Renowned Wye Valley grower raises £700 for children’s support services as new growing methods allow “exceptionally early” start to the season
Cobrey Farms has once again supplied the first British asparagus of the season, auctioning off the first few bunches in aid of a local children’s charity that supports young people when a loved one has a serious illness.
The Wye Valley producer has raised £700 for Hope Support Services in Ross-on-Wye, supplying a select few wholesalers and catering suppliers around the country, as well as M&S in nearby Hereford.
In total, seven boxes were sent out, with grower Chris Chinn stacking the shelves himself at the local M&S store on 28 January.
The polytunnel-grown bunches – produced in compost using a new growing system, but only natural heat – are Cobrey Farms’ second earliest on record, following the producer’s pre-Christmas offering in 2024.
Chinn stressed that the season has started “exceptionally early” this year thanks to the switch to compost production and some favourable growing conditions.
He notes that soil-grown polytunnel crop traditionally begins in early March, before moving to cloches in late March and the outdoor crop in the latter half of April.
“It’s all a bit of fun but it will be a month or so before we really kick into any sort of regular volumes,” he said.
“You’re relying on residual heat, heat generated from sunlight, or an exceptionally warm spell above 10°C to get the asparagus shoots to start to grow. That does happen quite often in winter for a period but it’s about how long it carries on for and whether you can get a full spear grown before it frosts over.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the campaign, Chinn says the hot summer in 2025 should improve the yield and quality of the 2026 crop, describing himself as “reasonably optimistic” for the season ahead.
“We’re coming out of the back of some very wet years in 2023 and 2024, when crop health was generally quite poor, but we’re hopeful that a warmer, drier 2025 will help us out. We’re at a fairly low point in terms of asparagus yields in the UK.”
Among the businesses to receive the early crop was the fine-dining foodservice supplier Thornicrofts at New Covent Garden Market, for supply to Bouchon Racine, a bistro-style restaurant in Farringdon.
“I’ve worked with Chris [Chinn] for over 20 years,” said Thornicrofts’ Vernon Mascarenhas. “I’ve always championed Wye Valley asparagus. Restaurants love to put Wye Valley as the origin of their menus, so it’s really exciting to get the first bunches so early this year. It helps keep menus fresh and draws in diners.”
