprise me at some sprouts erupt while I might be at school. You have to be quick however and you have to be constant because once the asparagus goes to see you lost the plant for that season. So every morning, off we would go Ross and I walk in the ditch he on one side me on the other looking for the little spears pointing towards the sky begging to be cut and taken to dinner….