Asparagus beds, the seaside and donkeys

Photo courtesy of my daughter

We're making progress on the asparagus beds. We've made (I say we- I didn't actually have anything to do with the assembly) two and then I realised I'd bought quite a lot of plants and we need another bed, so that's part made. I spaced the beds out to accommodate some metal arches I bought to grow climbing beans up. I'm thinking that the fact I should be able to keep using the support will make up for not doing my usual cobbling together of recycled sticks and wooden ladders. (Looking at the number of bean seeds I've acquired I still might have to use a ladder or two. Ahem.)

Checking the work in progress. He's never far from me...

I have a no-dig garden and so I lined the base of each frame with a couple of layers of cardboard and then a couple of inches of compost, placed the plants on top and then covered them with more compost (bought in bulk from the soil merchant down the road).

I think I'll plant some scented climbing roses behind the bench and I've got some teeny tiny lavender plants that can go in the tub on the left when they're a bit bigger.

Some warmer weather is hopefully on it's way so fingers crossed there'll be signs of life. A year or two until we get any asparagus but once it starts cropping it should keep going for about 25 years. 

I'll plant the beans inside the arch. Runner beans don't need to be rotated around the garden particularly which is lucky as the other paths aren't wide enough to move it so that's where they're staying!

Kings Hat, New Forest

We had a break from garden jobs and went to the New Forest for the day. My Granny and Grandad used to live on the edge of the forest so I have fond memories of visits there as a child.

We went to Calshot beach and got blown around for a bit. The beach huts were cheerful and it looks lovely in the top photo but  you can see from the photos I took that it wasn't actually very warm...

I found some sea kale plants

And some very brave calendula sheltering in a corner

We headed off inland to avoid the worst of the wind. The New Forest isn't a forest as such although there are wooded areas. It was declared a royal forest by William the Conqueror to preserve it for his hunting and it is a mixture of heath and woodland. There are historical commoners grazing rights so it is famous for it's ponies, cattle, donkeys and even pigs roaming free. 

Hatchet pond

We stopped at Hatchet pond where we've picnicked in the past and the usual donkeys were loitering in the car park. They're very used to people and will let you stroke them.

We strolled round the pond, a short walk that most people don't bother with, apparently preferring to watch the donkeys and eat ice cream from the safety of their cars...

A warm up in The Turfcutters Arms- it's good to support local businesses- and we went to Kings Hat an area I remember visiting as a child.

A path through old woodland opens up into heathland so we followed the edge of the trees before walking back through the trees and back to the start.