Asparagus

Availability: PYO and ready picked in shop

When to pick: Our asparagus is now ready to pick, you can pick from our new farm shop fields anytime the main shop is open (Tuesday- Sunday all day). This field is a 15 minute walk from the farm shop car park, if you have accessibility needs please speak to one of our team in the farm shop who should be able to help. Our main asparagus field will be open on Saturday 19th April for the first time, follow directions below for how to find the gate entrance and the opening times of this field. We will not be open Easter Sunday.

How to find us:
Sat Nav: OX33 1HS
Our asparagus fields are located a short drive from our farm shop. Follow directions to Rectory Farm shop (OX33 1HF) and then look out for the green signs to the asparagus field, which is located between Oxford Crematorium and Stanton St. John Village.
Do you use What3Words? The gate entrance is – data.goals.orbit.

Ready picked: If PYO is not for you then we have a skilled team of professionals in the fields who pick our best every single day. You can find our ready-picked fruit in the Farm Shop fridges. If you would like to order a large volume of fruit or vegetables for an event, we’ll be more than happy to help. Please drop us a message via our contact form or call the shop on 01865 358 309.

What we grow: We grow three different varieties of asparagus so we can offer you the very best tasting asparagus across the longest possible season. The Rectory Farm asparagus season starts with Mondeo, which produces an impressive yield early in the season. We follow this with Gijnlim and finally our Millenium asparagus: both of these varieties see us through to the middle of June.

Did you know? To grow a strong crown (this is the root system underground) asparagus is not picked for the first two years after planting. We then pick from the same plants for another eight years.

Tip for storing asparagus: The best way to keep your asparagus fresher for longer is to trim the ends and stand them upright in a glass of water like you would with a bouquet of flowers! This will keep them crisp and fresh. Remember to change the water every day that they are in there.

Plan your visit to Rectory Farm pick your own.

Recipe Ideas

Asparagus Tart Prep 10 min | Cook 20 min

Ingredients:

Pre-prepared puff pastry
200ml crème fraîche
250g Rectory Farm asparagus, trimmed, and cut in half lengthways if too thick
½ lemon, zested
½ tsp pepper
1 tbsp honey

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan
On a prepared baking sheet, lay out the puff pastry.
Score a 1 inch thick border around the edge of the puff pastry to create the crust.
Spread the crème fraîche on the puff pastry within the border
Place the asparagus side by side along the puff pastry.
Top with the lemon zest, pepper, and a drizzle of honey across the tart.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.
Enjoy!

Check out our Asparagus & Prawn Pasta and Grated Egg & Asparagus Brunch recipes, all curated for us by Ben and Julia at Rethink Cooking

farm shop

We sell all our own homegrown produce when in season - including several varieties of our own potatoes - picked and on the shelves within a few hours. We work hard to source the best quality local products from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and The Cotswolds. In our fridges you’ll find local meat, pies and sausage rolls from Eadles Farm in neighbouring Beckley village, award-winning cheeses from Oxford Cheese Company, and traditional farmhouse Cotswold Butter – plus all manner of condiments and cooking sauces, baking supplies, biscuits, pantry essentials, free range eggs and milk from Oxfordshire farms and dairies. Our bread arrives each morning from Oxford’s Natural Bread Company, Cornfield Bakery in Wheatley and The Cottage Bakery in Thame.

help us to reduce waste

Please try wherever possible to bring your own containers and carrier bags when you visit our Farm Shop and PYO. We offer a discount on all our PYO fruit and vegetables when you bring your own container - do good and save money!

Lots of small containers for PYO are better than one large one, as soft fruit will easily bruise and squash at the bottom of a deep container.

Use our "bring your own weigh station" to weigh your containers before picking – we can then deduct these from the weight of your fruit when you come to pay at the end.

Remember to bring your own 1 litre bottle for milk or buy a Rectory Farm glass bottle in the shop.

pick your own

Come and pick your own Oxfordshire fruit, vegetables and flowers from our 45 acres of colourful produce, all grown just for you.

You can enjoy Rectory Farm produce practically all year round - it simply doesn't get fresher than picking your own. Start with asparagus brunches and rhubarb tarts and crumbles in April, and then enjoy a long summer of strawberries, artichoke, broad beans, courgettes, raspberries, redcurrants, blackberries and blackcurrants.

Autumn brings a hearty crop of sweetcorn and pumpkins, and our many varieties of potatoes are available to buy all year round, from baby salad potatoes to red and white spuds perfect for baking, mashing, roasting and boiling.

Find out more

PYO

The Rectory Farm picking season runs from April - October, starting with asparagus and finishing with pumpkins.

Our strawberries ripen up at the start of May and finish into September. Check out our PYO page to see what's in season when, and for lots of recipe ideas.

Plan your visit

Enjoy a day out at Rectory Farm picking all your favourite fruit and vegetables to take home and enjoy. Remember to bring your own punnets and carrier bags to help us reduce plastic use.

Visit the shop from March - December to stock up on kitchen essentials and all our ready-picked fruit and vegetables if you’re short on time.

rectory farm cafe

Join us for coffee and locally baked pastries, a pot of tea and a slice of homemade cake or a cool ice-cream topped with a flake.

We have both indoor seating and outdoor seating (covered and uncovered) and plenty of space for families and groups to gather and catch up over good food and drink.