UK | A Hampshire grower has been using recycled coconut husk fibre to deliver commercial quantities of gourmet-quality asparagus six weeks sooner than last year.
Grower, Sandy Booth, owner of New Forest Fruit, has been perfecting his unusual growing technique for several years and is now able to support Tesco with extra early-season supply.
This purple and green asparagus, grown near Brockenhurst and already winning over top celebrity chefs Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder, has started cascading exclusively across the UK.
What makes purple and green asparagus so sought after by foodies is its characteristically sweeter, nuttier flavour and fleshier texture, meaning it can even be eaten raw and unpeeled in salads and stir-fries.
To produce this intensified flavour and get commercial quantities onto supermarket shelves far earlier than regular asparagus, it is grown in recycled coir (coconut husk fibre).
This creates a natural, heated protection allowing them to grow faster than traditional methods. And it also helps develop higher-than-usual Brix levels, basically the sweetness measurement within the plant.
The supermarket’s early season will be further supplemented by grower Cobrey Farms, based near Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.
The British-grown asparagus season is relatively short, so getting the absolute highest-quality variety six weeks earlier than usual is a real coup and a bonus for shoppers.
“Foodies generally consider English asparagus to be the best in the world because of the UK’s almost perfect growing conditions,” said Tesco asparagus buyer Lisa Lawrence.
“But because the traditional English season is so short, running roughly for around eight weeks, it’s an incredibly coveted food. As a result of this early season asparagus, we will have about 60 per cent more on our shelves this year.”
The New Forest Fruit site already benefits from being sheltered from strong winds by the Isle of Wight and the South Coast’s increased light levels and warmer temperatures. By housing the asparagus in tunnels to trap natural heat and growing it in recycled coconut husk (coir), it warms up more quickly, removing the need for artificial heat.
The company employs the same technique to grow strawberries, but afterwards, repurposes the several million litres of coir they use to benefit asparagus production. This growing method also enables New Forest Fruit to produce around twice as many asparagus crowns per hectare as conventional field systems.
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