Asparagus – Spears to Die For – Theresasjoquist.com

Greenfern Asparagus, is a dedicated family operation. Here is how they grow their seasonal delicacy.

Bill and Irene Cummings, with the help of their three children over the years, have operated Greenfern (Les Asperges) since 2000. Located at Tamahere near Cambridge on 23 hectares of flat sandy loam soil, their fields produced at peak 100 tonnes of asparagus every season.

Bill grew up on his father’s sheep farm. When it was sold he became a school teacher for a few years before going back to the land to grow berries, with the idea of transitioning to sheep farming. In the mid-80s when he was ready, sheep were no longer in vogue, so he took a horticultural supply position at Turners & Growers, Tamahere, and thus met many Waikato growers. When asparagus grower Alex Boyd needed a manager, Bill took the opportunity with Boyd’s Asparagus.

The role included travelling around the Waikato testing asparagus carbohydrate content (sugar levels). Bill noticed how different the soil structure was on an organic farm.

“The worms jumped out of the soil,” he said, “while conventional farms seemed to be scorched earth.”

In 1994 Bill and Alex bought a block to grow asparagus, and in 2000, Bill and Irene bought Alex out. They built their own packhouse in 2003.

Seeing the organic opportunity

Irene sold asparagus at the Cambridge market, and later at both the Hamilton and Cambridge markets, now jointly known as the Waikato Farmers Market. Shoppers often asked what the asparagus had been sprayed with, so Irene saw the opportunity in offering organic produce. One of their packhouse customers was the only organic asparagus grower in the Waikato. When he retired they recognised an opening to supply markets throughout the country, not just local produce markets.

“The memory of how good that organic farm I saw was, certainly encouraged me,” Bill said.

Asparagus roll call

Their daughter, Kiely, a teacher living in Mt Maunganui since 2017, travels up on weekends to pick up fresh produce to sell at the Tauranga Market.

“Each year the number of people looking for it because it’s organic is increasing,” says Irene. “Kiely has three young daughters who are all keen to earn pocket money, so they help too.”

Bill and Irene’s son, Hadyn works next door as crop manager for Southern Fresh, but helps in the fields and packhouse. He is a necessary extra pair of hands when it comes to the difficult work of pulling plastic over the tunnel frames in preparation for the white asparagus crop. He deals with seed companies through his work, so is able to also research new asparagus varieties.

Second daughter, Stacey, and husband Matt, recently moved to Wellington, but all three Cummings children have planted, weeded or graded throughout their childhood.

Irene worked in Cambridge until 2017. Apart from weekend markets she helped when she could during the September to late December asparagus season, but now work in season occupies Bill and Irene 70–100 hours a week each. Irene manages the little packhouse shop, keeps a quality-control eye on staff, and organises couriers. The boxes have to be packed and ready early for the couriers delivering to cafés and restaurants throughout New Zealand. They also supply Fresh Direct, organic retailers, farmers’ markets, and individuals.

Quality and variety

Greenfern transitioned to organic in 2012 and now grows ten asparagus varieties, including purple and white. They’ve planted multiple selections in the search for an ideal variety for Waikato conditions to remedy falling production and crown quality. Dutch varieties they’ve planted may be the answer, but asparagus needs 5–10 years before its quality is truly seen. Growers look for yield, and the length of period over which they can pick. Crown quality affects these measurements.

Good quality seed and crowns should produce well for 15–20 years, and Greenfern source from Premier Seed and Limgroup seed producers.

“Some suppliers grow transplants (seedlings) from seeds and sell at that point,” says Bill, “but if you grow a seed for a year it develops into a crown. They look like an octopus – a round bulb with a lot of roots. We’ve planted crowns up until now but have started using transplants. Digging up year-old crowns wrenches them.”

Pale delicacy

In New Zealand white asparagus is grown in tunnels, depriving it of light and colour. The Dutch breed crowns specifically for white asparagus, but in Europe, as the spears appear they are covered with soil to deny sunlight. They produce large diameter white asparagus, but it needs to be peeled. New Zealand white asparagus is thinner and more tender.

Planting for the long term

Since 1994 Greenfern has replanted three times involving considerable cost. Rows are 1.5 metres apart and 125–175 mm deep, and crowns or transplants are spaced every 250 mm. Once growth is established, the crown sends up around twenty nodules. Each nodule produces a spear with new ones growing up in succession.

Asparagus doesn’t like wet feet or heavy frost, and thrives in full sun.

The best time to plant asparagus so it gets sufficient rainfall to establish is early September. A year after planting, spears can be picked for a week if frost is imminent (they will disappear anyway with heavy frost). The following year spears can be picked for four weeks, but continual picking at this stage will kill the plant. Asparagus needs to build its root system for at least three years, by which time the plant should sustain a full picking season (September to late December).

Asparagus is a lily relative and, like lilies, can be difficult to get rid of if you change your mind, but constant picking, or grazing over by stock, is likely to do the job. At the end of the overall growth cycle asparagus emits toxins discouraging the growth of more asparagus, so the soil needs rest for eight years before replanting.

Prior to planting, and between seasons Greenfern tests the soil for nutrient deficiencies, and gets rid of weeds. Asparagus is an easy-care crop requiring no insecticides or fungicides, but weeds are a problem. During the season Bill mechanically weeds regularly, but says it is difficult controlling weeds under an organic regime while also looking after the packhouse and staff. He feeds his crop ‘bits and pieces of everything’, including seaweed, fish fertiliser, molasses, compost tea, and extracts such as comfrey.

Picking and packing

Greenfern struggles to get good pickers. “We had a really good gang of Indian pickers twenty years ago,” Bill says. “They picked the best quality, cleanly, and fast. Spears are cut at ground level and placed in crates so they don’t get damaged. One of our pickers has been with us for three years. Having obtained a full-time position elsewhere, and wanting to get ahead, he and his wife pick with torches on their head at night.”

The packhouse is staffed by an experienced eight-person New Zealand-based Tongan team who have worked at Greenfern for many years. They grade the spears and pack them into crates the day they are harvested.

Bill and Irene spend the whole day in the packing shed keeping an eye on the grading, but since they no longer export, quality control is slightly less rigorous.

Supplying the domestic market

“We’re small enough,” says Irene, “that we can control what everyone does, but we’re a typical small business needing to do ten jobs at once, eight days a week.”

Greenfern deliberately stayed small to ensure the better returns organic produce earns, but Bill says there probably isn’t much room for more organic asparagus growers. Picking is not a pleasant job and pickers are hard to get.

“Thirty years ago there were probably 150 asparagus growers in the Waikato,” says Bill, “but now there are only about ten.”

Once asparagus was a lucrative commercial crop, but now export and cannery markets have virtually disappeared in favour of produce from cheaper labour markets such as Mexico and Peru.

After the season

In a 5 x 200 m plot the Cummings also grow a crop of organic globe artichokes. The 2000 or so artichokes per season are eagerly purchased by top restaurants, but Bill stays away from the mature crop. He’s allergic to them.

Once the season for asparagus and artichokes is over, there is catching up around the house and property to do, and the occasional overseas trip. Two years ago, the couple walked the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela. It cost Bill a hip replacement, but they’re planning to do it again after the next season.

The Cummings say they have a long journey yet to make more productive land and get the soil structure ‘jumping with worms’. It’s a journey they intend to continue in the hope that with a little help from the ‘oldies’ Hadyn might take over in years to come.

Greenfern at a glance

Hectares: 23 overall, 10 in asparagus
Crops: Jersey Giants green, purple and white asparagus (converting to Magnus and Limgroup), globe artichokes
Soil: sandy loam
Staff: 7–12 seasonal in packhouse and 5–10 pickers
Organic certification: BioGro since 2012
How to eat asparagus: Cut up like beans, stir-fry lightly, transfer to bowl, drizzle with oyster sauce.