Asparagus minitunnels wiped out

Cyclone “Nicholas” which hit last week did not pass by the asparagus fields without leaving traces. With many asparagus growers all across Germany, the squalls damaged the mini tunnels on the asparagus fields. Jörg Heuer of Fuhrberger Spargelhof Heuer in the vicinity of Hannover: “The cyclone blew away the overhead foil of our mini tunnels. The overhead foil is actually supposed to offer the asparagus an air cushion, which is warmed up by the sun. Unfortunately, because of the wind we currently have no air cushions and no warmth." The harvest, so the asparagus grower assures us, will not be influenced by this: “The asparagus carries on. It does not currently matter, what happens around it. It's just relatively costly for us to rebuild all the overhead transparencies by hand afterwards.”

Great demand with limited quantities
The asparagus season lies immediately ahead. “The demand is already large”, reports Jörg Heuer. “Last year the season began relatively early, but we didn't have any demand yet. This year it is the other way around. We don't currently have any asparagus but the demand is great.” The asparagus grower was “fairly satisfied” with the weather this season. Only the current, fierce squalls were unusual at this time of year: “Nicholas was a particularly fierce hurricane, the likes of which we haven't had for a long time in this period.”

Spring weather influences the harvest
Jörg Heuer expects a normal asparagus season again this year. “It is always beautiful,” the Lower Saxon reports, “When we have the first sunny period before the harvest. Unfortunately this period has been absent this year. But that is totally normal for this period, the end of March until the start of April.”

Green asparaguses as an addition
In the area around Hannover, Spargelhof heuer counts among the great. “We sell our asparagus everywhere,” the agriculturist reports, “On the farm, in the gastronomy, the foodstuff retail or week- and wholesale markets.” Beside the white asparagus, Spargelhof Heuer also cultivates green asparaguses. “The green asparagus is a strange foreigner,” declares Heuer. It grows parallel to the white asparagus. “The green asparagus is a good addition. It grows above ground, and the white asparagus underground,” explains the agriculturist. “The demand is indeed there, but only very restrained. Furthermore, the income from green asparaguses is less in comparison to the white asparagus.” In Germany the cultivation of green asparagus makes up only eight percent of the total asparagus cultivations. With Jörg Heuer even only two percent: “The actual motor of the asparagus sales in Germany is the white asparagus.”

Jörg Heuer
Spargelhof Heuer
Trülldamm 5,30938 Fuhrberg
Tel. +49 (0)5135 92500 0
j.heuer@spargelhof-heuer.de
www.spargelhof-heuer.de