Asparagus season off to strong start

Good weather has resulted in a strong start to the local asparagus growing season.

“We had a dry summer last year but we had a lot of rain in the late winter and early spring this year so the water table was healthy,” says Mike Chromczak of M&J Chromczak Farms, near Tillsonburg. “That, combined with the temperatures have given us good growing conditions.

“As growers, we don’t want to go straight from winter to summer temperatures, we want to have the transition.”

Ideally, growers want to have daytime temperatures of about 20 C combined with night time temperatures of about 10 C, Chromczak said.

“We’re off to a very strong start,” he said. “We had some logistical issues, getting our asparagus off the fields and into the supply chain but we got through it.

“At this time of year, you can never have enough hands on deck.”

Chromczak described the market has healthy. Farmers are able to move their products and buyers are getting the supply they’re looking for as well.

“We’re fortunate to have chains and buyers in our national grocery chain that value local produce, the anticipate it, they’re excited about and they want local produce on the shelf as fast and efficiently as possible,” he said. “The consumers want that as well. They look forward to purchasing the local produce.”

Chromczak was asked about locally-grown asparagus being available for purchase in grocery stores. He was unfazed when told about a photo of some asparagus from Mexico being picked off a display labeled Canadian produce at the Walmart Store in Simcoe.

“It’s the time of year,” Chromczak, the vice-chair of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association, said. “The local produce is arriving at grocery stores now just as grocery stores are selling asparagus imported from Mexico and Peru.

“I don’t see that as being a big story.”

Countries like Peru and Mexico can produce and sell asparagus year round. In Ontario, the season lasts two months and consumers like to take advantage of the local produce, Chromczak said.

Walmart was asked if locally-grown asparagus would be sold in its Simcoe store.

A spokesperson said it was a timely question.

“Local Ontario asparagus is a feature in our Ontario flyer this weekend,” Stephanie Fusco, Walmart’s senior manager, corporate affairs, said.

“The local asparagus season typically runs from Mother’s Day to Canada Day – it’s starting a bit later this year,” Fusco said. “You’ll see Canadian asparagus, including some grown in Vittoria in our stores across the country available at our every day low prices.”

Meanwhile, locally grown asparagus started popping up on farm-gate stands throughout Norfolk County last week, just in time for Mother’s Day.

4 Seasons Farm Shop, a roadside market in Simcoe, stocks two varieties of Norfolk County asparagus.

Danny Den Baars of 4 Seasons finds purple asparagus sweeter and more tender than its green cousin, an impression confirmed by the purple variety having about 20 per cent more natural sugar in its stalks. But purple asparagus turns green when cooked, so hosts banking on the rich color to wow guests should use it raw in a salad or charcuterie board instead.

Though widely popular in Europe, white asparagus is relatively hard to find in Canada. Den Baars only knows of one grower in Norfolk and 4 Seasons stopped stocking it a few years ago.

Because white asparagus is grown underground — the lack of sunlight keeps it from turning green — it is a more labour-intensive crop to harvest, making the price significantly higher.

“In the Netherlands we call them white gold, because they are really expensive in Europe as well,” said

Cynthia Van Ede, Den Baars’ partner at 4 Seasons.

Van Ede’s preferred ways to enjoy asparagus are roasted or in a creamy soup, while Den Baars likes his wrapped in bacon and grilled on the barbecue.

Den Baars only eats asparagus “when it is fresh” and in season because “it tastes nice,” and he appreciates the smaller carbon footprint when compared to asparagus shipped north from Mexico or Peru.

“Everything that is local is better,” he said.

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