5-8 IAN Asparagus

 I don’t know why but when I think about crops being grown in Idaho, I have to confess that asparagus is not the first thing that comes to my mind. All of that changed with a visit to New Plymouth.

  “When you are picking asparagus, you go after the spear that you want and what you want to do is cut them off underground so you take the knife and slide it under the ground and that gives you a little bit of white on the bottom. The reason you pick it underground is so that it tends to seem like the plant will send more shoots up so it will come back at the next picking.” Asparagus grower Galen Lee is co-owner of Sunnyside Farms in New Plymouth. He is not inclined to sit around until  early summer before he and his work crew get going on the task at hand.  “Asparagus is one of the first crops out of the ground in the spring. It is coming from the roots so it is sitting in the ground already and doesn’t have to be replanted every year. It starts coming out from the middle to the end of April and the picking season we run will go through the middle of June.”  Where does it go from the field?   “We take this and  go down to my mother and father’s place and sell out of a little cooler in the front. We take  some to farmer’s markets and vegetable stands and things like that. It is all sold through direct marketing this year.” Is it a tough crop to pick?  “For people who are tall like me, it is difficult to be bent over all the time but we have a crew that does a great job. They know what they’re doing and come out and pick. They are very fast at it. It takes me a lot longer to get a bucket full than them. They know what they are doing and that is why they are out there.