asparagus

[beris]

Hi

Im looking to purchase a number of Asparagus crowns, approx 20+, can you good people tell me of a mail order supplier in France of these, also the best time to plant, and any other information on the cultivation. We are in Dept 12.

Many thanks.

Beris

[Tony F Dordogne]

Wait until they are available next year and buy them from France Rurale, Jardiland, Weldom - in fact anywhere with a large enough seed and veg sales department.  No need to buy them mail order, buy them when you see them, that way you get to see how good they are at point of purchase.

[Gemini_man]

Hi Beris,

We planted approx 20 one year old crowns about 10 years ago and despite that they are meant to be only good for about 5/6 years we still get a good crop each year from about half of the plants. We've always restricted ourselves to about 5 weeks harvesting per season so as not to "overwork" the plants, then we stop picking and let the shoots grow into fronds which we cut down in February/March of the following year.. I remember we added a lot of sand to the bed when we made it - good drainage being very important.

Problems:

Weeds -  hand weeding seems the only answer although I do now weedkill with Glypsophate in March before the first shoots appear.

Slugs  -  will eat the sides of new growing  heads and make them curl -  then only good for chucking! Fresh sand on the surface seems to discourage slugs but it has to be quite thick.

Asparagus beetle - a real pain in the butt!! They eat the heads and lay eggs all along the shoot. Personally I refuse to spray anything on our asparagus which leaves the "contact method" to kill them  ie. squishing the blighters. The problem is they play hide and seek, when your hand approaches they nip around the far side of the stem or else they drop off onto the ground. The longer you have your asparagus bed the more chance there is that asparagus beetle will become established and a problem. Other than spraying them the best solution I have found is to hold a container of water with a little washing up liquid in against the shoots and shake or tap the shoots in the direction of the container - in theory any beetles will drop into the water and drown. well, it works for me [:P]

Is it all worth it? Yes, most certainly imo if you enjoy lots of fresh, small, steamed asparagus shoots with a little salt and butter on picked that same day (they also keep very well in a jug of water in the fridge for 2/3 days).

As for where to buy them, well basically wherever is most convenient for you but I would definitely advise buying green asparagus and not the woody white stuff so favoured in France [+o(]

Btw, here's a link which may be useful: http://www.whatprice.co.uk/gardening/growing-asparagus.html

Good luck :)

[Llwyncelyn]

I absolutely agree with the last posting very comprehensive.  However it is argued that the the world's leading experts on the breeding of new hybrids are the Dutch and they have new ones in the pipeline. 

As to purchase it is better to buy one year old crowns (in my opinion) and be careful when purchasing here in France they are always out on display in the inner sales areas and do tend to dry out.  They are readily available by mail order here in France (I will look for the suppliers of ours) and hopefully come back to you and they tend to be fresher.

From garden to table in minutes is a delight but I use as well shavings of  pecorino cheese over them and some olive oil

Normally available March April and which is the correct planting time.

[beris]

Thank you for your very sound advice, I will certainly take it all on board, our soil (Clay) is very heavy so the addition of sand in the bed is a good tip, I also  like the idea of buying green and not dryed crowns, I will also look at the site you have given.

many thanks once again

Beris

[Suze01]

[quote user="beris"]

I also  like the idea of buying green and not dryed crowns

[/quote]

Not sure what you mean here. I think what the other poster meant was that depending whether the shop has stored it indoors or out it can become dry and may fail to grow well once planted. 

Asparagus can be green, as we are used to in the UK, or more popular in France is white asparagus but it tends to be a bit harder and less sweet.  I think you can also get a purple/white one too.

I looked into buying some asparagus crowns last year but all I could find  were white asparagus.  You can order green asparagus crowns from your local Co-Op Agricole as my friends did but green asparagus does not seem to be easily available in the shops here.

BTW, my great uncle was the champion asparagus grower for Gloucestershire many moons ago [:D]

[Llwyncelyn]

Sorry there is only one area in the UK for aspargus and that is Worcestershire and of course Evesham.  Unless you have been to the Fleece at Bretforton and the auction then asparagus with butter and a few pints then you have not lived.

Times like this tugs a bit memory wise.

Lived at Beckford just down the road and the fruit blossom in the spring was something else.

[Suze01]

[quote user="Llwyncelyn"]

Sorry there is only one area in the UK for aspargus and that is Worcestershire and of course Evesham.

[/quote]

[:$] My great uncle was infact at Evesham - the rest of the family are mainly from Gloucestershire that's why I put that down [:$] 

[plod]

We bought our crowns from the local market in the spring and planted them in a trench. They've grown well; we also suffered the nuisance of the asparagus beetle of which we had swarms this year. We did a lot of hand squashing but in the end I'm afraid I sprayed as there were just so many of them. 

[fussy]

can someone tell me what asparagus tastes like, please , similar to what if anything, and how do you cook them. Thanks

[Gemini_man]

[quote user="fussy"]can someone tell me what asparagus tastes like, please , similar to what if anything, and how do you cook them. Thanks[/quote]

Asparagus is like asparagus - it doesn't really taste like anything else tbh, it's pretty subtle but distinctive  :)

Imo the best way to cook it is to steam it - as soon as the stems can be pierced with a fork it's done but don't cook too long or the heads will turn to mush - better to be under-done than over-done. Then serve on a warm plate with some butter on top plus salt and peppar to taste and eaten quickly before it gets cold. Can also be added to pasta, flan and various other dishes or served on toast with chopped mushrooms. It can also be frozen but is then only good for adding to other dishes and not to be eaten on it's own as it loses it's texture.

Just found this on the web:

"

#163	kerry07	Oct 01 2007 17:11
Ive never had asparagus - I dont even know how to cook it. Maybe I should try it...what does it taste like?
#164	stlgirl	Oct 01 2007 17:11
welcome back Kerry.  I was wondering where your ass went to.... lunch sounds like it was good! Missy - asparagus is very good!
#165	angiethe1_2005	Oct 01 2007 17:11
mmmmmmmmm sounds good kerry. Im not sure how to explain its taste really. It has a taste all of its own.
#166	soy_vey	Oct 01 2007 17:12
asparagus is really yummy if you grill it in a foil pack, or if you toss it with olive oil, garlic cloves and a little bit of lemon juice(and S&P) and then roast it in the oven. yum yum! I just packed my lunch: WW tortilla, vegan cheese, steamed zucchini all wrapped up. Baggie of carrots and celery on the side.  Boring, but I have left overs to use up.
#167	stlgirl	Oct 01 2007 17:12
it tastes like asparagus.. lol I cant explain it.  I think either you like it or you dont. So, there you are - the universal opinion seems to be that asparagus tastes like asparagus [:P]

[Suze01]

[quote user="Lisleoise"][quote user="Llwyncelyn"]

Sorry there is only one area in the UK for

aspargus and that is Worcestershire and of course Evesham.  Unless you

have been to the Fleece at Bretforton and the auction then asparagus

with butter and a few pints then you have not lived.

Times like this tugs a bit memory wise.

Lived at Beckford just down the road and the fruit blossom in the spring was something else.

[/quote]

[:$] My great uncle was infact at Evesham - the rest of the family are mainly from Gloucestershire that's why I put that down [:$] 

[/quote]

Found out some more info out of curiosity:

His name was Bert Groves and he was from Bretforton - chair of the Assc and Champion in the 40's and 50's.

You were spot on Llwyncelyn with the location [;-)] [:)]

[Meg]

Couldn't find any in Jardiland yet! But found them here

Anyone know how their price compares to markets/garden centres?

[RicandJo]

How to cook Asparagus.......

 

Simple.  Put into a bowl, squeeze some lemon juice over, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper.

 

Leave for 10 minutes then sautee in a frying pan or better still put on the barbecue.

 

Serve warm with shavings of parmesan on top.

 

to die for....

[Meg]

Had a look at a different garden centre last week and could only find the white stuff. [:(]

Online so far have found these 3 places

http://www.graines-baumaux.fr/catalogue.php?cat=1&sscat=3

http://www2.meillandrichardier.com/fr/ASPERGE-VERDI-f-4268-43.html

http://www.willemsefrance.fr

Does anyone have a variety to recommend? My veggie book doesn't list any of these above and a Google search hasn't helped! And due to the fact they're going to be around for a while and are expensive, i want to make sure i get super lovely ones! [:)]

[cassis]

[quote user="fussy"]can someone tell me what asparagus tastes like,

please , similar to what if anything, and how do you cook them.

Thanks[/quote]

Asparagus tastes a bit like broccoli with the flavour and texture removed.  Boil or gently steam, add butter and pepper and it's quite nice.