The Connection

Sometimes things are bound to grow on you. From an early age, Bess Abell (born Elizabeth Clements) knew that asparagus held an important place in the life of her family. Her mother was a great fan of the leggy vegetable, as was her father, Earle Clements, former Governor of Kentucky (1946-1950), who was an avid gardener and talented chef, too.

Bess remembers Easter times in the Bluegrass State, when the tiny sprouts made their first appearance. She loved cutting them just as they were poking their heads up out of the ground. Her mother would celebrate the occasion by making big bowls of Hollandaise sauce and the family would sit down to enjoy the first harvest of the season. From that moment on, Easter was indelibly linked in her mind with asparagus and the first signs of spring.

Years later, when Bess married Tyler Abell, she eventually came to live in Tyler’s family home in Potomac. Tyler’s stepfather (the famous Washington Merry-Go-Round columnist Drew Pearson) had a sprawling country home perched high on a promontory overlooking the Potomac River. During World War II, Pearson added a dairy farm, raising cows to aid in the war effort. The family also maintained a vegetable garden on the property.

Tyler’s mom really loved asparagus, and decorating eggs and eating asparagus around Easter were a family tradition. When Pearson died in 1969, Tyler took over his stepfather’s garden and Bess remembers her dad suggesting they put in an asparagus patch. According to Tyler, he said he’d buy the seeds if Tyler along with their two sons, Lyndon and Danny, would plant them. They began planting in 1972.

Tyler still remembers how he was taught to plant. “You dig a trench 6” deep and lay the asparagus in the bottom with the roots spread out and crowns sticking up,” he said. “Then backfill with manure, which we had plenty of, since we were a dairy farm.” They mulched with straw.

As the first asparagus shoots started to emerge in spring, the boys kept on adding straw until the tiny spears finally reached ground level. In the first year, they only harvested them once, the second year twice and the third year as often as they wanted.

Over the decades, as the crop established, Tyler replanted each year following the above protocol, while painstakingly marking new plantings with flags to know when younger ones were sprouting that needed more attention. According to Tyler, in just one morning, the spears can rocket out of the straw mulch, growing a good 6 to 9 inches. “They shoot up like a skyrocket,” he said. “The pointy end is built for that.”

Today, the asparagus are all different varieties, selected mainly from Johnny’s seed catalogue. Tyler isn’t sure exactly how many they’re currently growing, since each year they add or replace plants along the 50-foot stretch of wood fence that borders the garden. Just like in Bess’ home state of Kentucky, the first spears usually come up around Easter and last all the way until July 4.

The taste? Tyler considers. “I’d say the big fat ones are the best because they’re succulent and tender,” he said. “The skinny ones aren’t nearly as interesting. Though, if you’re like me, the only purpose for asparagus is as a carrier for Hollandaise sauce.” (See Bess’ recipe for Hollandaise sauce below.)

Bess said, “The flavor is so different from store-bought. It’s more mild-tasting, kind of like a giant sweet pea.”

Aside from the asparagus, the rest of the Abell’s garden is heavy on vegetables planted in long rows and a series of 11 raised garden beds. There are cabbages, broccoli, peas and onions and lots of tomatoes as well as zinnias (Tyler’s favorite) to attract pollinators. Craggy old apple trees, elegant pears and blueberry bushes surround the garden. A bluebird house and other tiny bird domiciles can be faintly glimpsed among the trees.

Over the decades, the garden has come to involve the community, with many of the Abell’s neighbors participating in the planting as well as sharing in the harvest. Still, there’s nothing quite like the appearance of the first slender green spears come Easter-time. More than just a vegetable garden, the family’s history lives on in the asparagus story.

For more information on asparagus growing and harvesting, check out this great reference at

http://veggieharvest.com/vegetables/asparagus.html

Bess Abell’s Hollandaise Sauce Recipe

1/4 pound (1/2 cup) butter

2 egg yolks

1/2 lemon, squeezed

Whisk together egg yolks and lemon juice. Stir ingredients over a low flame until the butter melts and sauce is thickened. Serve immediately.