Asparabus farm tour

ASPARABUS TOUR

I have been trying to find the time to write this blog post for a while and regret that I couldn't find the time to post it while Asparagus season was in it's peak but I wanted to make sure I let you know how great this incredibly short season is.  Asparagus like strawberries has a very short 6 week peak season in the spring/summer.  I love this time of year because the weather is fantastic and my favourite foods are at their best.

I had the pleasure of getting invited to join the #AsparabusTour in June, hosted by the https://foodiesonfoot.ca/.  They are a great team of people that have been hosting this invite only Asparagus Tour.  It's a full day of all things asparagus that begins with hopping on a tour bus in downtown Toronto and on this tour we headed to Welsh Brothers Farms and Bonnieheath Estate Winery and Lavendar Farm.  

The Foodies Group have been doing these tours for the past 5 years and my blogger friends that have gone have told me how much fun they are so I was really excited to get invited this year.

I have been on other farm tours before and they are a lot of fun.  I have also been to Bonnieheath Estate before but it was nice to return and explore a little more.

We began our tour at Welsh Brothers Farms where we got to see the farm workers picking the Asparagus right out of the ground with this large tractor vehicles.  It still looks like back breaking work even though there are now large scale machinery to assist.  I was surprised to see how sparse the asparagus fields were and to find out that it is a large investment in time to produce asparagus.  It's not a yearly harvest but takes many years to get a good harvest of great asparagus.

My blogger buddies and I really enjoyed picking the asparagus right out of the ground and eating it.  You really don't have to cook it to eat them.  It's amazing how sweet they are when they are that fresh.  Some of my friends seemed surprised at how the asparagus grows from the ground.  I guess you never think about it when you pick up a perfect bunch of asparagus from the grocery store but there is a whole lot of work that goes into that perfect little green bunch of spears.

We had a chance to check out their processing plant.  There aren't that many steps but probably more than you would thing to get the bundles of asparagus ready.  The ends need to be chopped, they are sorted and packed into bundles and then wrapped with elastics and of course washed and packed in large boxes for shipping to the food terminal or grocery stores.

After our visit to Welsh Brothers Farms we headed to Bonnieheath Estate Winery where chef Tracey Winkworth who I have seen many times making Chef Chuck Hughes look good at trade show food demos.  Chef Tracey along with Liason College students whipped up an unbelievable spread of Asparagus focused dishes.  It was so amazing and we got to eat it outside at the back of the Bonnieheath Estate with a view of the lavendar fields.

I think my favourite dish was these Asparagus fries.  Crunchy goodness.

The dessert didn't have any asparagus but it had some lavendar wine in it as a nod to the Lavendar estate.  It was a berry bread pudding with the lavendar wine ice cream.

After lunch we did some food trivia and my team won a great prize and we checked out their little market store for some wine and cider sampling and to purchase some goodies.

We had the best day.  I got to hang out with my favourite blogger buddies and enjoy the farm tour and incredible local food and a beautiful day.

You should visit Bonnieheath estate during their lavendar season.  It's so beautiful there.

It may be late in the season and I am sorry I couldn't post this sooner to remind you to pick up local asparagus but I hope that you can still get some at your local farmers markets and also looking at these food pics and take a different look at your asparagus and prepare them in new ways instead of just steaming them because there are so many things you can do with them from the asparagus fries to a creamy soup.

For more info check out these links:

#Asparabus

Asparagus Farmers of Ontario

T @onasparagus

I: @ontarioasparagus

onasparagus.on.ca

Welsh Brothers Farm

T: @WelshBros

welshbros.ca

Bonnieheath Estate lavendar  & Winery

T: @bonnieheathfarm

I: @bonnieheathestate

bonnieheathestate.ca

Liason College Southcoast

T: @SouthCoastLC

I: liasoncollege

liasonsouthcoast.com

The Foodies Group

T: @thefoodiesgroup

I: @thefoodiesgroup

foodiesonfoot.ca