Rodigan mentioned on his show that this tune doesn’t sound dated today even though it’s from 1976. We agree Roddy, this tune from Inner Circle featuring the late great Jacob Miller still sounds fresh!
The weather forecast for London tomorrow is mostly dry and cloudy. “Mister, can we have our Sun back please?”
Tune in to this Sunday’s David Rodigan’s 1 Xtra radio show for a special with the great Lee “Scratch” Perry. Last week Rodigan mentioned that the show will be bonkers, Rodigan will be selecting while the Upsetter interjects vocally as if “in the dance.” Tune in live on Sunday night at 7pm or play again here.
Spring has well sprung and today it’s looks like it’s sprung a blimmin’ leak as it was tipping it down most of the day here. The Egyptian Walking Onions are starting to form topsets, boy what a mad plant that is! Mine was originally obtained from Shannon’s a year or so ago and the plant below is off one of the top-sets which I didn’t give away.
I grow it as I love how bonkers the plant grows rather than to eat it. If anyone fancies growing some, let us know later in the year and I’ll gladly pass on a couple of seed onions (for the price of a stamped addressed envelope, remember those things?) 
All of the plant is edible and here’s what it says about that on egyptianonion.com; “Egyptian Walking Onions taste just like a regular onion, only with a bit more pizzazz! Small onions form at the base in the soil. They can be eaten and prepared just like any other onion. The hollow greens may be chopped to eat like chives or green onions. They are excellent when fried, cooked in soups, or raw in salads. The topsets are excellent when peeled and fried.”
Also I’ve been noticing how mad the Comfrey has grown (it’s to the right of the Red Hot Poker above and swamping the Lupin!), the one above came from a root given to us from our good friend Scarlett and it’s nearly five foot now! If you rip off some leaves every now an again and let them rot in a bucket with a small bit of water for a couple of months you get some great liquid plant food. Putrid is not the word to describe the smell of the stuff while it is fermenting, it smells ten times as worse as it looks (and it looks pretty bad to say the least!)
Thanks to Steve Barker and the On The Wire Crew for these two half term specials played on last week’s show:
Prince Buster’s All-Stars – Idi Amin – Prince Buster
A tough horns led 1970’s instrumental with a nice dub to boot!
Two tunes to play loud on the i-pod while walking around the back garden in the dark with a torch looking for those pesky slugs and snails.
The Allotment Almanac – Terry Walton – Bantam Press
Here’s a brilliant book I got out of the library the other week. It’s by Terry Walton, a long standing organic gardener (who gives out advice in various magazines and radio programmes including BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show) and the book documents a year on his allotment which is located in the Rhondda Valley, Wales.
There’s tons of advice (chitting broad beans in an airing cupboard, how good is that?), tales from the plot (the social life and what goes on around the site; “In Albie’s Cafe, celebrating with a brew”), he’s got a bang on attitude (“The motto of a dedicated allotmenteer is ‘never buy what can be reused or borrowed and where spending is necessary, use your money wisely and the harvest will be both plentiful and rich'”) and stands up for us people who use the biodynamic approach (“Never mind which method of gardening you choose, however odd it seems: it’s the results and successes that count. If it works for you, why change?”) Too right Terry!
Also includes writings on wormeries, composting, raised beds, greenhouse gardening and lots more in an organic style. A must-have for the shoestring gardener and allotment holder, from beginner to experienced. Around £12-£15 to buy new and well worth it!
Another tune from the Tuff Scout Camp, this time from Dionne Reid with “She Can’t Dub” the B side of the “She can’t” single. Loosely based on the classic Bob Andy “Unchained” rhythm (a corker of a track too), this has “summer tune” written all over it. Big shout to all at Tuff Scout for releasing it and to the Rt Hon David Rodigan for playing it on his show.
I don’t know much about garden ponds but we discovered we had one after I got rid of a lot of nettles and brambles around the bottom of the garden one afternoon after we moved in. A few weeks later I cleared out 12 years of rotting leaves and gunge out of it which went straight onto the flower beds.
After cleaning the pond out I stuck a tarpaulin over it to stop water getting in, and was going to fill it in with soil a few months later. In that time, water filled up (how did that happen?) and taking the tarp up one day saw it was home to thousands of tadpoles! I couldn’t fill it in after that, could I?
It’s taken a few years to get sorted and because it costs a few bob to get electricity down the garden, there’s no fountain or flowing water to keep it fresh so it’s dependent on the oxygenating plants in there and the odd regular clean-out by yours truly. I also usually put a net over it in the autumn to stop the leaves getting in and that’s about all for maintenance.
It was looking well ropey a few months ago (above) so I bought a couple of bokashi mud balls off ebay for a few quid (no, I didn’t know what they were either before getting them.)
The pond is starting to look a bit better, you can even see the goldfish now (below) There’s also frogs, who love the slugs and snails in the garden (one of them is chilling out in the top RH corner of pic below), a couple of minnows and the odd newt. Not bad for something we didn’t even realise we had when we moved in. Expense is minimal, all plants were off ebay or from the garden centre/pet shop (and they multiply like billy-ho), the fish were cheap and the only cost now is the fish food which is a couple of quid a month. The only drawback is you have to watch out that you don’t get bitten by those pesky midges in the summer!
King Mas – Reflection – Royal Order Music
A tune and a half from King Mas on a rhythm played to death by David “Ram Jam” Rodigan over the last few weeks released by Royal Order Music. Roots and culture with some electronic sequencer business going on and a lyrical message. One to put on while flicking through the seed box, deliberating over what you’re going to be putting in over the weekend.
And for the final part of the tomato triptych, here’s a great event next Saturday organised by Dig This Nursery/Happy Seeds in New Cross as part of the Chelsea Fringe.
It’s a free all-day tomato planting extravaganza with kids making wooden planters, filling them with plants which will be then distributed outside shops in the New Cross area. And how many varieties of Tomato will be planted, do you think? 92! How mad is that? Dig This certainly know a bit about the ‘umble tomato! Have a look here for the varieties they have on sale.
Added to this, there’s food and drink, music, various crafts and 50% discount on tomato plants and off the happy seeds range. More info here. Hopefully soon I will be taking the Dig This challenge and see how my tomatoes get on with their secret weapon (diluted horse manure as liquid feed.)
The event is on the 17th May, 11-6pm at St James’, SE14 6AD, New Cross Gate (one street down from Goldsmiths University). New Cross/New Cross Gate Station.
Weeds up to me knees 