Bed Making

It's been ages since I blogged about our goings on.  And lots has gone on, I think.  We have sloughs of despondency, despair and hopelessness as we meander along this unending journey with the only deadline being the demise or infirmity of one or other of us (or both, simultaneously!) or some catastrophic financial failure.  At times such as these, this blog comes into its own.  Scrolling back over the posts since those early days, which seem far in the past now, puts everything into perspective and shows how far we have come and how much we have done.  We're invigorated at the moment, just as the Spring is enticing the garden to burst into activity, we are simultaneously leaping about with paint brushes, spades, hammer and tongs.  And making progress.

So, let's start with the thrill that is my new asparagus bed.  I have hankered after such a bed for some time and now that hankering has come to fruition.  I have read about what to do, watched Youtube videos and then I took the plunge and ordered 20 asparagus crowns from Sarah Raven.  Far too many as it turned out but half have gone to a good home so I don't feel too guilty.  We have Millennium for the main season and Gijnlim, an earlier cropping variety.  They are the vegetable garden caviar, according to Sarah, so much sweeter and lovelier if freshly picked.  But you need to be a patient gardener (exit S, stage left) as the roots need time to develop so you have to leave the plants to shoot and flower, not picking until year three.

The instructions said to soak the asparagus well before planting.  I left it in this bucket for a good couple of days, having forgotten about it once I'd put it in.  However, it doesn't seem to have come to any harm.

This was the selected bed, which is the one that we got last year to add to the two that we already had.  A fourth has now arrived to make up the set.

Each asparagus crown looks like an octopus with long dangling roots like legs.  You make a ridge in the soil, lay the asparagus on top and then spread out its legs.

I planted ten, five per row, 30cms apart.  The white stuff is GrowMore or something, just to help it along.

And while I was busy making my asparagus bed, someone else was making his own bed.  And lying in it.