Asparagus is not only delicious, but also the king of vegetables with protein content! Asparagus is fresh and tender in spring and summer. Green asparagus vitamin C is twice as high as white asparagus.

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(Wen, Tu / Chelagu)

Blanch, chill, sprinkle sauce, simple steps, just a few minutes, a refreshing dish has been served, spring and summer, is the best time to taste asparagus. Asparagus is rich in nutrition, fine fiber, the title of "king of vegetables", coupled with the sweet and crisp delicious texture, every production season, chefs everywhere are competing to develop new dishes, not only to push through the old and bring forth the new, but also to pursue the preservation of the original flavor of asparagus itself, benefiting from the vast number of diners.

The common asparagus in the community are white asparagus and green asparagus. In fact, the difference between them comes only from sunlight. The tender stem harvested before the asparagus protrudes from the ground is white asparagus. Once the ground turns green by photosynthesis, it becomes green asparagus.

Taiwan's asparagus is mainly produced in coastal villages and towns in the southwest. Changhua, Yunlin and Tainan are all important towns for growing asparagus. In addition to traditional open-air planting, the sandy land of the General District of Tainan City has also created greenhouse cultivation technology in recent years. Not only is the flavor of white asparagus comparable to that of asparagus imported from France, but the quality of green asparagus is also quite bright. They have entered high-end hotels and restaurants.

Photo credit: verchmarco Asparagus on a White Background Top View (Flip 2019) via photopin (license) Peasants' Association focuses on "Red General", with double guarantee of word-of-mouth quality

The asparagus field in the general district of Tainan County covers an area of about 40 hectares, with an annual output of about 960 metric tons and an output value of NT $120 million. Five years ago, the General District Peasant Association began to invest in the contract and marketing of asparagus, helping farmers to obtain production and marketing resumes, and mediating restaurant access. Consumers can buy high-quality general asparagus through buying and selling stores. Dianshuilou Restaurant is also a long-term cooperative customer of the peasant association.

Walking into the work area of the peasant association, the whiteboard on the left clearly marks the total weight of daily income, while directly in front is a classifier imported from Japan. The staff smoothly discharges the asparagus, and the conveyor belt enters the cutting place at the rate of three per second. Then the asparagus will enter the most sophisticated part of the whole machine, that is, the weighing area, and the computer assembly machine will be set for grading, and behind it will be the sorting, weighing and packaging personnel. All the processes are handled by the staff of the peasant association. During the peak period from March to June each year, the staff of the general peasant association will work in shifts in addition to their daily business.

The asparagus sorting machine has to harvest asparagus in the fields in the middle of the night, which depends entirely on manual harvesting.

Asparagus is a perennial perennial root crop. it can not be harvested until about half a year after raising seedlings. It can be harvested for many years if it is managed once. It is a crop of high economic value. However, the hardest part is also harvested. The early morning is the time when asparagus grows fastest, so around three o'clock, farmers have to go into the asparagus field in the dark and harvest one by one. When the yield is high, they even need to start as early as 12:00 in the morning. Always picking and receiving the sun.

Asparagus harvested can not be picked directly, it will hurt the root plate, need to cut straight into the soil with a sickle, the cutting action should not be too big and small, on the one hand, we should pay attention not to hurt the root plate too deeply, on the other hand, it is not too oblique that the asparagus may not be cut next to the soil. In this way, the manual harvesting work will be carried out for four months in a row, while the asparagus harvest period in the facility will be extended to nine months.

Asparagus field

In the past, the best-known crop in Jiangjun Township was carrots. Carrots established a stable agricultural system for the land. Despite the high salinity of the soil, farmers can still develop stable and diverse agricultural systems, including melons and vegetables such as horn melon, thorn melon, balsam pear and watermelon, as well as burdock, sweet corn, rice and so on. In the past, the General Farmers' Association used the red tones of major crops such as carrots, red dragon fruits, and small tomatoes to create a brand under the name "Red General" in the fresh Department. After putting into the asparagus deed, the General Peasant Association continued the brand name of "Red General". Create an interesting contrast and production vein between red and green.

Lin Yanliang, director of the promotion department, points out that the general's asparagus is of good quality and is welcomed by the market, but the main function of the peasant association is to provide farmers with reasonable profits and to stabilize the purchase price of the market merchants. For young farmers, they tend to encourage them to move to joint transportation and marketing with other farmers after their technology is stable, so as to develop their own brands and create more possibilities.