Asparagus season off and running at Koteles Farms Ltd

Ilona Csikos’ cheerful smile is a fixture along with fresh asparagus at the Koteles Farms Ltd. market. It’s open daily, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Jeff Tribe Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

Joe Koteles and Richie Johnson zoomed up on a side-by-side, Koteles’ phone taking over where the machine’s silenced motor left off.

In quick succession, he fielded calls from a 905 area code asking when an asparagus order would be ready, his wholesaler updating the status of shipments to Ft. Lauderdale, Calgary and Montreal, and a $10,000 quote for the immediate replacement of a refrigerator system’s faulty component.

“It’s busy I’ll tell you,” said Koteles during a brief lull. “Busy, busy, busy.”

He’s been involved in asparagus farming since 1984, an initial 40 acres tripling over time. Koteles began cutting May 2nd this spring at the current 164700 New Road location north-east of Tillsonburg near Five Points. He looks forward to a roughly two-and-a-half-month season into mid-July, depending on the strength of the crop.

“So far, the yield is excellent, pushing every day even with cold weather,” Koteles said. “And the asparagus seems to be moving well at this time… the next few weeks will tell the tale.”

Koteles Farms Ltd. employs around 90, a half-dozen Canadian residents, the balance offshore workers who are crucial to area farming operations.

“If we didn’t have them, we’d be out of business,” said Koteles.

The farm’s asparagus is shipped around Ontario, south of the border to the United States, west, and east into Quebec. A busy on-farm market also offers fresh product daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.

Joe’s daughter grills asparagus on the barbecue, bakes it in the oven and incorporates it into stir-fries. On-farm workers enjoy asparagus stewed, boiled and in soups added Johnson.

“It’s nice in a wrap.”

“I’ve even seen people put asparagus on a hot dog,” Koteles added with a smile.

Break time over, he checked in with Milena Karaszi inside the farm office, returning to the fray. There is no ‘zero to 60’ when dealing with 124 acres of asparagus, rather an abrupt transition from long months of preparation to frantic action.

“Bam-boom, starts out at a hundred,” Koteles laughed in conclusion. “Asparagus doesn’t slow down for you.

“When you see the little heads coming out, you’d better be ready.”