EmailServed to aristocrats in Covent Garden and first-class passengers on the Titanic, “Formby asparagus was all the rage at one time,” says Gordon Loughlin. Grown in the 200 acres of sand dunes along Merseyside’s coast in Formby the asparagus was sought after centuries ago for it’s distinct flavour.
Formby’s asparagus history was recently celebrated by The Formby Asparagus Project. Run by the National Trust and part of the Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme, the project is formed of volunteers living in the area keen to revive the Formby asparagus. Loughlin is one of the project’s most active volunteers.
This year the project gained land for a new allotment and young people from Arden College helped unearth the furrows to plant a new set of asparagus crowns. There are now seven trenches, each bearing 35 crowns and among these are seven different types of asparagus; six being F1 hybrids, which are often used commercially as they grow at a rapid rate.
At the bottom of this allotment lies what Loughlin calls ‘the experimental plot’. This is where the Connover’s Colossal seeds grow, a type of traditional Formby asparagus which has not been farmed in the area for over a century. The seedlings were found growing wild on a nearby golf course.
Andrew Brockbank, head of the project, says they hope to sell the current crop locally when they are harvested, whether in bunches to the community or to local restaurants. “The next step is to find land to establish the new asparagus plants,” says Andrew.
While over a hundred Connover’s Colossal seeds were planted this May, there are thousands more seedlings waiting to be planted but finding the space has been difficult as most of the Formby dune land is safeguarded for conservation and unavailable for agriculture. Loughlin, hopes to forge links with local farmer David Brooks, a fourth generation asparagus farmer and last remaining descendent from the handful of families who pioneered Formby asparagus in the mid 19th century.
Britain’s self-sufficiency has fallen from 78% to 60% in the last 30 years, according to recent reports, partly due to extreme weather conditions and the increasingly eclectic taste of customers. Asparagus has been among the lucky few crops to see a surge in growth due to increased demand. Kantar data produced for the British Asparagus Association has found that in 10 years, UK demand for the vegetable has soared by 540%.
“I’ve noticed more people are keen to know where their fruit and vegetables have come from and want to have crops grown locally.” The shops and restaurants Brooks sells to promote his asparagus as grown in Formby as many customers prefer it to the asparagus from South America, which is a big exporter of the vegetable.
Brooks says he hopes to expand his asparagus beds to meet the surge in demand and the recent support of the National Trust will enable him to do this in the near future.
Soft fruit, especially strawberries, has also enjoyed a surge in growth. AJ & CI Snell has a 450 acre farm in Hereford and three generations of farming experience; it has also experienced a huge growth in demand this year in Britain. “An early spring and a good summer has meant we’ve had a very good year and it’s helped us expand our growth to meet demand,” says Antony Snell, a grower from the farm, which has produced 1,000 tons of strawberries this year.
The British soft fruit season is about eight months and Britain is almost totally self-sufficient during this period largely due to ideal fruit-growing conditions in certain areas.
The Formby Asparagus Trail supported by the Heritage Lottery is currently being developed to tell the story of how asparagus came to be grown in the dunes and the pioneering families behind the vegetable. Brockbank hopes that the legacy of the project will be to involve more local residents and volunteers and work with more organisations, particularly schools, in growing asparagus.
Along the trail visitors can currently find three huge asparagus spears that have been sculpted by local carver, Simon Archer, out of 20-foot tall sycamore trees. “When you enter it’s reminiscent of Egypt’s the Valley of the Kings,” says Gordon.
Traditionally served to the high end of British society, asparagus is still associated with up-market cooking. “It was always for the well to do folk,” said Gordon. “I would love to expand our little asparagus allotment into a much bigger venture and sell asparagus locally on a larger scale. Asparagus should be available to everyone.”
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