Moving on, here's what you need to know if you are going to try asparagus.
1. Try fresh (cooked, not raw) first. Then venture to different types like frozen, raw, pickled, etc.
2. To select fresh asparagus: Look at the ends (bottoms), you want ones that are as small as a pencil in diameter if possible. The bigger they are, the tougher, some of them downright woody. If more than half the package or bundle have a diameter bigger than a pencil, I don't buy it.
3. To store asparagus: When you get it home, remove it from the packaging and place it, right side up, in a container that keeps them from falling all over the place. A large glass, or an upright container like pictured in the center above photo, works well. Then put about 1 inch of water in the bottom and store in the fridge, but not too far to the back or by the blower so they freeze! (Been there, done that). Keeping them in water keeps them crisp. Dehydrated asparagus that is limp or rubbery feeling when it leaves the store has crisped right up being stored overnight this way for me.
4. To prepare asparagus for roasting, grilling, cooking, etc: Hold a single spear with two hands. Grasp the end/bottom with one hand, and the middle of the stalk with the other hand. Bend the asparagus until it snaps. I read that where it snaps (whether one inch breaks off the bottom or 2 inches) is where you should cut all the asparagus. Theoretically, you snapped off the tough part of that one, so chopping the rest of them in the same spot will do the trick. I just took it a step farther and I snap them all. It takes under a minute (doing 3-5 at a time) and that way each one snaps where it needs to and we very rarely get one with a tough bottom after cooking. Rinse thoroughly before cooking.
5. To roast: I spray a cooking sheet with olive oil, spread the rinsed asparagus spears on trying to keep them in a single layer, and not touching each other if I have the time to bother. I put them in my oven and broil on high until they have browned on the ends. Sometimes we let them burn a bit more to give us crisp "fries" of a sort. It is to taste, and you may discover you like them without brown, or charred black. I know people who prefer both ways. After removing from the oven, I spray lightly with olive oil again and salt them. Salting them before hand did me no good as it always fell off.
6. Try other ways of preparing them. I also like asparagus sauteed in olive oil with onion, garlic, salt, and Brussels sprouts. When doing this, I chop them into 2" pieces (after snapping and rinsing them) and do not aim to brown/char them but take it all out when the Brussels are done.
The above picture isn't the most appetizing, but my goal has never been to get "pins" for my photography. A picture speaks a thousand words, so they say, and the one above is for demonstration purposes. On the left is the glass of ends that were snapped off, the center shows how I store them in the fridge, and the right is the pan I am going to broil them on.