WORDS By Sarah Hellen

Asparagus season is here!

There’s so much that I love about these alien-like green spears that wind their way up through the soil when the sun shines. At Hawarden, their arrival is a true celebration of spring. Asparagus is the first crop of the year that we harvest in abundance and after such an unpredictable year, this season feels particularly poignant. 

The asparagus season is fairly short lived, beginning after the last frost in early May and ending on the first day of summer, when the plants are left to seed in preparation for next year’s crop.

“In these six to eight weeks, we are asparagus mad.

And why not! It’s delicious.”

I am by no means an expert or even a grower, but I really do find these plants fascinating. Have you ever watched a time-lapse of asparagus growing? If you have a few minutes, I encourage you to watch this video. Trust me, it’s a good use of your time. 

I like to think of asparagus as taking on some diva-like tendencies:

• They’re late to the party. From planting, the first crop will take around three years to appear.

• They’re high maintenance. Asparagus spears will only show up if it’s the right temperature. 

• You snooze you lose. If you don’t cut them at the right time, they’ll grow long and spindly and into a fern before the blink of an eye.

Asparagus is one of the hardest vegetables to grow organically.

Because it’s almost impossible to use any form of machinery to remove the weeds that surround the plant – and so sprays are needed instead.

According to our neighbouring organic farmer, the best method of removing weeds is to employ a flock of sheep who will chomp on the delicious weeds, and leave the asparagus alone. I’ve also read that letting your chickens loose on an asparagus field has the same effect, even though it might seem counter-intuitive...

Linocut by Sarah Hellen

All of the above aside, they’re not called the ‘king of vegetables’ for nothing. Asparagus is delicious, however it’s cooked (especially when smothered in butter) and any hardship during its growing process falls by the wayside thanks to the finished result.

And if you’ve got a bit more time for asparagus, I spent five minutes with Joel, our Head Grower here on the Hawarden Estate, chatting all about this wonderful vegetable.

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