European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 19, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                From left after digging out the asparagus workers trowel Over the Hole the Harvest is cleaned and at Johannes Wilhelm and his wife photos and layout by graphic artist Peter Jaeger it rests Kominicki staff writer Johannes Wilhelm trudged through his Sparge his sneakers leaving a distinctive Trail in the dirt Between rows of 2foot High Mounds from a helicopter even from ground level he could be growing Long piles of so it is with German grown in hidden from the it stays fish belly a Farmer Doest know How big his Harvest is until its in the Wilhelm stops to pull a Small Gray object from the top of one of the Ball he show ing it to a these Fields were a shooting Range before world War theres Lead More Lead than he strolls stopping every few feet to pull out another sometimes a coarsely shaped maybe a you could walk Here every Day and pick up am every Day for the rest of your especially Sparge seem to talk in such eternal maybe its the endless turn of sea the years of nurturing that produce a single Spurge that is planted this year cant be harvested until and then for Only half a he after if youre the Plant is Good for 15 or maybe Only maybe five if the Sparge flies get it while its the sneakers trudge two cats roam along More like farm dogs than Over the at the Back end of this 12acre Wilhelms Sparge pick ers Are at work under hesitant German they Are their backs Bent As they scan the Mounds for the telltale sign of a Sparge shoot about to break the the he is to find the narrow cracks in the dirt that mean a Spear is trying to push its Way to the once the Spears Are dug Cut from the and stacked carefully in a the dirt is pushed Back and Tro weled Over like fresh timing is everything the pickers race constantly against that Complex relationship of plants and sunlight that 9th Grade science teachers so if the shoot makes it to the Sunshine ahead of the the tip almost immediately begins changing from subterranean White to a Dull Pur ple the Green of asparagus grown above in but not in the color is a question of europeans do not care for asparagus that is not entirely White and expect to pay less for in a Mark or two less a the Ideal weather is warm rain at then Early morning Wilhelm watching the stooping when that they Are out at 6 it was after 8 there was some rain last but now there is no when its this the Sparge grows much he turns Back toward the picking an occasion Al Bullet from the Mounds As one might Pluck a Blade of this year has not been very it is better than the last two homemade sausage and break fast at the Barnhouse Wilhelm built is still building in a Corner of his the House is like he says there is always something More to Wilhelm lingers at the sipping White wine mixed with Mineral washing the Sparge will begin when the pickers return from their morning canvassing of the wife Helga enjoys the break sipping Coffee and toying with a bread the talk turns to the future of farming Invar Iab to the disappointments of the next my son has no interest in Johannes working slowly on his wine Only in boxing he wants to be a so it is with the Young his generation wants a but Doest want to they dont want to t an hour Johannes Sparge As Hes known at the local Gasthaus trudges off with a wheelbarrow full of time to make he do you remember that film the very with Paul i Helga scrubs out the bins for soaking the harvested Sparge As the first of the pickers seven of the help Cluster around a machine that washes and trims each shoot to Market length 22 about 9 the eighth Field hand Heads off to Cook the midday As the Sparge rumbles along a studded the women sort the Spears by color and straight these Are sturdy looking but thick of Arm and big of East brought in for the two months or so of the Sparge and each in a uniform of sorts a faded print kerchief and rubber they smell faintly of fresh old sweat Helga is plunging bundles of the sorted Sparge into bins of we Hope for medium she too Little and the Harvest Doest cover our the Price is but the workers go slower they know when there is less and make it last too much and they cant keep up with they have to spend whole Day making one sweep of the Field and what up in the late afternoon is she scurries around the machine and the help ing with the making sure a Grade 1 Doest find is Way into the Grade 2 Sparge is sold in four but there is really Little difference in she people buy with their in regimented order the morning pick has been Cut and left to the pickers disappear into their rooms As Helga surveys the its about 90 close to 200 less than hoped a Good morning would have been More than twice As the Harvest is relative this is not a but its better than the hired help toil along the rows during the afternoon its about 3 and the Sun has finally broken through the it is suddenly the moist Mounds Are steaming slightly and sweat be gins to Pearl on the faces under the a visitor gives the picking a stooping Low Over the a Basket in one a trowel and Sparge knife in the scanning the dirt for cracks or signs of a White the pickers instruct dig with two fingers of the left pull Back the dirt from either Side of the shoot and Cut being careful not to Cut the main part of the the Spear in the trowel the Earth Back Over the straighten up and move straighten and move it Doest take Long for the neck Muscles to voice their the Back and legs soon join the after less than a not morning and Day after Sparge season sorting time the next Helga is beam the Sun of the Day before has done its Job and the bins Are filling up perhaps twice As much As the previous and much of the haul is of the Best class straight and Pearly for at the hidden Harvest will pay Page 14 and stripes v May 1985 the stars and stripes Page 15