"Aaparagus, again?"

My husband’s mother, born in 1901, said that when she was young and sat down at the dinner table with her numerous brothers, sisters, maiden aunts, parents and guests, the children often gave out a collective groan when the cooks appeared with platters of asparagus. “Oh, Momma, asparagus again!” In later years she would laugh as she prepared that somewhat costly at the time vegetable for us, occasionally in a special recipe called asparagus a la goldenrod. South Carolina from the 1920’s through the forties was a large asparagus producing state, with daily shipment via the Southern Railroad headed to New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities. The broken spears or culls were equally delicious but not marketable, and for two months graced the tables of families living in Barnwell, Aiken, as well as Calhoun and other counties.