Take a look: With farmer Florian at the asparagus harvest
11.5.2020
Translation: machine translated
33-year-old Florian Kuhn is a passionate farmer and is the third generation to run his farm in Wohlen, Aargau. At the moment, his fields are full of asparagus ready for harvest. Watch the livestream to find out what happens before the long stalks end up on our plates. Raw and uncut.
It is pouring with rain. Women and men stand in the fields, bent over and carrying small metal baskets. They are all well wrapped up and yet at the mercy of the weather. Asparagus is harvested at Sonnhaldenhof whatever the weather. Consumers in the supermarkets don't care whether the sun is shining or the clouds are breaking during the harvest.
Working in the fields is a back-breaking job. Most of the workers who have travelled here especially for the asparagus harvest come from Romania and Hungary. Fortunately for Florian, they all arrived at the farm before the coronavirus crisis hit. "An untrained labourer can hardly last more than half a day in the field," says the farmer. The reason for this is not only the physical exertion, but also the mental strain. His labourers have been coming to Switzerland for around three months to harvest asparagus for years. The money they earn allows them to live well in their home country.
Enough to do despite corona
Florian is used to the hard work and long days. Even as a child, he helped his father in the fields. It was clear to him early on that he wanted to continue running the farm. "I love the variety in my job. No two days or seasons are the same." Especially not this year. Markets and restaurants were closed for weeks. Florian feared that this would mean fewer sales. However, as there is currently no more shopping tourism to neighbouring countries and people have more time to cook for themselves, his worries turned out to be unfounded.
Under normal circumstances, however, Swiss farmers would hardly be able to cope with such purchasing behaviour. "If only around 10 to 15 per cent of the population bought local asparagus, we would already be at the limit of our production. It's not much different with other vegetables grown in Switzerland," says Florian. It's not just the short transport routes that speak in favour of local vegetables, but also the taste. "Swiss soils are compact and loamy, which makes them rich in nutrients. In Germany, for example, the soil tends to be sandy. This means that water drains away more quickly and affects the nutrient density," explains Florian.
At the moment, however, there is hardly any time for mind games. Florian and his almost 30 employees are busy in the fields. The men are harvesting the white asparagus growing in the ground. The women harvest the green ones. Regardless of the variety, the big challenge is to harvest all the asparagus on time and sell them as fresh as possible.
For Florian, the day is far from over. He is already looking forward to his well-earned "Zmitternacht". Fresh, home-harvested asparagus and homemade mayonnaise(!) are on his menu every day at midnight. A new day begins at 05.30 a.m.
Part two and three to look up
Manuel Wenk
Communications Manager
Manuel.Wenk@digitecgalaxus.chAs a Multimedia Producer, preparing multimedia content and knowing about cutting-edge technology is my business. My main focus at digitec is producing videos. I can’t wait to try out new products such as cameras, drones or smartphones as soon as they’re launched. This is where being at the source comes in rather handy. When I’m not working, I’m probably skiing, biking or hiking – the mountains are my place to be.
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