Food Guy Jon Jackson poses an observation and a question. "There's a certain period in the spring when you think, 'Is this a period of starvation?' Well, historically, it was. Everything is greening up, yet it's a period of scarcity for food, because plants aren't readily available. We have markets today, so we don't think about that so much. But if you're a cook, you're thinking, "What's coming on? It's springtime and I need something."
Fellow Food Guy Greg Patent rattles off a list of vegetables for sale at the earliest spring farmers markets in Montana: bok choy, arugula, radishes, green onions, and spinach, many of them started in greenhouses in February. Signs of the local wild asparagus hunt are starting to appear, too: cars are parked along highway ditches, with people rummaging among the weeds.
(Broadcast: "The Food Guys," 5/15/16 and 5/19/16. Listen weekly on the radio at 11:50 a.m. Sundays and again at 4:54 p.m. Thursdays, or via podcast.)