Asparagus Hunting in and Around Richland, Washington

One of my fondest memories of growing up was going asparagus hunting with my mother in the undeveloped areas along the Columbia River. In the spring, on sunny days after a good rain, we'd each take a small plastic grocery bag and a small kitchen paring knife and just head out. Mom was always careful to make little temporary sheathes for our paring knives with paper towels and masking tape so that we didn't cut ourselves. When we got back, we would always have to spend some time pulling the cheat grass seeds out of our socks and tennis shoes.

I was born and raised in Richland, Washington, and one of our favorite places to hunt for asparagus along the Columbia River was just north of what is now the Washington State University Richland college campus. That is all developed now and off limits to asparagus hunters like myself; I know that is what you call progress, but it makes me a little sad to think of it. Back then we could wander around through the sagebrush and cheat grass and hunt for the elusive asparagus and not see another person, though we'd find evidence of other asparagus hunters in the remains of cut asparagus stalks. It would greatly irritate my mother when we found stalks unevenly or only partially hacked off or cut several inches off the ground; she thought it was a sign of rudeness. If you want the asparagus to grown back and produce another stalk that same season, she said, you needed to cut it even with the ground. Even with something as simple as asparagus hunting, my mother taught me that being considerate of other people (even people you'd might never meet) was an important lesson to learn.

Mom taught me how to look for what I call the "grandfather" asparagus - those asparagus stalks that had gone to seed last year and had since died. The red berries on the dead brown asparagus stalks are quite distinctive. One also learned to look for the tall "adults", the green stalks of the current season going to seed. Even though one could not harvest for eating either a "grandfather" or "adult" asparagus stalk, they were excellent landmarks to look for "teenagers", "toddlers", and "babies" at their feet or within a few inches of the asparagus stand. As there were always several kinds of plants that looked similar to asparagus in their different stages, one had to train your eye to pick out asparagus stalks amidst the background of brown and green of the wild areas along the Columbia River. I have mistaken the tall green snake like shape of the "scrub rush" plant more times than I can count as an asparagus stalk, when glimpsed out of the corner of my eye.

My Mom has since died and gone to be with the Lord, but I still go out asparagus hunting every spring here in Richland, Washington when I can. I have my own areas now that I search, in a local public park. I have gone asparagus hunting in the past on Bateman Island, which is also a public use area. This was my mother's second favorite place to asparagus hunt. There we have found many patches of asparagus and evidence of other asparagus hunters. One of the drawbacks, unfortunately, of wandering through the wild brush here in Eastern Washington, is that you do have to worry about picking up ticks. During my last visit to Bateman Island, I did bring back several ticks on my clothing; fortunately I was able to remove them all before any embedded in my skin. If you do decide to go asparagus hunting on Bateman Island, I would recommend using some insect repellant spray that specializes in deterring ticks.

Where does all this asparagus come from, you might be wondering. The Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco) is surrounded by farm country, which includes many asparagus fields. The asparagus berries (seeds) are transplanted through bird droppings throughout the area. From what I remember, it usually takes a couple years for an asparagus berry to produce a plant that produces edible stalks. I've been asparagus hunting along the Columbia River since the early 1970s; I wouldn't be at all surprised if local people haven't been asparagus hunting for decades prior to this. I know my mother would be happy I'm continuing on with the tradition.

Blessings!