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| How Asparagus got started in South Africa | ||
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No other vegetable has quite the aura of luxury about it that asparagus,
long known as the food of kings, has. That epithet could date back to
the Sun King, Louis XIV of France, who was so besotted with asparagus
that he had greenhouses especially built so it could be forced, under
controlled conditions, to give him a year-round supply. For the rest of us, it remains relatively rare because of its seasonal nature, with fresh shoots available for only three months of the year. Asparagus is nutritious, packing in six times more vitamin C than citrus fruit, yet with a taste so delicate and distinct that it has always been a gourmet food for both aristocrats and commoners, with the additional reputation of being an aphrodisiac. Grown for more than 2 000 years as a crop, it is not clear where the plant originally came from as it grows wild in many places. In parts of Russia and Poland, for example, it is so plentiful that horses and cattle graze on it. The ancient Greeks and Romans grew asparagus and it was praised by their writers, while the Emperor Augustus used to say “quick as boiled asparagus” when he meant “hurry up”. Julius Caesar raved after tasting it in Lombardy, and wrote that he preferred it with melted butter. The Romans had asparagus fleets to carry the crop from all over their empire to the capital. In the past, its medicinal uses ranged from helping eyesight and being used as a diuretic and laxative to treating dropsy and sciatica. Modern consumers approach it more simply as a delicacy, and their preference has moved sharply to the fresh product, when it is in season, rather than canned spears. Simultaneously, there has been a move from white to green asparagus. Bundles of thin, green asparagus have long been popular in Italy. In South Carolina in the US, this asparagus is known as chainey briar. It is also known as sparrowgrass, or more correctly as sprue, if the spears are less than 1cm thick. Whether white, purple or green, asparagus comes from the same plant, although there are different varieties. Italy has purple Genoa asparagus, while France has a variety called Argenteuil. The real difference is in the method of growing and cutting. Europeans prefer their spears white, which involves mounding the beds over the crowns of the dormant plants so that in spring the spears can be cut at dawn as soon as they crack the surface. Exposure to light quickly turns them pink and purple; within hours photosynthesis creates chlorophyll and they become green. Who brought asparagus to South Africa and when is not known, but one of the first growers was William Joughin, who imported it in 1906 and grew it successfully near Gumtree in the Eastern Free State in the ’20s, even providing Jan Smuts with plants. More significantly, he supplied plants to the Anglican mission at Modderpoort near Ladybrand, and they were long grown by the brothers at the Catholic mission in the town as well. From Modderpoort, a priest named Tony Rademacher in the ’60s took stock to the Transvaal. The Eastern Free State and Gauteng remain the only commercial growing areas in the country, With winters cold enough to please the plants. South Africa exports about 560 tons (about 400 000 cartons of 24 packs) —at least half its crop, joining Zimbabwe and Morocco on the continent in supplying the huge cravings of the European market. But Africa is small fry in the asparagus world. Forty percent of the world crop is grown in Europe, with Spain top, followed by Greece. But the biggest producing nations are Peru and the US, with about 100 000 tons each. In the US, production centres on California and Michigan, where asparagus is widely grown on lands that were cleared of forests to rebuild Chicago after the fire of 1871. Over the past 10 years, South African tastes have also moved from canned white asparagus to the fresh, green spears. This is thanks to healthy eating trends, more sophisticated tastes among up-market consumers, and simply because such asparagus is available. Asparagus farming is labour-intensive, especially for the white spears — another reason green asparagus has become the norm both here and in the US. Picking is done by hand with long knives, daily or more often at the height of the season. The plants grow so quickly that a spear overlooked is useless by the next day. Sorting, trimming and packing are also done by hand. The season for fresh asparagus lasts from the end of August into November, with cropping continuing for up to 90 days. The canned product is available all year. - Sunday Times. |
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| Growing your own Asparagus | ||
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Asparagus is a perennial vegetable native to Western Europe. It is a member of the lily family. Asparagus are grown from seeds which then produce small crowns, which are then transplanted into asparagus lands for commercial use. The seeds are planted in September and are transplanted during the following August. They can only be harvested after the second year following transplanting. This is because the root system extends up to two metres and need to establish before harvesting can begin. Asparagus grows best in good drained, sandy, loam soil. They require cold winters with frost. This is essential for the crown to remain dormant. Asparagus are best grown when the pH of the soil is between 5-6. Asparagus are planted into furrows of 20cm deep with 70g per m2 of 3:2:1 (25) fertiliser. Then place 10cm of soil on top of crown and water well. During September of the following year, fertilise with 170g of 5:1:7 (36). During the third year, fertilise with 170g of 5:1:5 (36). Asparagus are not harvested for the first two years. In the third year, they are harvested for four weeks, which commences in September. During the fourth year they can be harvested for eight weeks and from the fifth year, twelve weeks. If crowns are well looked after, they can last for up to twenty years, with their best years from eight to twelve years. After harvesting, leave Asparagus to fern. During winter the ferns will frost and during August the ferns should be cut level with the ground. The difference between white and green Asparagus is that photosynthesis takes place in green Asparagus. To harvest white Asparagus, it is essential to ridge soil to about 20cm above the crown. The spears are then harvested below the soil. For green Asparagus it is not necessary to ridge the soil.
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© 2011 St.Ives Communications |
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