The top photo is my entry into the [photo challenge](https://steemit.com/busy/@juliank/happysundaysteemitshareyourgoldenhourandlongexposurephotography-201804290000005580) hosted by juliank. This picture was taken 3 nights ago with the Fuji FinePix S8300 from the back yard.

![DSCF2105.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmP3LExgio214iyDYEB2b3msZrWu5mu63e7GTpLCWc8S27/DSCF2105.JPG)
<center>***Just another day of living in a postcard!***</center>

The lower property is dotted with little feral asparagus patches. They last two days we have had nice hearty servings and soon will be getting sacks of it, if the weather does not turn beastly hot (which is is known to do, freezing to blazing in about 2 weeks.) When we moved here we just went and picked asparagus when we saw it, but our son gave us an asparagus tip - not the kind you dip in butter and lemon - and I will pass that along to you now!

When you buy asparagus starts they have been hybridized to be male. Asparagus *can* be male of female. In your garden the females are a nuisance. They have scrawny little stems compared to the males:


![20180428_123556.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSW2SiVAzRZPGcSftb1CLn57A7HxfrmyGvvrRZZJ3qjFW/20180428_123556.jpg)

<center>The female heads are also comparatively light and airy.</center>

![20180428_123548.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWFeXPG4TJzByzUTAosWCG4qJZqrVWZ9eNuRpcUKsQgtj/20180428_123548.jpg)

Hey, I am just telling it like it is, I am not drawing any analogies to females of any other species. 😁
If you look closely, you will notice the female has little small branches near the top, the male stem has no offshoots. 

If you are just interested in the culinary aspects of asparagus, you want all males. The females are smaller and stringier. As a gardener they are also inferior; they draw a lot of energy out of the root system for making seeds that male plants can put into growing. If you have females in your garden no one would argue that ripping them up was a fine idea. However, our asparagus is not in a garden. Maybe it was a hundred years ago, but at this point it has naturalized itself all over the property. Every year new patches pop up. It is like a daily Easter egg hunt when the 'gus is on.

<center>Can you spot the tasty morsel?</center>
![20180428_133202.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSN9fFgcS8WoCbm4zmXrZhF6n5ywEgCwRmyYYedD8bkH4/20180428_133202.jpg)

There are many places where asparagus has busted out of a garden and gone wild around here. If you see people walking the irrigation ditches this time of year they are probably picking asparagus. Many wildcrafters know how to be polite about gathering, we use a "one in ten" rule ourselves. With asparagus, few know the "etiquette" that keeps the crop coming back. Pick the boys, pick all you can find. They will send up more until they are done for the season. But don't pick the girls, let them go to seed. No one is tending wild asparagus and the roots can choke themselves to death over time. You need the female plants dispersing new seeds every year to keep your wild asparagus patch thriving. 

<center>There he is!</center>
![20180428_133238.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQau63LimpThRtjgP5Jribbq2y2LTj4gDHCqt65cvD5Lh/20180428_133238.jpg)
Cut at or just below the soil line taking care not to nick forming buds on the root ball. Leaving stumps invites disease. 

<center>Happy asparagus hunting and ***THANK YOU*** for visiting my blog!</center>