Adventures on the Asparabus

It's June guys, so that means we have about 4 more weeks to enjoy Ontario asparagus. These delicious spears are always the first vegetable of the season so when I see these fat bundles of joy in the market, I know that spring has sprung.

There is a thing called the Asparabus - the Aparagus Farmers of Ontario pair up with The Foodies Group to take a bunch of food bloggers, writers and influencers on a tour of an asparagus farm and then treat us to a delicious lunch, showcasing the vegetable in as many forms as possible so that we can, in turn, get the word out that everyone should be eating local asparagus.

This year is the first year I have been able to join the fun and as expected, I had a great day, got see some old friends, meet some farmers, discover a new spot to visit again when I have more time and enjoy a delicious lunch.

We started our day at Welsh Bros Farms where were were brought out to the field to see how asparagus grows. I am not going to lie- I had envisioned lush fields of green, not the dry, grey gulch with spears poking up out of the ground lol. After munching on amazingly tender spears, plucked straight from the dirt, we went inside to watch the workers sort, clean and package up the asparagus bundles for market.

Lots of hard work involved in getting the asparagus out of the ground to the point where it's ready to ship out

This Norfolk County gem is worth a drive - make sure to try their hard cider 

The next stop was Bonnieheath Estate Lavender and Winery, where we had time to explore the beautiful grounds before being served a ridiculous lunch spread, courtesy of Chef Tracy Winkworth  and Liason College Southcoast Chef School. We had asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and grilled, roasted and covered in dates and goats cheese, blended into a pesto, a chimichurri, pureed into a soup and breaded and deep fried. There was also a lovely mushroom risotto, made with asparagus stock that was made from the asparagus scraps - waste not, want not.

After lunch, we all descended on the tasting room like a plague of locusts, tasting their hard ciders and wines, perusing their lavender products and then buying treats to take home.

Chef Tracy Winkworth and her asparagus magic

At the end of the afternoon we hopped back on the Asparabus headed for home, loaded down with cider, asparagus and a cooler full of tasty asparagus condiments with full bellies and lots of inspiration to carry us over for the last month of asparagus season.

recipe for this Vietnamese Asparagus Rice Noodle Salad can be found on Auburn Lane

Hop on over to Auburn Lane to check out one of my favourite ways to prepare this wonderful vegetable and make sure to get out there and buy local, Ontario asparagus while it's still here.