I’ve just heard on the local weather forecast that we might have possible frosts later this week so it’s out with the horticultural fleece, net curtains, cloches and jam jars to stick over those tender seedlings that are in the garden for some protection! I’ve a couple of tomatoes plants and some spuds I’ve put in early that’ll be getting covered up over the next few nights.
Thanks to Barak from Balaganjah for getting in touch with us at weeds after our post about their excellent podcast the other day. He’s sent us a nice pic of his garden, proof that dub and gardening do mix!
A big shout to our good mate Jim N for sending us some great gardening tips (culled from lots of different blogs) found on the web. There’s some right gems here, our favourite is this brilliant one above taken from a farm of your home, talk about making the most out of something!
Also a big thanks to another good mate of ours Will J for passing on the story about an anonymous artist in the US who is turning rubbish into something useful on the streets. The project is called Rotten Apple, the above is our favourite, well clever! More on the DIY pallet compost bin here.
A few weeks ago after listening to Joe Maiden on BBC Radio Leeds’ Gardening with Tim and Joe I took the risk and bunged in some of my seed spuds and now they’re well on their way (thanks Joe, you know your stuff!) But there’s a piece of fleece at the side just in case to stick over the plants if there’s any risk of frost as you can’t take anything for granted weatherwise.
Talking of spuds, Good Friday is traditionally the day to plant them, but I wasn’t around. As I was off work and the weather was great (and it was a root day from 1pm, man) I stuck the remainder of my well chitted seed potatoes in today.
As per the RHS website I stuck them in five inches deep (with the chitted end upwards), twelve inches apart in two rows (two feet between each row). Also to aid growth I stuck some ripped up Comfrey leaves under them (I was given a root of Comfrey a couple of years ago by our good mate Scarlett and boy has it grown!) When the shoots start to show through on the spuds I’ll be earthing them up. Early spuds are good stuff and well easy to grow. If you haven’t got a garden, you can stick them in a plastic dustbin, builders sacks or even carrier bags!
Also while “tipping around” the garden today I found a lone wild garlic not growing too wildly around by the pond but growing all the same!
Big shout to the Balaganjah crew out of Tel Aviv for their excellent podcast discovered last week through a random search for “roots reggae” on i-Tunes.
Episode 420 – Message from Jamdown has been on heavy rotation here at weeds and features some excellent 70’s roots featuring tracks previously unheard of to this ear from Rudy Mowatt “Public Enemy No.1”, Horace Martin “Unity” and Cornell Campbell’s “Keep on pushing” amongst many others. One to download here and crank up on the hi-fi!
Loving the use of these antique loo’s as posh planters seen at Wells-next-the-Sea railway station over the weekend.
I’m trying to rack my brains to think of loo-related plants to put in them. I’ve just googled Great/Common Mullein which is known in the US as “cowboy toilet paper,” that’s got to be in there. Anymore toilet-related plant names? Answers on a postcard please…
As you know of late I’ve been very obsessed with watching the International Space Station in the night sky and tonight I was checking on the NASA website when the next sighting will be, and found out something well up our street!
If all goes well tomorrow the unmanned spacecraft DRAGON CR3 will be bringing supplies to the ISS and should be visible from Earth in the evening. What is brilliant is that the spacecraft will be carrying a project called Veg-01, (the first vegetable garden in space!) aka “Veggie,” an attempt to grow a Lettuce in space. The above chart is for sighting the Dragon in London but for other locations look here.
I will be watching the skies tommorow night with a tear in my eye while waving a handkerchief at this scientific first! Big up the first Lettuce in space!
It didn’t half get cold later on last night but I did manage to enjoy a bit of “tipping around” in the back garden in the sunshine after I got in from work yesterday.
Up near the house in a interesting concrete pot that I found when I cleaned out the then neglected garden pond years ago, I have some Eau de Cologne Mint and an Egyptian Walking Onion aka Tree, Top or Walking Onion. I noticed that a bulb is starting to form on it’s stem (close up below.) It’s a very strange plant indeed and If you like “odd” like I do, there’s some great pics of mad walking onions here.
Here’s a chance to get a free RHS “Growing for Gold” pack of Sunflower seeds. There’s four varieties including the giant 12ft Moonwalker available for the first 750 people who fill in a quick survey (name, address and email) as advertised in the London Evening Standard this evening. The survey is here. Do it!
A big thanks to Steven Nereo who got in touch with us the other week about a Jamaican Gospel 7″ I uploaded to the weedsuptomeknees soundcloud by the Creary Sisters (on Sonia Pottinger’s Glory Records). He told us about two mixes of Jamaican Gospel recordings from the 1960’s which he’s put together (both excellent stuff and I don’t even go to church!) which have been on constant play here at weeds since.
There’s loads of corkers on the two compilations, one being 15 minutes in on volume 1, the excellent Stax sounding “It’s a day” by the brilliantly named Evangelist Swell & the Charming Sisters and the first track on Volume 2 “Aint gonna grieve” by Phyllis East both originally released on Coxsone Dodd’s Tabernacle label (recorded on a Sunday naturally!) Two mixes worth listening to! You can download both here.
And while we’re on the great Tabernacle label here’s a release on the label from the great Bob Marley
Bob Marley and The Spiritual Sisters – Just in time – Tabernacle Records
Weeds up to me knees 