 Picture of asparagus cultivation taken at the De Locht Museum in Melderslo, Limburg, Netherlands. In this picture you can see how they cultivate asparagus. You can see the asparagus beds that are created with a special plough. You can also see the special asparagus knives and specially designed crates to do the harvest. Harvesting white asparagus is not so easy, you have to take a good look to see if there is a crack in the ground of the asparagus bed. If there is one you have to carefully remove the earth around the asparagus so that you can cut the asparagus with the special knife. After that you must put back all the earth and make it flat on the top of the asparagus bed with the bottom of the crate. The next day you again look to see if there is a crack. You have to cut the asparagus before it grows out of the bed so that it stays white. The white ones are best and the most expensive to buy. (NOTE: Truus wrote this explanation. I happen to like the green asparagus best and would not pay extra for the white. I wonder if this is a personal taste or a cultural difference?) The grower earns more money if he has a lot of white asparagus. Asparagus grows very fast if the temperature is warm and then they cut the asparagus two times a day, in the early morning and the early evening. A lot of the German people come over to this area to buy asparagus. The farmers place a sign with the German word "spargel" for asparagus along the road when they sell their own asparagus at home. If you wish to know more about asparagus cultivation in the Netherlands you can go to this website http://www.asperge.nl/ |
