Katie Herring is sales and marketing manager for Cultivate veg co-operative. cultivateoxford.org

ASPARAGUS has come to Oxford a whole four weeks earlier than last year which means we’ll have even longer to enjoy it.

The season will take us from spring onwards, kicking off the start of the delightful summer produce and hopefully the weather to go with it.

Asparagus is one of my absolute favourite vegetables, not only because it signals the start of a new season but because it has a taste like no other.

In fact its taste is so unique it was one of the reasons foodies discovered the fabled 'fifth taste' – umami.

Umami is a taste you’ll recognise in tomatoes, cheese, meet and asparagus but it doesn’t quite fit into the sweet, sour, bitter or salty category.

A Japanese professor by the name of Ikeda discovered this taste comes from glutamic acid or glutamate.

Most people will turn to steaming as a method for cooking these delicate spears but they can be cooked in almost any way: boiled, blanched, grilled, barbecued, roasted or stir-fried.

The key is that you keep it quick or you loose their natural sweetness.

If you keep it at that and season lightly they are a great low-calorie dish but they do pair well with some sort of tasty fat like buttery hollandaise or a clean olive oil dressing.

Given that asparagus is one of the most sought-after vegetables around, you might like to try growing your own to secure a personal seasonal supply.

If so, you’ll need to be patient and prepared to give them a lot of love and attention: it takes up to three years from planting for the first harvest to be ready and the delicate spears and shallow roots mean all harvesting and weeding will need to be done by hand, which explains why it has a higher price tag than other green veg on the market.

Asparagus is best eaten super-fresh so farmers' markets or pick-your-owns are the best bet and, luckily, we’re spoilt for choice for those in Oxford.

Cultivate will be stocking a fresh local supply every week at our five stops across Oxford.