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Feast Food Fact: Asparagus

Asparagus is a perennial flowering plant. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a Spring vegetable. Since asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too saline for normal weeds to grow. Thus, a little salt was traditionally used to suppress weeds in beds intended for asparagus; this has the disadvantage that the soil cannot be used for anything else.


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Some regions and gardening zones are better-suited for growing asparagus than others, such as the west coast of North America and other more maritime, Mediterranean environments. The fertility of the soil is a large factor. "Crowns" are planted in Winter, and the first shoots appear in Spring; the first pickings or "thinnings” are known as sprue asparagus. Sprue has thin stems. 



Purple asparagus differs from its green and white counterparts in having high sugar and low fibre levels. Purple asparagus was originally developed in Italy, near the city of Albenga.  Purple asparagus can also turn green while being cooked due to its sensitivity to heat. 

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