Asparagus....Best Way To Freeze...

[KevsFarm]

Thats interesting Emerald, thanks for sharing..I've got alot of asparagus....! I planted a new bed three yrs ago, 250 1yr old roots, and they are starting to crank up good. My original bed is 18 yrs old and still going very strong, about 100 plants.I have the jersey knights, heavy producers.I've had the purple passion a few yrs back, wasn't crazy about them.I sell some to my egg customers, $5.00 a lb, but have limited sales.I have to freeze, i have asparagus coming out my ears...! lol That a good problem, right....I trying to find more buyers.I've never tried the mary washingtons.Thanks for the tips all...

 

[SKR8PN]

SKR8PN..How do they come out not being blanched and have you kept them in the freezer for more than a couple months...? Or use them up pretty quickly..? I know people have been blanching and freezing veggies a long time, but what does blanching actually do...?

We have blanched them in the past and didn't care for the texture when we thawed and cooked them. They seemed tougher. We flash freeze, then vacuum seal in meal sized portions immediately and they seem to stay firmer and fresher. I admit they don't stay around to long in the freezer, 3 to 5 months maybe.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I have some asparagus i muy freezer from last spring. I flash freeze too (no blanching) I basically forgot about the bag, but found it while reorganizing my freezer. Maybe we will have it for supper tonight. I will report back on how it tastes after a year int eh freezer.

 

[KevsFarm]

I'm interested in hearing how they taste after a yr miss_thenorth... SKR8PN, i don't expect mine will be around for more than a couple months either..

 

[miss_thenorth]

Well, I just got done eating shrimp scampi with asparagus ( the year old asparagus), and it was just as good as it was earlier in the year. (but never as good as fresh) But I will be flash freezing it from now on.

 

[KevsFarm]

Thanks for the update miss_thenorth, I'm flash freezing on cookie sheet then packaging them, unblanched... they'll be fine for months.., your right though, nothing beats fresh..yum...

 

[miss_thenorth]

I'm flash freezing on cookie sheet then packaging them, unblanched

that is exactly how I did it. I am waiting for this years crop. I pick in the ditches, and it is late this year.

 

[KevsFarm]

miss_thenorth, do you mean wild asparagus when you say you pick in the ditches...? Do you get that many that you have extra to freeze..? I've rarely seen wild in my area..

 

[miss_thenorth]

When it is asparagus season, when I run my errands, all my driving is on back roads. I know where there are patches around here. The last two years, I got 6-8 one gallon freezer bags full of wild asparagus. I have only bought asparagus a handful of times. and only when it is $1.99/lb (and even then I think it too expensive). So yes, keep your eye out in the ditches. I have a convenient patch right in front of my house too.

editing to say, if you know where someone grows asparagus intentionally, keep your eye out in the general area near ditches, especially underneath powerlines. The birds eat the seeds, sit on the powerlines, poop, and it grows in the ditches.

 

[KevsFarm]

Wow...thats pretty neat...you certainly are a frugal homesteader... I know what you mean about bird-poop generated plants..My chickens give me free tomatoe plants most springs, and the red breast robins are always planting new holly trees for me....lol...