New asparagus bed

[SMP1704]

Well finally did it.  The crowns are Ginjlim from Kent Farms.  There are 10 in a 3 metre raised bed with plenty of manure, top soil and fish, blood and bone.

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[SMP1704]

[tonybloke]

Looks good!! ;)

[calamityjayneuk]

Thanks for the pic. I am waiting for mine to arrive from Kent farm too, it's nice to have a visual about how to plant them.

Getting excited! ;D

[saddad]

Drool....  8)

[Ninnyscrops.]

Great SMP - mine went in on 10th March - Eros. We'll have to draw spears in a couple of years  ;D

Linda

[Barnowl]

Great piece of work

[SMP1704]

Thanks everyone - just hope the crowns are snuggly under all the topsoil and manure, we had a really heavy frost this morning.

[SMP1704]

and today I noticed the first tiny asparagus shoots breaking through the soil.

I'm so excited :D :D :D

[Ninnyscrops.]

Snap SMP (well...... resisted snapping really)  ;D ;D ;D

Linda

[lewic]

Wow that looks very professional! I am thinking of setting up an asparagus bed but am rather clueless, so that pic helps a lot. Our soil is pretty heavy clay, but we get deliveries of compost which is a mixture of (allegedly rotted) manure and mushroom compost. Suspect there is more mushroom compost in it than manure. Is it OK to put this straight in an asparagus bed? Or should it be mixed with the soil first?

[telboy]

SMP/dte,
It's getting earlier!
Going to hold off for a couple of days & then have a first cutting!
Yum Yum.
;D ;D ;D ;D

[Ninnyscrops.]

No sampling for me as it's the first year  :'(  enjoy yours Telboy!

Linda

[Robert_Brenchley]

I'm still waiting for mine to emerge. They were planted a year ago, and I'm not sure whether we'll get a meal off them this year or not. It depends on what emerges. The plot isn't ideal as it gets rather waterlogged at times, and some thngs have been badly damaged the last couple of years. If it's not strong when it does come up, it'll be time for a raised bed.

[SMP1704]

I was surprised at how quickly the spears emerged - 15 days - is that normal? but perhaps that says more about the freshness of the crowns than anything I have done to them. ??? ;D

Lewic - I'm also clueless but research (one of Monty's books) indicated that I needed to mix together soil and manure.  For me that meant importing about 10 x 40 l bags of topsoil then adding soil/manure/ soil and forking the layers together, then more layers, more mixing etc until there was enough to form the ridge.  I covered the crowns with top soil and mulched with more manure.

The layering and mixing happened in stages during Dec and Jan and finished off the weekend before the crowns arrived (more luck than judgement) to allow everything to settle a bit.

Hope that helps.