TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher will help kick off the Jersey Fresh season by harvesting asparagus at the Grasso Girls Farm Market in Mullica Hill at 10 a.m. tomorrow to remind residents that locally grown food is now available.
Secretary Fisher and local officials will take a wagon ride to a field of asparagus at the Grasso Girls Farm Market to experience the beginning of the Jersey Fresh season.
New Jersey ranks in the top 10 in the production of several crops, including fourth in the nation in asparagus. The 2016 asparagus crop for New Jersey was valued at $9.6 million. The value for the combined fruit and vegetable production for New Jersey was $367 million for 2015. Other crops with an early harvest that are becoming available daily include kale, lettuce, radishes and spinach. Crops expected to be available by mid-May include beets and strawberries in some areas.
To see what crops New Jersey farmers are harvesting, the Jersey Fresh Availability and Forecast Report is published each Monday afternoon at http://jerseyfresh.nj.gov/find/JFAvailReport.pdf.
Secretary Fisher will kick off the Jersey Fresh Season at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Grasso Girls Farm Market, 353 Wolfert Station Road, Mullica Hill, N.J.
— New Jersey Department of Agriculture