We’ve all been told to garden from home

There’s been a lot of keenness in the garden today what with the sun coming out and we’ve spent a good few hours since 10 am tipping around, sowing, tidying and mowed the grass. Some suntan lotion was even applied!

You know for a fact it’ll probably snow all next week but that’s a risk we’ve got to take, it’ll only be the cost of a packet of seeds and a few seed potatoes. You never know what’ll happen and it’s worth giving it a go.

We even used the last of the comfrey feed we had left over from last year so started a new batch. Comfrey leaves are now springing up and we used them combined with some fresh nettles and some borage leaves for added goodness. It’ll be stinking up the place in a few weeks time but the jazzy Boots home brew bucket is way down the garden and the liquid is worth its weight in gold when it’s ready!

Gardening on a DIY tip, yet again

We had a brainwave this morning, “What if we tacked some left over plastic from a delivery over the top of those palettes we were given a few years ago that were sitting in the corner crying out to be filled with compost and made into raised beds?” we said to ourselves. We’ve now got some carrots, cabbage and parsnips in a micro-DIY-greenhouse thing. Who said you need much money to do that gardening lark?

And now the sun’s out, here’s a wonderful tune from Rahat called Djembe on Via del Sol records to cheer us all up and it’s a grower!

It’s that time again, or is it?

We’re working from home for the foreseeable future and on Thursday lunchtime we went for a walk (in a social distancing style of course) to clear the mind. There were queues outside the doctors, pre-corona paranoia, not a soul on the streets nor a sausage in the shop. We popped into Shannon’s where it was well busy! We purchased a big bag of compost and some seed potatoes (below) whilst other people were getting herbs, tomato plants and all sort of good gear that’ll come in handy in the months to come.

God knows what’s going to happen when it comes to getting fresh veg in the near future so we may as well make a start now! We’re already overwintering some onions and garlic and now warming up the raised beds where we may stick the odd seed potato in this week and take a chance. We using all the stuff we’ve found in the street or in skips like the terrarium, the window frame, the odd jar and some plastic small cloches to do the job. We’ve got a few rows of seeds in already and we’re going to do more. Why not? You never know what the weather’s going to be like.

And this thing (below) covered with a jar is a courgette seed, talk about starting early! Keep safe and when loneliness hits you during the day working from home, don’t go down the local shops as you’ll be disappointed, walk out to the back garden and tip around with a hoe for half an hour. It works wonders!

Music to soothe the storm

It’s been dreadful here today, the wind and rain lashed against the windows, there’s been horrible dark skies and we’ve been watching the news on the telly with stories of people who have suffered some very bad luck due to Storm Ciara. And the storm still ain’t ended yet…

https://soundcloud.com/djfrederick/free-radio-skybird-february-2020-shortwave

To soothe those storm nerves, here’s a sneak preview of Free Radio Skybird that’s scheduled to be transmitted via Channel 292 on Sunday 16th February at 1400 UTC/UK on 6070 kHz shortwave including at 42 minutes in One Deck Pete‘s “Less is more” mix. There’s some new tunes from MaiMohammad-Reza Shajarian & Seventh Soul and Blanco. Tune in and blank out that wind and rain!

Growing veg is where it’s at!

There’s a nice post this week on the Thompson & Morgan gardening blog called Perfect gardens: tips for growing veg. It’s a concise introduction to the world of vegetable gardening with lots of great tips from various gardening bloggers. We’ve even got a couple of ours in there to thrown into the mix.

If you’re new to the world of vegetable gardening or even an experienced grower, pop over to the blog and have a butchers. The link to the actual blog post is here. A big ta to all at T&M blog for printing our tips!

And it looks like Robert Elms’ prediction is now coming true as London’s premier kiddy-rave fanzine Steroid Abuse told us all, nearly twenty years ago!

A message to all potato fans!

Thanks to Mick Matthews of the Cambridgeshire Self Sufficiency Group for letting us know of their 11th Potato Day on Saturday 1st February 2020 at All Saints Church, Market Square, Huntingdon PE29 3NR from 10-30 am till 1pm. FREE admission. All welcome!

• 50 varieties of seed potato + onion sets and shallots plus Dahlias

Potatoes from £1-30 a kilo £1-00 for members. You can buy as many or as few as you like, it’s an excellent opportunity to try something different or a good value way to get enough for a whole row. There’s refreshments on sale and crafts and other stalls. It sounds great, so if you’re about that area on the 1st February, go in and have a look!

Gardening bargain of the week!

Found in WH Smiths in Holborn today, the February issue of Kitchen Garden Magazine with 10 packs of FREE seeds! We know the packs you usually get with magazines are probably not as packed to the gills as the packets are down your local garden centre but these ain’t pretty bad! Some super stuff too: Tomato, Parsley, Radish, Leek, Parsnip, Cabbage, Beetroot, Lettuce, Carrot and Peppers. A bargain and an ‘arf!

Happy New Year 2020!

A big Happy New Year to all our readers and hope you have a great year to come especially in the garden. If you need to listen to some music to wipe out the memory of Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny – Honestly it’s recorded live here’s a recording of One Deck Pete’s “Nine and a half minutes at 90 bpm” mix which was transmitted on Free Radio Skybird via Channel 292 on 7440 kHz on 5th January 2020 at 1200 UTC. Here’s the tracklisting:
Frapp – Petals
Blundetto – Take me with you (instrumental)
Lama’s Dream – New Horizons
Mario Pinosa Trio – Vientos De Libertad

All the best for 2020 from all of us at Weeds. Happy gardening! #shortwavesnotdead, #gardeningsnotdead, #freeradioskybird

Festive free radio fun

Next Sunday 8th December at 1700 UTC/UK will be a new transmission from DJ Frederick’s Free Radio Skybird on 6070 kHz shortwave via Channel 292 and if you haven’t got a suitable radio it can also be heard on the SDR link on their site here. The show will be rebroadcast the week after on Sunday 15th December at 1100 UTC/UK also on 6070 kHz.

This month’s programme will feature: Justin Patrick Moore’s Radiophonic Laboratory, Steve with Indie Science Radio and our very own One Deck Pete presenting the Skybird Mailbag. Also there’ll be an airing of Pete’s “Bouncing off the ionosphere” that has new tunes from: UK DD, Koko, Maxime Tisne-Versailles, Amy Root and Ernest Freeman.

The programme will be available on DJ Frederick’s Soundcloud page a day or so before transmission date if you want to hear it in true stereo but we here prefer the show via the ionosphere. Tune in and turn on! #shortwavesnotdead #madtone #freeradioskybird