Surprise Asparagus (Try Saying That 10 Times Fast)

I couldn't find asparagus anywhere - until I stumbled upon hundreds on this hill.

Dear Healthy Jew,

One of the winter foraging season’s best treasures is the fresh asparagus shoots that shoot out from the thorny bush-like web of last year’s asparagus plants.

Here’s Naftali, one of the Healthy Jews in our class last year, enjoying the dozens of sprouts coming out from the top of this bush. There are scores of these bushes in this hill across from Yeshivat Lev HaTorah, and hundreds of such hills across Israel.

But these deeply delicious fellows need lots of rain to do their magic (they jump up crazy fast), and the rain has been a bit slow this year.

(On that note, please pray for rain - that’s the lifestyle here in Israel, as I explain in Chapter 6 of my book, Land of Health: Israel’s War for Wellness, based on the Torah in Deuteronomy 11).

So there isn’t much asparagus out yet. Two searches last week yielded one shoot each. Then on the third one I found none.

But look what I then found, totally by accident, while out recently on a morning hike with my good friend Rabbi Shimshon’s class:

On the same hill where I showed you Naftali’s asparagus from last year, hundreds of fresh shoots are shooting out of the ground - with no thorny bushes at all!

What’s the scoop?

There was a little brush fire up here a few months ago. Among the ecological benefits of wildfires is increasing soil fertility. And perhaps asparagus finds it particularly easy to rebound because last year’s thorny web doesn’t get in the way.

Whatever the biology, asparagus is now proliferating in this little knoll across the street from our yeshiva, its renewed vitality challenging us to jump up after we get burned by the wildfires in our lives.

So next time you’re in the neighborhood, make sure to stop by for a snack.

Or even better, join me on a foraging walk in the Land of Israel. The winter’s delicious sprouts are sprouting away, and we’ve even got a few flowers. Our first walks have been incredible experiences for everyone.

Some tastes from last week's first open walk of the season.

So make sure you’re following the Foraging in Israel Whatsapp group and my Healthy Jew Whatsapp status where I post about upcoming open walks and other foraging updates. Alternatively, just reply to this email directly to book your own personalized foraging experience.

To learn more about the options, check out this post:

Booking Your Foraging Walk