I read this article the other day and couldn’t believe that asparagus has to be harvested every 24 hours. I got the chance to see Asparagus being harvested this weekend, and it was true. They were cutting it twice a day!

Hadley, MA used to be the asparagus capital of the world, and people still celebrate the arrival of Hadley Grass every spring. Sadly most of the asparagus we get in the US comes from other countries, mostly because of the need for year-round asparagus and the difficulty in harvesting asparagus.

But we’re lucky because for only 1-2 weeks during this time of year, Clover gets Asparagus from Hadley, the most fertile growing region in the state. We want to celebrate the great flavor of the asparagus, so we treat it very simply: we trim the bottom of the asparagus, simmer some water, cook the asparagus til it’s bright green, and top it with lemon zest and parsley. The recipe was inspired by a dish that Ayr had at a restaurant in Northampton.