Diamond Spears

The last half of the ‘90s has not been good for California asparagus growers and, therefore, for lovers of the slender spear.

Of the last five years, three qualify as downright disastrous: 1995, 1996 and 1998. And because California produces the bulk of the American fresh asparagus harvest, it’s been disastrous for the rest of us as well. Washington, Oregon and Michigan also grow a lot of asparagus, but most of it goes to canneries or freezers.

So you can share Bill DePaoli’s excitement when the manager of the California Asparagus Commission talks about the 1999 harvest. You can also understand some of his caution.

“In this job I spend a great deal of time trying to project and outguess Mother Nature,” he says. “That is becoming more of a problem all the time. But so far we’ve been real pleased with the weather we’ve been having.”

Of course, given the nature of California weather, that could change at any time. Witness Sunday night’s 6 inches of snow in Bakersfield, the southern extremity of asparagus plantings in the Central Valley.

“Thankfully, all of those plants are still dormant or are just coming out of dormancy,” DePaoli says. “Traditionally, that area won’t start picking until the middle of February. So we should be OK.”

Right now, asparagus is coming out of the Imperial Valley and so far everything is going well, says Matt Seeley, marketing director of Nunes Co., which farms asparagus and other crops in both the Imperial Valley and the Salinas area.

“Oh, man, it’s just phenomenal,” he says. “We’ve got great growing conditions and quality is just diamonds. This is a very, very good year so far.”

As a result of the stepped-up production, asparagus prices at wholesale are far below last year’s. This year 11-pound cartons of asparagus are going for $15.50 to $16.50. Last year it was more like $22 to $24.

Prices should fall even lower when Salinas and the Central Valley begin harvesting in the next couple of weeks.