Season: April to June

Description: Asparagus is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. There is a recipe for cooking asparagus in the oldest surviving book of recipes, Apicius’s third century AD "De re coquinaria, Book III." The Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all grew asparagus. In 2009, NASA scientists declared that the soil on Mars might be favorable for growing asparagus because of its alkaline properties. But closer to home, California, Michigan and Washington are the top U.S. producers.