Puttin' Up Asparagus

A couple of weeks ago, we purchased about 20# of asparagus from a farmer up north. We 

chopped it:

Blanched it:

Cooled it off in the sink:

And froze it on cookie sheets.

The final step (after freezing) is to chip the asparagus off the pan and put it (still frozen) in large ziploc bags for winter enjoyment. We won't eat much of it this summer, as we'll have fresh-from-the-garden goodies to eat. But next winter we will appreciate the work we've done now.

Michigan asparagus growers have suffered hard times lately because of the cheap imported asparagus from Peru. Apparently our government thought they could make a dent in the drug trade by enabling Peruvian farmers to grow asparagus instead. They got a hand up and a hand out, and now the Michigan growers (with their higher labor costs) are struggling to compete. Good intentions, but every action has some unintended consequences. Read a New York Times article about it here.