The extended dry spell in Cornwall means we’re a little behind with some tasks. However the recent rain has enabled us to sow more peas, beans, parsnips, radishes, beetroot and carrot directly into the ground and plant out broccoli, cabbage, bunched onions, Swiss chard, lettuces, turnips and parsley.

The kohlrabi hasn’t germinated well outdoors, so we’re about to sow some in modules, along with more cabbage, Brussels sprouts, calabrese, celeriac and purple sprouting broccoli. We’ve also sown hundreds of winter squash seeds.

Salad leaves, french beans, leek seedlings, spring onions and baby beetroot are thriving in the polytunnel, though the indoor carrots aren’t doing so well.

Camel CSA’s weekly veg boxes rely heavily at this time of year on fresh supplies bought in directly from other local farmers and growers who’ve built up strong relationships with us. This mutually beneficial approach is all part of being a CSA.

They include Cornish asparagus produced by the Derrymans at Lower Croan, Sladesbridge; cauliflower and spring greens from Richard Hore of Restharrow Farm, Trebetherick; leeks and spinach from Jeremy Brown of St Kew Harvest; potatoes from Johnny Brown of Benbole Farm, St Kew Highway and James Mutton of Burlerrow, St Mabyn; rhubarb and mung beans (sprouted in his linen cupboard!) from Mark Norman in Bodmin.

In the aftermath of a long, hard winter it’s become more and more difficult to source fresh, seasonal veg grown within this 10-mile radius. When forced to cast our net county-wide we buy from Growfair Cornwall. But at least we’ve kept this side of the Tamar!

Fortunately our own early salad crops are sprouting fast.

Our volunteer picking and packing team spend some time every Friday morning cutting individual lettuce leaves from the polytunnel and outdoor-grown oriental greens – including spicy mustard, mizuna and mibuna - before bagging them up for the boxes.

The other immediate jobs involve covering the second polytunnel to house the tomatoes, completing the small seeding tunnel and getting the roof and windows finished on the potting shed.

There’s a lot to be said for local food that’s come straight from the farm and run up few food miles.

Camel CSA is incredibly fortunate to be situated just a few fields away from the Derrymans’ asparagus farm. So it’s always tender and freshly picked – nothing like the tough old stalks you get in supermarkets.

Most of us would agree that asparagus is best eaten either on its own with some butter or hollandaise sauce, or with just a few simple extra ingredients.

Roger and Gill Derryman never get tired of their own Cornish asparagus with bacon and parmesan.

I’m a fan of what I call simply delicious Cornish asparagus with dry-cured bacon and a free-range poached egg (from my own hens, naturally).

Garden biographer Trish Gibson, who posts a recipe every week on this website, likes it even simpler – just Cornish asparagus with egg (from her hens).

Camel CSA volunteer Henrietta Danvers, who used to run her own restaurant in London, recommends Mark Hix’s more sophisticated shaved asparagus and goat’s cheese salad.

And if you’re not sure what to do with this lovely vegetable, why not begin with the basics: How to cook British asparagus. 

Steamed asparagus, fried or grilled dry-cured bacon, poached free-range egg and a sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper. 

Maybe some steamed Cornish new potatoes.

That’s all.

Mark writes a weekly food column in The Independent.  He says: “Raw asparagus might seem a little odd, but it’s actually delicious, and offers a vastly different eating experience to the cooked variety.”

Serves 4

Preparation: 10 minutes
Resting time: 10 minutes
Cooking: zero

Ingredients
A couple of handfuls of small salad leaves
12 or so stems of thick asparagus, woody stalks trimmed
120-150g soft goat’s cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dressing:
juice of 1 lemon
3-4tbsp extra-virgin rapeseed oil

Method
With a sharp mandolin or with a very sharp knife, slice the asparagus as thinly as possible on the angle and place in a bowl. Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing, season well and mix with the asparagus and leave for 10 minutes. Toss the asparagus with the leaves and arrange on plates. Crumble the goat’s cheese over the salad and serve immediately.

Other ways of preparing asparagus

Find out more about Cornish asparagus

All the boxes have: -
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)
Cornish new potatoes (JH Allen & Sons, Marazion)
spring greens (West Cornwall)
*salad bag (Jeremy Brown)
*green garlic (Jeremy)

The standard boxes also have: -
*parsley (Camel CSA)
*baby beetroot (Jeremy)
as well as extra potatoes and *salad leaves

 
Next week we can look forward to mixed rocket and maybe the first crop of this season’s basil from Jeremy Brown at St Kew Harvest.

In all the veg boxes we can expect: -
Cornish Early new potatoes (Penwith)
Cornish asparagus (Lower Croan, Sladesbridge)
cauliflower (West Cornwall)
* spinach (Jeremy Brown)
* salad bag (Jeremy)

It’s a busy life on their mixed farm beef and cereal farm. The Derrymans produce prime organic beef from their suckler cows.  Most of the cereals grown are fed back to the cattle. They have five acres of asparagus they sell at the farm gate and to local retailers over six to eight weeks in May and early June.

It’s a very time-consuming and labour-intensive crop. At this time of year Roger is out cutting the asparagus spears daily from 7am so Gill (pictured) can start selling them from 10am onwards.

As everything is so late this year, we can look forward to having this very seasonal vegetable in our boxes until about mid-June.

Gill has lots of recipe ideas for asparagus, but this is her favourite as it’s so easy. It makes a light lunch dish with new potatoes, or a simple starter.

Serves 4

Preparation: 5-10 minutes
Cooking: 10 minutes

250g Cornish asparagus (around 8 spears)
150g dry-cured back bacon
1 tbsp butter or olive oil
50g thinly-shaved parmesan cheese
freshly-ground black pepper

Method
Gill says:

Fry the chopped bacon in the butter or oil until crisp.  Meanwhile, snap off the ends of the asparagus stems and steam the spears upright for no longer than five minutes.  Place them on a warmed dish, top with the crispy bacon and sprinkle with parmesan shavings.  Serve with Cornish new potatoes.

How to cook British asparagus – the basics

Other asparagus recipe ideas: -

Sensational recipes for British asparagus
Blanched asparagus with almonds, shallots and lemon
Roasted asparagus salad with honey toasted goat’s cheese