Growing Asparagus
We consider ourselves experts on asparagus on our farm near Oundle. All of our asparagus plants are planted by hand and we normally plant around 12,000 plants per acre, a lot!
British Asparagus heralds the start of spring and asparagus normally starts to poke through when the night/day average temperature is around 14 deg C. Traditionally, the asparagus season starts on St Georges day, the 23rd April, and finishes on Midsummer’s Eve, the 21st June.
Once the season has commenced it’s all hands on deck, everything is cut by hand. Asparagus grows so fast, you can almost watch in growing. Occasionally, the crop has to be cut twice in one day! Once cut, we wash it, bundle it, weigh and pack it with aim of producing and selling the freshest high quality asparagus we can.
To learn more about the way we grow asparagus follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
When the season has finished we let the asparagus plant grow away and it quickly reaches for the sky. Once in fern, the asparagus plant busies its self trying to absorb as mush sunlight as possible, this energy is then stored in the huge root system as carbohydrate to provide yield for the following year.
Rectory
Farm
J L Ashby & Co. Ltd
J L Ashby & Co Ltd
The Ashby family have been farming near Oundle for over 100 years. Mike Ashby is a fourth generation farmer and started growing asparagus in 2006.
“Asparagus is an amazing crop to grow, you have to be very patient though, it takes three years after planting before you can harvest your fresh, quality asparagus”
Over the years we have expanded our acreage and supply many local shops and restaurants.
Environment
What we do to help the planet:
We grow asparagus and other crops on our farm. How we grow our crops is very important to us, we pay the highest attention to detail and quality possible.
We care when growing our crops.
As well as commercial crops on our farm, we have 40 acres of environmental measures woven into our farming landscape. We are very proud to produce crops sustainably whilst also benefiting the environment. We adhere to standards of the Red Tractor and the National LEAF Marque Scheme.
On our farm we have planted new hedges, re-generated ponds and we have also planted wild bird covers to feed song birds over the winter.
In addition to all this, encouraging wildlife is a priority on our farm. Barn owl boxes are placed around the fields and woods.
To our joy, we now have 3 sets of nesting barn owls.
Health Benefits
Improve your life with asparagus:
Asparagus is classed as a ‘super food’ and is rich in vitamin K and is high in folate, fibre and potassium. It is also low in calories, low in fat, low in carbohydrates and is cholesterol free. There may be some evidence also that asparagus helps with hangovers!
We sell our fresh, high quality asparagus from our farm gate based in Polebrook. Visit our contact page for the address.
