‘Tis asparagus season in Michigan

Honor system roadside stands dot Michigan’s asparagus country from May into June

The National Asparagus Festival is June 13-15

Michigan is tops in the U.S. in asparagus production, and each June the Great Lakes State hosts the National Asparagus Festival to celebrate this seemingly perfect, versatile food. It is low in calories and sodium and a good source of folic acid, potassium, fiber, iron, vitamins and other healthy things. Most of Michigan’s 9,500 commercial asparagus acres are in Oceana County, along the mid-Mitten Lake Michigan shore.

That’s the setting for the Festival, June 13-15 in Hart. It features asparagus farm tours, Taste of Asparagus recipe contest, Spear-It 5K run, arts & crafts, entertainment, fun for the kids and grand parade. We attended many years ago and I still remember the asparagus pizza, the parade’s walking spears of asparagus, and stopping at someone’s garage and paying a couple of bucks for a grocery bag chock full of stalks, just plucked from the field by hand.

Michigan’s crop pops in May and usually winds down in late June. While imported asparagus, particularly from Peru, satisfies Americans’ year-round appetite for the spears, it is a threat to the U.S.-grown crop. The 2008 documentary Asparagus! Stalking the American Life tells the story of Michigan asparagus growers; you may be able to find the film online.

Go to YouTube for the 6-minute Asparagus! A Stalk-umentary produced in 2007 (I have a feeling the price for a bag of spears is a bit more than what it shows back then).

Learn more about the veggie from the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board, which shares facts, history, storage tips and dozens of recipes—but not the asparagus guacamole I was hoping to make. I had to go elsewhere for guidance; here’s a good recipe.

Asparagus guacamole is a tasty twist on the usual avocado

The Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus is delish. I guess if you’re eating one of the most nutritious veggies you can afford to enjoy it with bacon.

Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus

From the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board
The taste of this easy-to-prepare appetizer will surprise you.

1 pound fresh Michigan asparagus
8 – 10 strips bacon

Wash and trim asparagus spears. Cut bacon strips in half crosswise. Wrap one-half strip bacon around each asparagus spear, leaving tip and end exposed. Lay on a cookie sheet with sides. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until bacon is cooked. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 16 to 20 spears

Whenever I’m in the Traverse City area during asparagus season, I stop for a bundle or two of the spears from the Warren Orchards: Between the Bays roadside stand on Old Mission Peninsula.