Where to eat in the Midlands Goosey goosey gander

Date Published:

13/06/2008

Michele added Goodman's geese to the Big British Food Map saying 'Judy Goodman rears her own geese on her lovely farm, and are available for sale in very good time for Christmas' but I found out there's more to this farm besides fine festive fowl

'Asparagus this way,' reads the sign to Goodman's Farm. In her review, Michelle mentioned 'in summer, you can buy wonderfully fresh asparagus' and it seems she's not the only one in the know as during my time at Goodman's there's a steady stream of customers leaving with bags full of green bundles.

Keeping it in the family

I'm sat with Michael and Andrew Goodman, two brothers who run the farm and who also have that sibling knack of finishing each other's sentences. Their mother, Judy, is chairman of the British Goose Producers as well as something of a local legend. Sadly for me (but no doubt lovely for her) she and her husband are on holiday so I won't get to meet her. Still, Michael and Andrew are more than capable of talking me through things.

Hi tech farming

The Goodmans have been on the farm since 1957 starting out as dairy farmers. In 1982 they began producing poultry and, in 1987, started growing asparagus. Since then they've built the business steadily and last year raised 4000 geese and 4000 bronze turkeys. But we'll come to birds later; first up, asparagus.

They're currently cropping 12 acres, but next year will expand to 21. It takes two years from planting the asparagus 'crown' to producing a commercial crop and, as with a lot of farming, a good harvest is all dependent on the weather. Michael shows me next year's crop, which is left to grow wild this year. And wild it is, being nearly 1.5m high and nothing like the delicate shoots we're used to seeing.

We move off to have a look at the fields and here Michael plays the boys' toys card and shows me his specialist asparagus harvesting buggy. It looks and moves like something from Robot Wars meets a NASA mars mission and I'm jumping like a loon asking for a go. It's steered and accelerated by your feet leaving your hands free to cut the asparagus. According to the manufacturer's website, this beauty gives you a mean harvesting speed of 0.80 miles per hour - feel the burn! You won’t get much change out of four grand for one of these and the Goodmans have got five. "Ever tempted to race them?" I ask. "No," comes the reply.

Have a gander at these

We then have a tour of the geese. I make a tit of myself by asking if they've had their wings clipped to stop them flying away, cue confused looks from the boys. Turns out the geese are a hybrid breed that, though in possession of wings, can't actually fly – a bit like penguins (hey I'm learning too!). The Goodmans have recently taken delivery of this year's flock and the turkey chicks will be arriving in the next few days. The goslings come from a specialist hatchery in Norfolk when they're 48 hours old. As they grow they’re moved on to bigger enclosures and after six weeks are given free-range over a huge field. It's here they’ll stay, fattening up on grass and worms for the rest of the year until the nights begin to draw in and people's thoughts turn to Christmas. Which by the time you read this will be less than 200 days away, better order one now.

It's a little early, but as the old saying goes, perfect preparation prevents poor performance, why not bookmark Judy's goose cooking tips for later in the year?
Roast goose recipe

In the meantime here are some great recipes for asparagus that's still (just) in season.
Asparagus recipes

Know a great local farm? add it to the map

Find out where else Andrew's been in the West Midlands