When makeshift stalls and signs advertising fresh asparagus pop up along the roadside, Germans know it's "Spargelzeit," the brief asparagus season. Over a few weeks, people go wild with asparagus dishes and every restaurant has a special asparagus menu. In North Rhine-Westphalia, 140 farms have mapped out a distinctive culinary route they've called the "Spargelstrasse" (Asparagus Road).

Customers have a choice of different qualities, the most expensive being the stalks that are straight, have a length of about 22 centimeters and tightly closed tips, followed by less-perfect spears – too thin, bended – or even broken. No fuss: some stalls sell ready-peeled asparagus, as unlike the green variety, white asparagus must be peeled.

Germans can never seem to get enough of the slender white stalks only available for a few weeks each year: the season begins in mid April and invariably ends on June 24. Supermarkets, farms, farmer's markets and roadside vendors categorize and price the vegetable according to length and tips. In 2018, customers paid an average of €5.48 ($6.18) for a kilo of white asparagus.

The "vegetable of kings" is traditionally served with melted butter or creamy rich Hollandaise sauce, boiled new potatoes and thin slices of cold ham. From soups, tartes and omelettes to schnapps, there's no limit to people's creativity when it comes to asparagus.

Asparagus was a delicacy even in ancient times. Roman historian Marcus Porcius Cato described its cultivation in his book "De agri cultura." King Louis XIV had asparagus grown in Versailles in 17th century France. In 1852, a cannery in the German town of Brunswick started canning asparagus: Finally, it was available year-round.

The stalks grow under long mounds of heaped soil, and unlike green asparagus, they need to be harvested before they reach the sunlight. It is labor-intensive work, as every single stalk is harvested by hand. In 2017, many thousands of workers — mainly from Romania and Poland — cut some 129,600 tons of white asparagus in Germany during the short season.

In spring, asparagus-growing regions all over Germany invariably crown a new asparagus queen. The young women, often growers' daughters, promote and represent the seasonal delicacy. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which is the most populous in Germany, requires "candidates to be between 18 and 25 years old and definitely independently mobile so they can cover events on their own."

A museum in the Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen is dedicated solely to the royal vegetable. Opened in a 15th century tower in 1985, the museum was turned into the only European Asparagus Museum six years later. The exhibits shine a light on everything asparagus, including agriculture, history, literature, art and curios, including the above tongs.

This member of the cabbage family - the name means "cabbage turnip" - is a common vegetable throughout Germany. It is mild, crisp and juicy when eaten raw, and soft and creamy when steamed and served puréed or in a sauce, soup or casserole. It's often called kohlrabi in English, too.

It is emerald green and has crisp crinkly leaves, lots of vitamin C and a distinct taste. Savoy cabbage is great in soups and stews, or steamed as a side dish. What Germans call "Wirsing" is a staple at German farmers' markets and in supermarket produce aisles all year round.

Turnip greens - "Rübstiel" in German (literally, beet stems) - are a regional specialty and are particularly common in Germany's western Rhineland area and in the Netherlands. Their tender stems are chopped, steamed and mixed with potatoes or added to stews. "Rübstiel" aficionados can look forward two harvests a year - in spring and fall.

This member of the Allium family - known as ramsons, wild garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, or bear's garlic - is kin to onions, chives and garlic. It grows in the forest and makes an excellent pesto. It smells like garlic, and tastes like garlic. Known in German as "Bärlauch," it is very popular in Germany and can be found in anything from soups and salads to dips, quiches and cheese.

Black salsify is a long, slender white taproot covered with a dark skin. "Schwarzwurzel" (black root) in German, it is also known as the "poor man's asparagus" or "winter asparagus" and is a typical winter vegetable. It is served when the Germans' beloved white asparagus is not yet in season, steamed, with boiled potatoes and butter.

The white vegetable in the photo above is actually asparagus. The green variety is more popular in other countries, but Germans love their white asparagus and anxiously await its arrival in spring, keeping a lookout in late April for the first stalks of their "white gold" to appear in stores and roadside stands.

Parsely root, which is easily confused with the slightly larger parsnips, is the third vegetable from the left, next to the black salsify. It is a winter vegetable that has been used in Europe for centuries, in soups, stews, and mixed veggie dishes. The smaller the root, the more tender it is, experts say - and it's a great source of vitamin C, too.

If you ever come to Bavaria and order a typical "Brotzeit" (bread time) snack to go with your beer, you'll find a crispy white garnish, sometimes draped in elaborate twists and curls on your plate. They're called "Radi," and are a spicy white radish that is full of vitamin C and always eaten raw. The word derives from the Latin for root, "radix." Its cousin, the radish, is "Radieschen" in German.