Within 15 minutes of opening for the season on Wednesday morning, Thwaites Farms had dozens of people lined up to get some of the first asparagus batch of the year.

Many people were walking out with several bundles of fresh asparagus, often picking up extra for friends to save a trip during the ongoing pandemic lockdowns.

The Lakeshore Road farm operation is a popular destination for lovers of the green vegetable, which is usually available till late June.

“We've been anxiously awaiting the first day of asparagus,” said Barb Cherevaty, who was picking some up for two of her neighbours. 

“We love the fresh asparagus. I love it on the barbecue and, yeah, I'm getting it for two of my neighbours and combined one-stop shopping here.”

Luella Iseppon said she was checking the Thwaites online posts in anticipation of the first crop and was “delighted” to hear it had arrived.

“I'm here opening (day). I can't wait. There was precious little to be excited about this spring. Good, fresh, local food is something that's beyond what I can tell you, exciting to me,” she said.

“We've all been anticipating this. It's healthy and it's wonderful and it's local, and what can be wrong with this?”

Liz Klose said she could “hardly wait” for the first crop.

“I've been waiting all winter for asparagus to arrive. It always sort of heralds spring and the beginning of the vegetable season,” she said.

Thwaites has “great quality” asparagus, she said, adding she was picking up about 30 pounds for herself and neighbours — some for dinners and some for freezing.