BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
VIRGINIA BEACH — It’s sweet, crunchy and versatile, and local consumers just can’t seem to get enough of it.That’s what farmers say about asparagus, which is popping up in local fields now – and at farm stands.
Like strawberries, it signals the start of the local produce season, and its fresh, delicate flavor has come to be associated with springtime for food aficionados.
“Everybody loves it,” said Marina Martin of Martin’s Island Produce.
She and her father, David Martin, grow about 1.5 acres of asparagus on their Knotts Island, N.C., farm, which they market through her community supported agriculture program. They also sell to other local farmers as well as to local restaurants – and sometimes sell 75 to 100 pounds per day.
The restaurants can’t get enough of it, Martin said, adding that it rivals local tomatoes in its popularity.
“I wish that I’d planted three times more than I did,” said Bruce Henley, owner of Flip Flop Farmer in Pungo. He’s growing several rows, but he also buys from other local growers to satisfy customer demand.
Robbie Vaughan of Vaughan Farms’ Produce noted that the popularity of local asparagus has increased in recent years “now that they realize how good it really is.”
Because it’s fresher, local asparagus is more tender. It’s usually possible to eat the entire stalk, which tends to toughen after it’s cut for several days, he said.
Asparagus season generally extends from late March until May. This year’s crop was a little late, Martin said, because a heavy frost in late March burned the emerging asparagus. However, it’s coming in rapidly now, and – barring a premature heat wave – could last to late May, Vaughan said.
“Asparagus depends on the weather,” Vaughan said. “When it starts getting up into the 80s, it goes away.”
Asparagus is a perennial vegetable that is set out in the early spring, and it takes about three years to get established, Vaughan said. It will last almost indefinitely once it’s established, but its productivity tends to decline after a couple of decades, so farmers usually replace it after about 20 years.
The plant’s tubular root system spreads horizontally, which helps it to become firmly established. After its productive season, it goes to seed in the early summer heat, said Vaughan and Mike Cullipher of Cullipher Farm Market, who grows four acres of asparagus on his farm.
Cullipher said that one frustration he has with asparagus is that it starts to produce before the beginning of strawberry season, which is generally when he opens his stand.
“This year has been good, though,” he said, adding that the “relatively cool” weather slowed the harvest.
Asparagus can only be cut for six weeks without damaging the following year’s crop, Cullipher said, so the season is finite.
“You really can’t stretch the season,” he said, adding that consumers seem to understand the limited availability.
Asparagus can be eaten raw, steamed, or roasted or grilled in olive oil, and local growers say they prefer theirs grilled or roasted. Vaughan and Cullipher are particularly fond of it sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Henley suggests adding a little balsamic vinegar. It can also be pickled, Vaughan said.
“There are all kinds of ways of preparing it,” he added.
“People are really buying it,” Henley said. “Everybody goes crazy over it.”
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