The asparagus crowns arrived

This morning my 10 Gijnlim crowns arrived from New Park Farm, in Tunbridge Wells in a lovely white box complete with planting guidelines.
 So.. this evening I rushed to the plot.

 

so I popped them into  a bucket of water to soak

and got to work digging the trench, 8 inches deep and 12 inches wide. (mine was approximate) They call it a furrow but my back thinks I dug a trench... What are you supposed to do with all the soil that comes out of it?

I spread the compost from the old chicken coop on the bottom and mixed it in, then made the small ridge down the centre,

over which I draped the crowns 1 foot apart as the guideline's suggested.

then I replaced the three inches of soil over them...et voila!

 I hope I got enough, if not there is room for another trench beside it. Mmmmm only three years to wait.

Seedlings!

Sunday evening we dug, watered, sowed sweetcorn, courgette, lettuce, radishes and saw some purple sprouting broccoli seedlings that had produced two tiny leaves....
This evening I watered, sowed more sweetcorn, beetroot and some cucumbers, and wished  we had planted more onion sets. Saw Ken, who became my fairy godmother and opened the shed, where there was a sack of onion sets. I planted them, then chatted to a new person called Sharon, who said she had put in her asparagus only  a few weeks ago. So when I got home, I searched on line and hopefully 10 asparagus crowns (Gijnlim) will arrive soon from Asparagus in Kent. (I hope that's enough but I can always get more next year.) We still need to net those little plants ...the birds have been nibbling.

Sunday evening digging

Somehow, the weekend filled up fast and digging had to be postponed until Sunday evening.
We saw a Munjac deer scurrying through the undergrowth then dart up, over and away across the railway that borders the Allotments.
More soil was raked, more weeds removed and more earth turned over.

 

Today I am going to Hyde Hall (a RHS garden) to meet my mum for lunch and inspiration. I want to get some asparagus crowns, hopefully its not too late to plant them. I have been looking around for weeks but haven't found any nice ones nearby.