Asperges

It is asparagus season here.  White or green, it’s everywhere.  A few weeks back Shamus and I helped out at Etienne’s school with Rugby sessions as ‘parents accompagnateurs.’  One of his classmate’s grandmother was also voluntering.  She has an asparagus farm and invited us to come visit.  This morning we finally made it out there for a visit and what a treat!

We learned that the green ones are less exensive than the white ones because the white ones need to be closely monitored and picked every day.  They are buried in the dirt which makes them more work to harvest.  Once they see the sun they turn green.  Depending on the weather the transformation might only take a few days.  On a warm day like today they can grow up to 2 inches.

If you are wondering who that guy we’re hanging out with is, that’s Thomas. He is the brother of Shamus’s brother-in-law (did you get that?).  He came from Switzerland to visit and I’m on his Ipad right now in heaven even though it is a german keyboard. I thought I hated computers until I didn’t have one and now frankly any language will do (pinterest is universal anyhow). I also have an overwhelming urge to to write ‘Gesundheit’ and ‘Was ist das’.

Back to my asparagus lesson, they are also more expensive depending on size.  Skinny ones are the least expensive, medium ones are mid range and the fat ones are the priciest. It’s the opposite back home which worked in our benefit because I actually prefer the thin ones.  Regardless the size, the flavor is the same.  We bought 1.5 kg of fresh asparagus for supper.

Solange offered to show us how it all works.  We hopped in her  SUV and headed out in the field.  They have had this farm since 1965!  They also harvest tomatoes and zucchini, everything that makes a ratatouille.

The first stop was the white asparagus.

Can you see the tip slightly poking out?  With her tool she popped that cute little guy right out of there.

Once that was done we headed over to see the green asparagus.  The difference is that they’ve grown out of the earth and are getting some sun.  Basically they have a tan.  Can you believe they hand pick every strand of asparagus????  Seasonal workers are hired between the months of March and september.

This family also grows cherry trees and grape vines. The cherries aren’t quite ready yet but the few we sampled were delicious.

The vines are coming along nicely too.  We’ve been waiting so long to see them bloom, they’re so beautiful!

We headed back to the house and Solange showed us what happens to the asparagus once it’s been harvested.  First they get washed…

…then cut.

They come out looking like so!

Now they are ready to go.  Some are sold privately but most are shipped off to Lyon to be sold at the Marche.

Once back home, Thomas insisted on cooking supper.  He bought Cabillaut (a type of white fish) and made asparagus pasta.

I love it when someone else cooks for me, it was delicious!