If you Google "asparagus fortune telling" you'll get some brief stories, but the current issue (1258) of Private Eye has the most information, taken from the Evesham Journal last January:
"I became an asparamancer quite by chance several years ago," Jemima Packington told reporters in the Vale of Evesham, "after I dropped some asparagus spears on the floor and they made a pattern. So I made a prediction, and it came true. I can't remember now what the prediction was, but I do remember that the family went very quiet when it came to pass. And the rest is history.
"The art of asparamancy is simple but ancient. Two spears facing away from you means you will have to work hard for everything that you get out of life. Three spears landing in the shape of the number 4 means that things are coming to a head, and you must grab the opportunity. My greatest triumph was in 2008, when I correctly identified the names and order of the housemates who were evicted from Big Brother. That is on the record.
"I consulted the spears of destiny again recently, and predicted a royal engagement and a hung parliament in 2010. I also predict a British heatwave this summer, Oscars for George Clooney and Helen Mirren, Susan Boyle to announce her engagement, and England to go out in the first or second round of the World Cup.
"I have a very good success rate, but because it's an interpretation I can sometimes be slightly off the mark, especially at this time of year. Vale of Evesham asparagus is not in season at the moment, and I refuse to use any other sort. So I am having to make my predictions using Evesham asparagus sausages, which might account for any small and unfortunate anomalies."
