Where is asparagus grown in the uk

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You can contact them by calling. Loading search. Login Join. Explore Back British Farming Why? Education Cook and eat Newsletter. Explore food and farming Feeding the nation Protecting the environment Contributing to the economy Animal health and welfare People in farming. Click here to take a look at our seasonal guide to British fruit and vegetables. All about asparagus: Dubbed the Usain Bolt of the vegetable world, British asparagus can grow up to 10cm in one day.

Asparagus can help cure hangovers and protect the liver against toxins. They let the ferns grow up in the spring and early summer to help the root ball build up energy. They turn off the irrigation in early July, and by the third week of that month they can mow down the ferns and start harvesting a new crop of spears.

Once production drops off with the cool, late-fall temperatures, the polythene covers are removed and all growth ceases for the winter. This late crop is harvested from July until the first weeks of October. Yields vary greatly on the farm depending on the growing technique used.

The open-field production yields 10, pounds per acre, the mini-tunnels 18, pounds per acre and the triple cover system 30, pounds per acre. The asparagus is mostly grown in single rows 60 inches apart. Plant populations range from 10, plants per acre to 60, plants per acre according to variety and planned market. The new growing systems that Cobrey Farms has developed have resulted in higher plant populations than previously, with 13, plants per acre being the norm.

The spears are brought from the field in the early morning and run through a washer and hydrocooler. The asparagus is then put on the beginning of the sorting line on a horizontal conveyor, with cups that hold one spear each. Cook, sprinkle with pepper and serve. The top asparagus importers in , the most recent year for which records are available, were the US 92, tons , followed by the EU 18, tons and Japan 17, tons.

Nowadays, there are also major producers in Kent, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. It must be grown for three years until a producer can begin harvesting. After that, a plant will have an effective lifespan of a further 10 years. Producers claim that this makes asparagus expensive, since crops are only harvested for 10 out of every 13 years.

It used to begin on 1 May, but now starts earlier due to milder springs. A spokeswoman said: "This has paid off with the sales as it seems as soon as British comes in our customers rush to buy it.

Last year Tesco trialled white asparagus which proved popular with shoppers, and this year it has doubled the amount it has on its shelves. White asparagus is a highly-prized gourmet food that until last year was only imported from the continent but is now being grown in commercial quantities for the first time by Britain's largest asparagus growers, Cobrey Farms who are based in the Wye Valley, Herefordshire.