INNISFAIL – Hundreds of visitors flocked to Edgar Farms for the 2019 Asparagus Festival.
Last year was the first year the much loved festival returned to Edgar Farms after a three-year hiatus. Elna Edgar, co-owner of Edgar Farms, said she was pleased to see it return for a second consecutive year.
The annual event took place over three Sundays, on May 26, June 2 and June 9 with good turnouts, including over 600 people on June 2.
The festival features a variety of fun, family activities, including wagon rides to the asparagus fields, a kids' play area, games and farm animals. It also included local food trucks. Innisfail chef Matt Burton was on hand, cooking and grilling asparagus for visitors. There were also guided walking tours of the asparagus fields, an artisan market village and the Edgar Farms country store for guests to check out.
The cool spring and lingering winter this year did not negatively impact the asparagus crop, noted Edgar.
“It was really interesting this year. I picked five pounds of asparagus on April 26 and we very selfishly ate that all ourselves over a period of a few days,” said Edgar with a chuckle, adding that following the warm spell in April, the weather once again turned cold.
“Then we didn’t pick again until May 12 because we had all that snow at the end of April. Winter left and then it came back,” she said, noting there was no damage to any of the asparagus crops. “It never damages it because those crowns are planted deep and anything up, if it gets frozen down, just sends up a new spear up from the crown.
“It’s a pretty hardy little plant once you get it established, if it’s happy in its location,” she continued, noting the 2019 season has been a good one.
Edgar noted the freshness of the locally grown asparagus adds to its flavour, as does the cooler Alberta temperatures.
“Grown in this cool climate, it tends to be a little bit sweeter. When the temperature cools down at night it keeps the sugars from turning to starch and it makes a huge difference,” said Edgar. “Most asparagus is grown in a really hot climate like California, because it grows really good in a hot climate, but it doesn’t have the flavour.”
“(Ours) is always delicious,” Edgar concluded.
As of June 27, Edgar Farms reported that the asparagus harvest was done for the year.
