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Probably no vegetable captures the flavor of spring like fresh asparagus. The first tender spears signal the opening of produce-growing season.
“It’s the first crop that comes out of the field,” said Kim Milberger at Peppe Gourmet Food store in east Pueblo earlier this week. “We put one little ad in the paper, and we get hit. People know it’s the first crop, so they start watching for our ad in April.”
Asparagus season is underway across the tri-state region.
Connie Whitmore and her husband Wayne grow two acres of asparagus southwest of Stillwater near Coyle, Okla. They use a motorized buggy that carries three hand-pickers at a time across a field to pluck the spears. “It’s better than constantly stooping over, and it keeps three people going,” she said recently at the Stillwater Farmers Market, where she was selling green and purple varieties for $2.50 a bunch. “It takes us 45 minutes to pick an acre and a half, then we sort and bag them for market. In a good year, we can harvest 100 pounds a day.”
They plan to continue harvesting asparagus over the next 60 days. They also grow berries, melons and vegetables and market grass-fed beef through the Oklahoma Food Co-op and at area farmers markets and stores.
Despite being prominently featured on the Oklahoma Farm to School website as early pioneers at getting local food into schools, Connie Whitmore says not a lot of their asparagus will make it onto school lunch trays. While asparagus becomes available early enough that school is still in session, there are significant challenges to using the vegetable fresh in school cafeterias.
As a labor-intensive crop, it tends to be a bit pricey for school budgets. It also takes careful preparation: if steamed the entire time 400 schoolchildren are circulating through the lunchroom, it would turn to mush, said Whitmore, a kindergarten teacher who incorporates a school garden into her own classes.
Schools often lack the resources to clean and prepare fresh vegetables, such as individually scrubbing piles of new potatoes or shucking sweet corn fresh from the field, she added. “It’s hard for them,” she said.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced several initiatives designed to expand the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in schools.
This year, USDA will provide $158 million in assistance to state agencies that will then select participating schools based on program criteria that includes the requirement that each student receives between $50 and $75 worth of fresh produce over the school year. USDA is also funding a $1 million pilot program developed and run by Washington State University that will help create vegetable gardens at 70 elementary schools in Washington, New York, Iowa and Arkansas.
In January, USDA published a proposed rule to update the nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch Program, the first re-evaluation in 15 years.
Milberger Farms doesn’t sell asparagus directly to schools, but distributes it through their on-farm store (where it is $2.99 for a one-pound bunch) as well as at Whole Foods Market and King Soopers stores in southern Colorado.
Asparagus season at Milberger Farms only lasts a few weeks, so the chance to savor this popular local flavor is fleeting.
“We’ve got a very nice crop this year. It’s delicious,” Kim Milberger said.
The store is open year round and carries a wide variety of produce in season, everything from chili peppers and sweet corn to squash and pumpkins.
Probably no vegetable captures the flavor of spring like fresh asparagus. The first tender spears signal the opening of produce-growing season.
“It’s the first crop that comes out of the field,” said Kim Milberger at Peppe Gourmet Food store in east Pueblo earlier this week. “We put one little ad in the paper, and we get hit. People know it’s the first crop, so they start watching for our ad in April.”
Asparagus season is underway across the tri-state region.
Connie Whitmore and her husband Wayne grow two acres of asparagus southwest of Stillwater near Coyle, Okla. They use a motorized buggy that carries three hand-pickers at a time across a field to pluck the spears. “It’s better than constantly stooping over, and it keeps three people going,” she said recently at the Stillwater Farmers Market, where she was selling green and purple varieties for $2.50 a bunch. “It takes us 45 minutes to pick an acre and a half, then we sort and bag them for market. In a good year, we can harvest 100 pounds a day.”
They plan to continue harvesting asparagus over the next 60 days. They also grow berries, melons and vegetables and market grass-fed beef through the Oklahoma Food Co-op and at area farmers markets and stores.
Despite being prominently featured on the Oklahoma Farm to School website as early pioneers at getting local food into schools, Connie Whitmore says not a lot of their asparagus will make it onto school lunch trays. While asparagus becomes available early enough that school is still in session, there are significant challenges to using the vegetable fresh in school cafeterias.
As a labor-intensive crop, it tends to be a bit pricey for school budgets. It also takes careful preparation: if steamed the entire time 400 schoolchildren are circulating through the lunchroom, it would turn to mush, said Whitmore, a kindergarten teacher who incorporates a school garden into her own classes.
Schools often lack the resources to clean and prepare fresh vegetables, such as individually scrubbing piles of new potatoes or shucking sweet corn fresh from the field, she added. “It’s hard for them,” she said.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently announced several initiatives designed to expand the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in schools.
This year, USDA will provide $158 million in assistance to state agencies that will then select participating schools based on program criteria that includes the requirement that each student receives between $50 and $75 worth of fresh produce over the school year. USDA is also funding a $1 million pilot program developed and run by Washington State University that will help create vegetable gardens at 70 elementary schools in Washington, New York, Iowa and Arkansas.
In January, USDA published a proposed rule to update the nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch Program, the first re-evaluation in 15 years.
Milberger Farms doesn’t sell asparagus directly to schools, but distributes it through their on-farm store (where it is $2.99 for a one-pound bunch) as well as at Whole Foods Market and King Soopers stores in southern Colorado.
Asparagus season at Milberger Farms only lasts a few weeks, so the chance to savor this popular local flavor is fleeting.
“We’ve got a very nice crop this year. It’s delicious,” Kim Milberger said.
The store is open year round and carries a wide variety of produce in season, everything from chili peppers and sweet corn to squash and pumpkins.
