North Yorkshire Asparagus Season.

Nothing heralds the arrival of summer quite like asparagus season. It’s a wonderful addition to a host of recipes. Lockwood’s restaurant on 83 North Street, Ripon, is serving up something a little different and very fresh with its asparagus wrapped soldiers to dip in a luscious soft-boiled egg.

But this isn’t just any asparagus, this is asparagus that has been harvested at 11am that very morning and brought over to the restaurant in person by North Yorkshire Asparagus at Southfield Farm in Rainton, to be on the menu at 12pm. You couldn’t get fresher than that!

For six weeks, from St George’s Day until Mid Summer’s Day, while in season, Lockwoods will be cooking up various asparagus based dishes for its special’s board, along with the asparagus soldiers wrapped in pan-fried artesian bread with a soft-boiled egg – perfect for brunch with the family this half term.

According to Maggie Archer, owner of North Yorkshire Asparagus: “When it comes to harvesting pay close attention to the appearance of the spears. They should be 6-9 inches long and have tight or closely wrapped tips. Here on Southfields Farm we harvest by hand and deliver to our customers as soon as we can to keep the asparagus at its best. It’s a busy time, but you can’t beat the flavour of asparagus when it’s in season!

“We grow Dutch asparagus as it suits our British weather and soil conditions and we pick our four acres every morning, allowing chefs to have freshly picked asparagus on the menu within 24 hours.”

Commented Matthew Lockwood; “We know that buying British is important for many of our diners and so it’s great that they are able to enjoy British Asparagus from a local farmer. The asparagus is handpicked, packed and delivered to the restaurant as quickly as possible to make sure our diners can enjoy the vegetable at its very best.”

With half term next week these seasonal egg and soldiers seem perfect for the kids, and ensures children are getting all the health benefits of asparagus.

Asparagus Nutrition Facts:
· High in folic acid
· A good source of potassium, fibre, vitamin B6, vitamins A & C, and thiamine
· Fat free, contains no cholesterol and is low in sodium
· 6 tips = 1 of your 5-a-day

For further details of Lockwoods, to book or view the menus go to http://www.lockwoodsrestaurant.co.uk.