How I keep asparagus upright in a glass

A rubber-banded bundle of asparagus comes home — and the drawer eats it flat. By Thursday the tips droop, the cut ends go soft, and supper gets limp spears. I trim a thin slice off the woody bottoms and stand the spears in a glass with a finger of water, tips in the air like a small bouquet.

How I keep asparagus upright in a glass. Spring onions in a glass is another habit; parsley standing its own; fennel in a jar of water another story. Here it is asparagus after the shop: cut ends wet, tips dry, fridge door or a cool corner — not a market lecture.

I change the water if it clouds. Slimy stalks or a mouldy tip — bin, I don’t “cook them anyway”. I don’t peel the whole spear days ahead; I cut what I need for the pan. I’m not reviewing a new imported variety here — it’s about the bundle already on our counter.

I don’t need asparagus that dies on its side in a bag. I need a glass from which the tips still snap when I lean them into butter. At yours do the spears stand — or already lie flat until they sulk?