Wild Asparagus

[r0ckhamm3r]

The wild asparagus is starting to come up here in Missouri. Hopefully it will be ready to start harvesting late this week. Morels should be up soon as well. I think it is going to be a very good year, a really wet winter and good warm temperatures should make for a bumper crop.

[hunter63]

Ours start about May first in Wisconsin.
When I see dandelions in bloom, the asparagus is up.
Morels a little earlier.

Good hunting.

[your_comforting_company]

What no pictures?

[r0ckhamm3r]

Going to take some pictures tomorrow when I go tromping around. I will post them when I get back. Wood nettles are also coming up.

[hunter63]

Before a lot of the "county land" was subdivided, I used to motorcycle hunt asparagus, on the back roads.

When out in the fall, with a Yamaha enduro, cruise the roads till I saw a gone to seed asparagus bush.
Stop the bike, spray paint a blue dot on the side of the road, with a can of ghetto decorator.

In the spring I would retrace my route, checking for the blue dots, when found, ride down into the ditch and "swish the grass" with a broom stick...If it hit something, I would check and see if it was a spear, cut it and keep going.

[r0ckhamm3r]

LOL, that's cheating. My dad use to do the same type of thing frog hunting. He had an agreement with a guy that raised catfish in about 20 ponds, all next to each other. He had a spotlight mounted on his truck and would drive on the berms between the ponds at night. When he saw a frog, he would lean out the window of the truck and shoot it with a .22. He trained his dog to hop out of the truck and bring the frog back to him. A good deal for him, he loves frog legs and a good deal for the guy that owned the fish ponds, frogs eat the tiny fish.

[hunter63]

LOL, that's cheating.......

Yeah, the little old ladies with their big over coats and babushkas, cussing at me in some eastern european language thought so too, LOL
They can be nasty with those broom sticks....That where I got the idea of using the stick.

[OhioGrizzLapp]

I do not think I have ever had it, can you place some pics and where to find it, how to find it in the post here?

[hunter63]

I do not think I have ever had it, can you place some pics and where to find it, how to find it in the post here?

They sell it at the super market, almost year round, but mostly imported if not in the spring.
Here is a reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus

I don't know if wild asparagus is "escaped domestic" or domestic is domesticated wild, LOL....Never really thought about it.
You can grow it in your garden, but some how the idea of picking it for free,(foraging) is appealing to me. (ya think?)

Back in the days when most field along roads had fences, seems the birds would eat the berries, sit on the fence, and plop out the seeds.
So ideal time and place to locate plants is in the fall when you have 2-3 ft high bushes, green, turning brown. Easy to find.

In the spring the spears hide in the tall grass, so by swishing a stick over the grass, you could feel the thunk on the spear, and when you find one, chances are there will be more.
Comes up every year so remember the spot.

As I spend a fair amount of time hunting, fishing, hiking, and just walking, and with the mind set of finding useful materials, wild foods , or just a cool looking rock, I do make mental note of where and when different things are, even out of season.

Funny story, pheasant hunting, found a large asparagus plant in a tree line, while taking a break.
Upon looking around found several more, big bushy plants.
As this spot wasn't too far off the road, close to home, I decided to check the spot in the spring.

Noticed the dandelions, blooming in the spring so went out there to find that someone had cut most all of the first 3 plants, but missed the forth.
You can cut about every 3-4 days, but if it rains, cuts it down a day.

So, instead of waiting 3 days, I went back after 2, and found a large bunch....Cut about 3 pounds of spears.

This repeated it self for a week, until as I was cutting, I see another guy with his bag, walking up.
He says, "So, your the one that has been scooping me"....I had hit 2 of the 4 plants, so I let him have the rest.
We walked back to the trucks, making small talk, but i noticed that he was following me, to what he thought was my next spot....LOL.
After a 1/2 hour wild goose chase, he gave op.

Then it became a mind game, who gets there first.........This went on for a couple of years.

Then some one bought the land, cut the trees down, leveled the area and built a subdivision...If I had know this I would have went out there and "stole" the plants for my garden.

Then there was the story of the burned up briefcase and the police....but I digress.......

[r0ckhamm3r]

Sorry guys, I went back to the sight today with my camera but mice or beetles beat me to the 6 nubs I found yesterday. I will go back in a few days to see if more have come up.

[hunter63]

Here is a pic, wild stuff is usally mixed in with grass and such, but spears look like this;
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[Chris]

There is a spot really near my house in this wetlands area that has some. But I'm not the only one who knows about it. I've met people there before, it is literally right off the trail so lots of people get clued in.

The asparagus there is so old and the roots must go so deep, it is on a small hill that heads down into a deep drainage ditch, so the roots must go all the way down the hill (asparagus roots go ridiculously far). Anyways, I've found stalks bigger around than a quarter. I typically just get enough for 1 meal a year though, because so many people in the area seem to know about them. There is one plant further up that I think I'm the only one who knows about it though. It took me literally hundreds of walks right by it within 5 feet to finally notice it, it is in with a bunch of other weeds.

I generally find it simply by looking for what is left from last years. The dead old stalks haven't rotted away yet when the new stuff comes up.

[your_comforting_company]

Aren't you concerned about the runoff and stuff they might soak up near that drainage ditch? I try to select my wild veggies from spots farther from roads and areas like that which would collect lots of contaminants.
Was just curious if I should be as concerned as I've been led to believe. The wild veggies in my yard, right here between two highways don't seem to collect much pollution, BUT I'm on a bit of a hill and water and contaminants tend to run away from here.

[Coastlander]

Great info here!
I"m in central MO and I was wondering how big of a window there is when hunting for wild asparagus. Are we talking only a few weeks? All spring?

[MidWestMat]

I havent seen any new shoots yet and I have been looking. If you harvest them you can keep them going till fall.

[hunter63]

Great info here!
I"m in central MO and I was wondering how big of a window there is when hunting for wild asparagus. Are we talking only a few weeks? All spring?

Window is about one month, and as long as you keep cutting, it will keep sending up shoots, for a while.
Then it turns kinda tough, and you get sorta sick of it after a while.....so it will keep growing......Like spinach, it sorta "bolts".
"A time for every season under heaven"........

And as my mother used to say, "It make you pee funny"....your urine will have a different smell to it.

[asparagusstalker]

My cousin and I are on a mission to find some patches here in southeast Wisconsin
near the Illinois border. If you can just give me a clue when it's up I would appreciate...this is my fist time and don't expect ya to give up any spots but help is encouraged

[nell67]

My cousin and I are on a mission to find some patches here in southeast Wisconsin
near the Illinois border. If you can just give me a clue when it's up I would appreciate...this is my fist time and don't expect ya to give up any spots but help is encouraged

In my area,it grows along fence rows,roads,and creek banks,under power lines,pretty much anywhere birds can perch and poo.

Now how about stalking our introduction thread and telling us a bit about yourself?? You can find it here>http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...-Introductions

[hunter63]

My cousin and I are on a mission to find some patches here in southeast Wisconsin
near the Illinois border. If you can just give me a clue when it's up I would appreciate...this is my fist time and don't expect ya to give up any spots but help is encouraged

Haven't been out yet, but should be up....The dandelions was blooming in the yard.

If you are close by, WI/IL drive the country roads with fences, old fences, and look for the old brown "bushes" from last year.
The time for finding new picking places is in the fall when the bushes are 2-4 ft tall, then mark down where they are.
Bring a broom stick for "Swishing" in the tall grass..................

[MidWestMat]

I am still getting nice shoots off mine here, they didn't start coming on till second week of April so i should have at least a couple weeks yet. All of the wild ones here are along fence rows, although I have moved a couple out of the fields and ditches that were overgrown to a more accessible spot. I hope they make the move ok.