Cleaning the asparagus
ASPARAGUS GROWING | BUNDLING
Grading the asparagus
Once the asparagus was harvested, it was placed in wicker baskets and taken back to the farm.
There, they were placed without washing in grading boxes according to their diameter and cut to the required length. They were washed, in bulk, in large tanks at a temperature of 10 to 15 degrees to be rehydrated and then weighed using a Roberval balance. They were finally tied up in 1 kg bundles and stored in 6 kg crates for the first 12 hours after harvesting.
Most of the asparagus was delivered to the farmers’ cooperative.
Traditionally, the whole family was involved in the different stages. Often the more experienced elders were in charge of sorting, an essential step to ensure the uniform size of the bundles.
The arrival of mechanization
Nowadays, almost all the stages of cleaning and cutting are mechanized. The asparagus is placed on a conveyor belt. They are first washed, cut, then sorted and placed manually in crates according to their size. Weighing and bundling are still done by hand.
In response to consumer demand, you can now buy peeled asparagus.