Local Farm Produce Finally Back!!!!!

In late November (right after Thanksgiving) I go into a huge funk, I come to the realization of the fact that my local farm produce days are numbered. I try to harvest apples, potatoes, winter squash and pumpkin, and root vegetables into at least January or February...but by March even those are gone and I'm left with whatever gets shipped in at Whole Foods. I dream of May when the first of the farm spinach arrives, shortly followed by asparagus.

This weekend I called Schoharie Valley Farms and they informed me that they have been picking asparagus for the past 2 weeks...The season has begun. I promptly drove from the Bed and Breakfast up to Schoharie, the asparagus had just been picked 2 hours before I got there so I purchased some. I cut and sauteed some in an egg custard for breakfast for guests and tonight my mother made the rest for dinner. Asparagus is a vegetable that falls into the "strike while the iron is hot" category. Unlike spinach and salad greens which are also available now and will be available through October, the growing season for asparagus is only about a month, and once it's over there will be no asparagus until next May. Farm asparagus is pencil thin, sweet and so tender, often asparagus that you get from the grocery store is woody and bitter; there is a very clear difference. So much that I generally only eat asparagus in season, so I'm so excited to eat it now because it's a treat that I only get for a very short period in the year. Asparagus is one of those vegetables that once you eat it from the farm "in season" you won't want to purchase it from the supermarket. Its so simple to make, and I never use too many ingredients with it because I want the flavor to really shine through. A simple and flavorful asparagus recipe is below.

Ingredients:
Pencil thin asparagus (if purchased in a supermarket then cut off the bottom 2 inches and save for soup or stock)
lemon juice and zest
salt
fresh cracked pepper
good extra virgin olive oil for coating

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Coat asparagus slightly with olive oil
zest and juice lemon over asparagus
sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
Roast in oven for 10-15 minutes until tender but still firm.
Serve.