06 April
It's coming...
The Markham family are an arable farming family just3 miles down the road from Fresh Direct’s Bicester headquarters in the village of Newton Purcell, and grow fresh asparagus spears. The Markhams are sad proof that British farmers are having to diversify in order to survive – but the fact they’ve turned to growing vegetables is great news for us!
David Markham & The Markham family currently farm 2,000 acres and the asparagus makes up 15 acres of that. They grow three different varieties of the crop – Backlin, Millennium and Gijnlim.
They’ve been farming in the area for three generations and are forward thinkers in terms of adding more arrows to their bow in order to survive traditional farming. In addition to their arable roots, they have also previously grown potatoes on their land.
Subject to Mother Nature, British asparagus will be available from mid April until early June. Although it’s only a short season, it is worth looking out for as British asparagus is much tastier than imported varieties. This is because it is in season, and it spends less time in refrigerated transport, meaning the product will be fresher when it arrives on your doorstep!
Click here to download our fact sheet on Markham's asparagus.