Asparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus from which the popular vegetable known as asparagus is obtained. It is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It is now also widely cultivated as a vegetable crop. [Wikapedia]

[A]Sparragus, Asparagus officinalis, comes from Greek asparagos. It was known in England at least by 1000; common names were sperage and sperach. OED reports that in the sixteenth century, the influence of the herbalists brought the Latin name into general use but in an aphetic form, sparagus; this was quickly corrupted and by 1650, by the same popular etymology that we have seen at work so often, it had firmly become sparrow-grass. This took such a hold that although botanists continued to write asparagus, the people called it sparrow-grass through the eighteenth century.

Asparagus is a hardy perennial. It is the only common vegetable that grows wild along roadsides and railroad tracks over a large part of the country. Although establishing a good asparagus bed requires considerable work, your efforts will be rewarded. A well-planned bed can last from 20 to 30 years. For this reason, asparagus should be planted at the side or end of the garden, where it will not be disturbed by normal garden cultivation. Asparagus is one of the first vegetables ready to harvest in the spring. Asparagus is native to the Mediterranean and was eaten by the ancient Greeks. [University of Illinois Extension]

For more information on Asparagus go to the The Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board Online

For those curious about the odd reaction that asparagus has on your waste water elimination system, go to this link or this one

Watkins Woolen Mill State Park and State Historic Site
Lawson, MO

The variety pictures at the left is Conover's Colossal that was started from seed with the source being Bountiful Gardens. Additional photos of the raised beds with Conover's are available

William Woys Weaver in his book, Heirloom Vegetable Gardening, states that this variety was developed on Long Island by S.B. Conover and introduced in 1868 by J. M. Thorburn of New York Ceity.


A couple of excerpts from Watkins family letters follow. The second one goes on to describe how Watkins was going to put cabbage, beet and parsnip seeds in boxes and put the boxes on the roof of the mill.

"Our crops are looking tolerable well, it has been two wet all the season, but while the corn has been well tilled it looks very fine. The wheat is very good and has been stacked. Oats are just ripe and are good. The grass hoppers left some 3 weeks since and did not do much damage this spring; except eating the young hemp and some garden. We have a very good vegetable garden this summer and the asparagus beds have grown higher and thicker than I ever saw in my life. We have had many cherries but they are near gone now."

Waltus L. Watkins to his daughters
July 29, 1861


"The grasshoppers are doing us very much Injury they have eat all of my rye 120 acre they have destroyed all of my meadow which consisted of 160 acres of Timothy very fine have taken hundreds of acres of blue grass taken nearly all the garden they have taken about 4 acres of potatoes and are now beginning on the corn but have not taken all of it are also beginning on the oats they have taken all the Beets Parsnips, Tomatoes Cabbage mustard radishes onions Asparagus watermelons cucumbers most of the Beans Some of the peas they have hurt the Broom Corn less than any thing else."

Waltus L. Watkins to his daughter (Martha Ann Watkins Scruggs)
June 7, 1875

Here are a few more images of asparagus for you to browse. If you would like to submit a photo of your own to include, email it to Blake Hayes.

Here are two asparagus references from Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery, “curiously copied by an unknown hand sometime in the seventeenth century,” transcribed by Karen Hess. NOTE: there could easily be typing errors!

#157 [To] Plant Sparragus

To plant the rootes or seeds of sparragus, make ye bed as bigg as you will have it, & dig ye earth out a yerd deepe, & fill up ye place againe with old cows dung or horse dung well rotted. & If you have any rams [rems?] horns, or shaveings of horne, it will make it much ye better. when ye have filled up ye place with dung, tread it downe well, yn take earth yt hath layn under a wood pille, or any other fat earth, yt hath neyther stones nor sticks in it, & cover ye dongue a quarter of a yerd deepe, ther rake it into long beds, & plant yr seeds halfe a quarter of a yerd asunder every way, & put them full halfe a quarter of yerd deepe into ye ground; and put three or foure seeds into a hole. If you plant roots, set them a quarter of a yerd asunder, & a quarter of A yerd deepe. it is good planting & sowing towards ye latter end of march. you must not cut your sparragrass that comes of seeds till the thirde year, & that which comes of rootes not till the second year. towards winter, you must cut it all downe to the ground & cover it with longe horse litter but in the spring, you must take of the litter and rake ye beads clean againe.

#170 To Pickle Green Sparragus

Let yr water be boyling, then bundle up yr sparragus as it is when it is sould; hould ye roots in your hands & dip in ye green ends whilst ye water boyls. Soe doe by every bundle you have, & when yr sparragus is cold, put it into A glass with verges & salt, & it will keep all ye year.

Our first plant is the Sugar Maple Tree - Acer Saccharum.

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is the most abundant of the seven maple species found in New York State, and is common throughout New England, the Lake States, Mid-Atlantic states, and several Canadian provinces. Its historical and economical importance, both in the production of maple syrup and as a timber species, has earned sugar maple its status as the official state tree of New York. The sugar maple leaf on the Canadian flag is evidence of this species' importance in Canada.

Description
Under optimal growing conditions, sugar maple can attain heights in excess of 100 feet. The largest reported individual was found near Bethany, West Virginia; it had a diameter of 5.6 feet, a crown spread of 75 feet, and a height of 110 feet. Most mature trees, however, range from 70 to 90 feet in height and have diameters at breast height (4.5 feet above the ground) commonly measuring from 2 to 3 feet. Trees grown in the open have trunks that branch near the ground, forming crowns that spread 60 to 80 feet. In contrast, those found in shaded forest conditions normally develop clear, straight boles and narrow crowns.

The leaves of sugar maple are simple (single) and like the buds are in an opposite arrangement on the twigs (Figure 1). They are usually five-lobed although certain trees may possess leaves with three, four, or five lobes. Leaves are dark green on the top surface and paler underneath. They are generally smooth on both sides, although the veins underneath may be slightly hairy. Leaves typically measure from 3 to 5 inches long. The margins between lobes are shallow and smooth, which distinguishes them from leaves of the similar-looking red maple (Acer rubrum), which has serrated lobe margins. Another difference in the leaves is the "U-shaped" connections between lobes of sugar maple leaves versus the "V-shaped" connections of red maple. [For more...]

Some Historical References to Maple Syrup

The Backcountry Housewife, by Kay Moss and Kathryn Hoffman:

An 18th century farmer and traveler (de Crevecoeur), familiar with rural life from Virginia to Nova Scotia, states that “by the help of my trees and of my bees, we yearly procure the sweetening we want.”

Maple sugar and syrup were manufactured and used in the Carolinas just as they were in the northern colonies. The diet of the backwoodsman on the move in the Carolinas is reported to have been “principally of parched corn, mixed as it generally was with maple sugar, making a very agreeable repast.” In the Wachovia (N.C.) settlements of the Moravians “the sap maple is so sweet that some sugar can be boiled from it, and so plentiful that some use it for a drink.”

The common treacle or molasses in European cookery was a by-product of sugar manufacture. This West Indian molasses was also widely available in early America…Other syrups were often called molasses as well. In the early days of Bethabara (N.C.) the maple trees were tapped “so that we may make vinegar and some molasses.”

Planting and Harvesting

Plant seed in dirt, wait 20-30 years, drill 7/16" hole in trunk of tree and collect the life blood sap, of the tree you have nurtured for oh these many long years, in a pail.

Feature Recipe

Take 40 gallons of collected sap, boil in big pot for a long time while drinking beer, when brown and sticky pour on pancakes or waffles.

Makes: 1 Gallon
Serves: Everyone still standing