Playing The Long Game

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Westlake Weekly Update 2. 10. 21 

 

Featured Item: Asparagus

 

In a beautiful area known as the “Pearl of the Desert,” a slender green stalk emerges from the soil towards the warm sun. The young asparagus is an unassuming crop. Today if the conditions stay optimal, it could grow up to 10 inches!  Some may say, it’s a “grower”, not a “shower!”  

 

Asparagus is such an interesting and slightly funny vegetable.  The name comes from the Greek word… aspharagos or asparagos, which means “sprout” or “shoot.”  But I think it sounds more like it came from Italy.  (For the full effect, you have to use your hands for this.)  Pretend you are an Italian man or woman pleading for your friend Gus, to be spared by the mafia.  Say…”A-spare-a Gus!”    

 

Kidding aside, the asparagus can take up to five years from seed to harvest.  Because of that, farmers in areas like Caborca, Mexico, tend to start with “crowns” instead of seeds.  They plant the crowns to get a jump on the crop.  One asparagus crop can yield veggies for up to 20 years.  These farmers are in it for the long game!

 

As consumers, we’ve come to expect asparagus to be available year-round.  Good news for us asparagus lovers, the sunny state of Sonora Mexico has the perfect climate to grow these stalks.  Once they are erect, farmers still harvest by hand.  Using special knives to cut the stalks, they gather and bundle the tender green veggies to ship.

 

Once they make it to our tables and ultimately into our bellies, we know we are getting some good stuff!  Asparagus is one of the most nutritionally balanced vegetables.  They are high in folic acid, as well as being an excellent source of potassium, fiber, and thiamin.  A single serving has good amounts of vitamins A, B6, and C, as well as only being 3 calories per spear! So eat up all those good for tender green shoots.  There are so many ways to eat and prepare them.  The only downside is the unappealing odor you might smell in your pee-pee later!  However, some of you might not even smell it!!  There is a genetic reason for this.  Some of us have the gene that allows us to smell something called asparagusic acid. It’s a compound found in asparagus.  All asparagus have it, but you may not smell it.  The question is…do you or don’t you have the gene?  

 

Luckily, asparagus from Mexico is in harvest and ready to be put to the test!

 

Our growers in Mexico have asparagus in its prime production right now.  The weather in places like Caborca, San Luis, and Mexicali has been ideal for growing.  We predict a heavy production for the next 6 weeks.  We have promotions available in 28lb cases, and the 11lb is available all year!

 

 

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