Farm News
We are thrilled to bring you asparagus this spring, as in many years past, from our friends and farming partners at Durst Organic Growers. Jim and Deborah Durst have been growing organic crops since 1988, continuing the Durst family farming legacy that began in northern California in the late 1800s.
Their mission is to grow fresh organic produce, and educate their community about sustainable farming that provides quality of life for the farmer and economic viability for the farm while always maintaining care and respect for nature’s diversity.
Over time, the Durst family transitioned from large-scale commodity crop farming such as processing tomatoes, to other crops like organic alfalfa, sunflowers, sugar beets, and grain. By 1989 they were growing their first organic fresh market tomatoes and mixed melons, and since then, they have continued to raise a mix of organic fresh market and commodity crops. Along the way, they added a few other specialties, including asparagus, which they first planted in 1997.
Asparagus is a spring and early summer crop. The asparagus plant roots store energy and nutrients throughout the winter until spring, when they send up their spears. On the Durst farm, the spears are harvested by hand, using specialized tools, and then are bunched and packed by hand as well. This year, thanks to all the rain, their asparagus harvest was about a month behind schedule, beginning in late March and continuing into June.
Their asparagus fields are irrigated with buried drip, saving a great deal of water over using sprinklers. It takes 3 years after planting to establish the asparagus plants before harvesting can begin; thereafter, the same field can grow back several years in a row before needing to be replanted. One of their fields is eight years old and still sending up spears!
As well as being tasty served a number of ways, -- grilled, on pizza, in salad, soup or quiche, asparagus is high in vitamins A, C, E, K, and B6. It is also a great source of nutrients such as dietary fiber, protein, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper and manganese.
From the beginning, Jim and Deborah have worked hard to build a conscious, ecologically minded business where both people and planet are treated respectfully. In an era when cheaper, foreign asparagus is readily available in many markets, we remain steadfast in bringing you domestic organic asparagus from our neighbors, true role models in the organic agriculture movement.
CSA members - head on over to our online Farm Stand Market to customize your upcoming delivery. Market is open from noon on Thursday until 6 pm on your cutoff date. After you confirm your produce items, click the orange button "Confirm and Continue To Other Farm Products" to add the products to your delivery.
Not part of our farm family? Find out if we deliver to your neighborhood. You can even get your whole office in on the fun with our office snack packs. Find more information about our office deliveries here.
