Each night when I get home from work, I take a wander through my garden. I enjoy watching things grow and have been lucky enough to be enjoying asparagus over the last month. But THEN I came back from 4 days of vacation to THIS!

Darned Asparagus beetles! (I have harsher words than "darned.") These buggers are ruining my favorite vegetable!

Besides the obvious – it tastes good – asparagus is important to me because of the memories.

When I was a little girl; I remember taking Sunday drives after mass to look for "the Prize." We would see the fern waving next to the barbed wire fence and yell, "I see it!" But, Dad already saw it and the station wagon was already moving to the side of the road.

Once the vehicle was stopped, Mom, Dad, 5 kids and a dog explode into the tick laden ditches of southwestern Minnesota. No one could cut the asparagus except Dad and his trusty jack knife. We had to run up, see the small yummy stalks and wait. Then pile back into the station wagon and meander down the dirt road to another spot.

So when my husband and I bought a house 20 years ago -- and he loves asparagus as much as I -- the first thing I planted was ASPARAGUS. Now, I must tell you. Growing asparagus is much different than finding it on a roadside. Here's the University of Minnesota's fact sheet on growing asparagus.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1861.html

First off, you need PATIENCE! When you plant asparagus, you dig a trench 10" deep; lay the roots down, put 2" of soil on top; then give it a couple weeks and another 2 inches of soil. That's just the first year! Then, you need to WAIT for 2 years before snapping off your first own home-grown asparagus delight.

So what's my point after all this ranting? GROW asparagus. Be patient. SMUSH the bugs that ruin your delight! Go out there every night and smush them. Hire neighbor kids if you are taking a couple days off.

I have more passion for asparagus than any other vegetable. How about YOU? Do you have any little buggers standing in your way of your favorite treat?" Do you have fond memories of gathering veggies that are important to you?