Mrs. Traill’s Advice on Asparagus

What the old bed requires in the Spring is to cut off the last year’s stalks just above the ground, and burn them; loosen the earth about the roots, and clean up the whole bed. As the sweetness and tenderness of this plant depends upon its rapidity of growth, the soil should be made very rich.

From Catherine Parr Traill’s The Female Emigrant’s Guide / Cooking with a Canadian Classic, edited by Nathalie Cooke and Fiona Lucas (MQUP 2017), originally published at Toronto in 1855. “Mrs. Traill’s Advice” on selected seasonal topics will henceforth appear in each future edition of The Fife and Drum. Soon, you’ll want your own copy of this beautiful and comprehensive new edition of an indispensible Canadian reference.