asparagus

2nd Annual Spring Farm Dinner

April 21, 2023

On April 1, 2023 Rural Studio hosted our 2nd Annual Spring Farm Dinner event.

A toast is given over a long table sat with guests

Last year’s dinner was such a success, we wanted to bring everyone back together for an evening with friends. Our focus is on smaller-scale sustainable agriculture and ways to invest in our local food system. Along with RS faculty and staff, we were delighted to have folks join us from BDA Farm in Uniontown, the Newbern Library, Schoolyard Roots in Tuscaloosa, and the Black Belt Food Project/Abadir’s.

People visit together, seated at a long table-clothed table at dusk
Another view of everyone gathered together at a long table with a white tablecloth, outside at dusk
People gathered at the long outdoor tables enjoy each other's company and the fine food placed before them

We shared ideas and updates from the past year. It was also a chance to imagine opportunities to continue working together. Of course, the evening was organized around sharing an excellent outdoor meal, which was prepared by chef Brad Hart and hosted by Johanna Gilligan, both friends and consultants of Rural Studio out of Santa Fe.

A close-up of a plate of food at the spring farm dinner, in this case a green salad with strawberries and parmigiana

Most of the fresh vegetables, herbs, and fruit came from Rural Studio Farm (like the fresh strawberries) and the meat was sourced from BDA Farm.

Some spears of asparagus and ripe strawberries sit arranged together on the wash table
An overhead shot of colorful heads of lettuces fill out the raised beds in the greenhouse
A student holds up an intact and well-shaped head of green lettuce in the greenhouse
Blue-green dinosaur (lacinato) kale grows in the greenhouse

With such great food and fond company, it was a lovely twilit evening, and we are pleased to make this an annual tradition.

It is edging into night as people visit together at the long table
People are looking toward the center of the long table where everyone is gathered outside
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Asparagus Crowns and Social Distancing

March 20, 2020

A closer view of asparagus crowns set in a row

Coming off spring break, Auburn University changed all of their classes to be taught from a distance in order to facilitate social distancing. As such, Rural Studio Farm’s farm manager, Eric, suddenly found himself without his usual work force, meaning there was more work than a single person could realistically do for normal operations. Most of the food out in the field can still be harvested and frozen for later use, but Eric has shifted his focus away from such heavy production toward work that is more sustainable, as it will probably be August at the earliest that Eric will have student workers again.

  • Beds planted with turnips and spinach
  • Rows of red mustard greens and lettuce
  • A bed planted out with growing Muir lettuce
  • Closer view of red giant mustard plants
  • Red giant mustard plants growing
  • A wide view of several beds planted out with a variety of annual and perennial crops

Planting cover crops and building soil has become a major focus, as has planting more perennials, like scallions and artichokes, which will produce more in the future and require less maintenance overall. One of these is asparagus. Eric planted 100 asparagus crowns (which look like spaghetti or deep-sea squids), working the soil down to a depth of at least a foot and planting them about five inches deep in trenches. On average one can figure that four crowns will produce enough for one person, and each crown can produce for 15 to 20 years.

  • Newly emerged asparagus shoots
  • Asparagus crowns sit placed in their planting trench

After only a single week, the new shoots are over 20 inches tall—that’s about four inches per day.

A newly emerged asparagus shoot
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