The excavation took place some time ago already. When studying the result archaeologists were involved in the research - research in plant roots and seeds.
The seeds found show that asparagus was not imported, but grown in the neighbourhood of Haarlem. This is striking, because asparagus is generally considered produce grown in the more Southern provinces of the Netherlands. On paintings from the sixteenth and seventeenth century asparagus are shown already. In herb books of that period not much is found about the cultivation of asparagus.
The archaeological research was carried out at the Haarlem Kruisweg when the old sewer was removed for the re-arragement of the Station Square in Haarlem. The research was attended to by ADC ArcheoProjecten.
Source: Historiek.net