The initial harvest of my gardening season began last week with the first pickings of asparagus. Even better, producing this crop required little more than cutting the fully emerged spears.

People who think gardening is too much work and are happy to pay top prices for not-quite-fresh asparagus need to rethink their strategy. Tender and flavorful asparagus – better than you can get in the supermarket – can be yours every spring for free. The only work required is planting it, a one-time investment of labor that should be done now for next year’s crop.

I am amazed that every person who claims to love asparagus does not have a stand of asparagus growing in the corner of the yard. Asparagus produces a soft, airy fern later in the season, which easily can be incorporated into most landscaping. The female plants produce red berries.

While asparagus can be grown from seed, the more reliable approach is to plant crowns, which are available at many greenhouses and nurseries this time of year. Asparagus crowns are clumps of roots that should be planted in a trench 12 inches wide and 6 to 8 inches deep. The crowns should be placed at least 4 inches apart. One gardening guide recommends covering them with 2 inches of soil, followed by 2 more inches of soil every two weeks.

Asparagus should be watered and weeded until it is established. Go ahead and pick lightly your first year, but your first heavy picking should wait until the second year, to allow the plants to bulk up. Avoid picking spears that are thinner than a pencil.

After your plants are at least a year old, you’ll be able to salt them. Do this either in late winter or late summer. Use pickling salt, not iodized salt or ice-melting salt. Salt acts as a food and also boosts disease resistance. Asparagus has such an affinity for sodium that it thrives as a wild plant in briny marshes near seacoasts.

In this neck of the woods, asparagus also grows in the wild, usually along the roadside and near former farmsteads. Avoid harvesting asparagus growing near ditches because road maintenance crews spray herbicides there, and runoff from the roadway undoubtedly contains chemicals that you don’t want in your food.

Which brings us full circle to why any asparagus lover really needs an asparagus patch of his or her own. Once asparagus is established, it will continue to produce a crop every spring for decades.

Many people who prepare fresh asparagus overcook it, which is easy to do. Asparagus can show off its flavor and texture best when it is cooked al dente, meaning that it is warm throughout but still slightly crisp. Note that you can’t serve al dente asparagus if the asparagus is tough or stringy, so make sure it’s fresh.

One of the easiest ways to serve asparagus is lightly cooked and tossed with vinaigrette or other oil-based dressing. Here’s one to try from Sheila Lukins’ “USA Cookbook.”

Well-Dressed Asparagus

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

3 tablespoons tiny capers

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 pound medium-thick asparagus, tough ends removed

Combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, capers and lemon zest in a small saucepan. Place over low heat and cook, swirling the pan, to heat through, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the parsley and a generous grinding of black pepper. Remove from heat.

Bring a saucepan of salted water to a boil, and cook the asparagus until just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, pat dry, and arrange on a serving platter. Spoon the sauce over the asparagus, sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon parsley, and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.