CALIFORNIA ASPARAGUS, A HARBINGER OF SPRING
Images of tall, tight bunches of purple-tinged, green and white asparagus in the grocery store signal the arrival of spring. The height of the asparagus season in California runs from March to June. California asparagus is mainly grown at the confluence of California’s two greatest rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, in the rich peat of the delta lands an hour south of Sacramento and in the Salinas Valley about 2 hours south of San Francisco. California produces over 70 percent of the nation’s fresh market asparagus.
There are only a few organic asparagus growers left in California. Earl’s partners with Durst, a family owned farm in Esparto, less than an hour west of Sacramento. Founded by Jim (pictured below) and Deborah Durst, the farm focuses on building healthy soil, caring for employees and serving the community. Their philosophy is “if it doesn’t taste good, what’s the point?”. The season will go through early June when it is too hot for this Spring delicacy.
The asparagus plant roots store energy and nutrients throughout the winter until spring, when they send up their spears. Their asparagus is irrigated with buried drip. Did you know that the same field of asparagus, (after the initial 3 years needed to establish it before harvesting), can regenerate and grow back several years in a row? One of Durst’s fields is more than 10 years old. Durst harvests asparagus by hand, using specialized tools to cut each spear under the soil. The spears are placed in a bucket hanging from the workers body. Once the bucket is full the workers carefully place the spears in trays at the end of the row. The spears are brought back to the packing shed where they are washed and trimmed on the packing line. The skilled workers then gather and band the asparagus into 1 lb bunches. Watch the process below in Durst’s Asparagus video!
The size of the spears can vary based on the cultivar of asparagus, time during the season they are harvested and growing conditions-temperature and healthy soil. At the beginning of the season the spears tend to grow thicker. As the season nears the end the plant is starting to tire and will produce skinnier spears. Ultimately it is a personal preference on how you like to eat your asparagus. You decide, but make sure to look for blemish free asparagus with tightly closed tips and avoid wilted looking spears.
Storage and Cooking Tips:
Try to eat asparagus as soon as you buy it, however you can store it upright in the refrigerator in a dish of water or wrap a damp towel over the ends and store in a plastic bag.
When you’re ready to eat your delicious asparagus, snap or cut off the white portion of the butt end of the spear. They’re perfect coated with olive oil and roasted, which leaves them firmer, nuttier and sweeter than steaming. Shaved spears of raw asparagus also makes a delicious topping for pizza!
Asparagus is high vitamin C and K and folic acid and contain less than 50 calories per 6 oz serving.