In the U.S., the growing season for asparagus usually lasts only seven weeks, and some shoots can reach full growth in as little as 24 hours.

Spring, the season when a young man’s fancies turn to... asparagus, the "food of kings."

Why is it called that? I don’t know, but it might have something to do with its crown, the under-soil root mass from whence the spears emerge each spring. The king comes from his crown. Not quite traditional, but I like it.

For growers in the United States, the asparagus season lasts only seven brisk weeks, and as the spring temperatures rise, the royal spears can sometimes go from a tiny shoot to full grown in 24 hours.

Ever seen a white asparagus? They’re exactly the same as green asparagus minus one important thing — the sun.

Growers make asparagus white by piling inches of dirt over the plants. The spears grow underground and are harvested without ever seeing the light of day. Because of that, their cells don’t make chlorophyll, the green stuff responsible for photosynthesis — and therefore energy.

But without the weather goddess that is our sun, how can the spears grow at all? Get this: the asparagus plant knows it’s trapped in a prison, so it re-purposes all of its energy stores into growing.It doesn’t make chlorophyll, it doesn’t worry about leaves, it just concentrates on extending its stem upward. Toward the sun. It’s the plant version of "The Great Escape!" You have to admit, that is totally cool.

Even if you don’t buy the white stuff, just give it an appreciative nod when you see it in your grocery store. It is, after all, a king.

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