In a world where things are free

We’ve just returned from a couple of days in Brighton where when we arrived, there was a mad sea mist which engulfed all of the seafront. It lifted late afternoon to reveal a wave-free sea that looked like glass as there was zero wind which made for a very out of this world sunset (above).

On the evening we witnessed an appearance of the one and only Tunng. This was after having a couple of pints in a pub which was from a long lost world where The Incredible String band and psychedelia were playing from a free juke box. The barman sat on a stool behind the bar rolling a couple of roll-ups (and one for ron of course), brought your pint over to your table with the card machine and popped out for a fag every now and again leaving the bar area unattended. A different (pub) world all together.

As for Tunng they were excellent, playing tunes from their new LP “Love you all over again” (an LP well worth investigating here) peppered with some old favourites. Acoustic guitars, a banjo, a melodica, woodwind instruments and some very strange sounds thrown over the top. Wonderful stuff!

The day after we found a market we never knew that existed which had a free shop. That’s right, a shop where all things were free. As the owner told us “I was so fed up that the charity shops were charging so much we decided to give things away” and as the sign says on the wall “Please don’t be greedy”.

There’s a simple rule: “No drugs. No guns. No animals. No BIG things. Everything else is welcome!” We picked up a handful of small pots which will come in handy at Weeds HQ and an old-school ladle. A super place to visit and more on the shop here.

Hope everyone out there is enjoying this great weather we’re having at the moment!

 

Surprise Spuds!

Cheers to Debby H for sending us a message: “We found a small cardboard box in one of our cupboards recently. It had strange shoots coming out of the ends. Upon opening it we saw two small potatoes that had sprouted. We had forgotten that we stored them away last autumn to be used as seed potatoes. We planted them in a flower pot and now they are growing quite well.” Brilliant stuff and hope they give a good harvest.

Talking of potatoes, one of the things with growing spuds in the soil outside is leaving a few small ones in there even if you think you have pulled every one up. Then come the year after, you get  “volunteers” sprouting up. We wonder could these volunteers be moved and would they give you a good harvest. Your thoughts please.

And back to Debby H’s garden here’s the daffodils and primroses that are doing well. Cheers Debby!

Garden updates are always welcomed here. Send any pics to one deck pete (at symbol) geemail dot com.

Radio connects us all, yet again

Big shout to The Rhythm Doctor for playing this tune at 33 rpm (it’s supposedly meant to play at 45) this morning on this week’s Waiting Room radio show (the best Monday morning radio show if you like all sorts of eclectic tunes) here.

We’ve never heard it before and as soon as it started up, it sounded very much like a Jah Wobble bassline then there was the inclusion of BBC World Service sign on of the bow bells so we were hooked. It’s the B side of this record here and it’s by Prophetic Four As Dub Assassins and called Pursuit, a wonderful piece of music from 1981 as dub mixed up with radio recordings are all the rage here.

And the next tune played was this below, can it get any better? Tune in to Rhythm Doctor’s Waiting Room on IDA Radio (Tallinn) on a Monday at 9am here.

On a seed swap tip

Pic: You don't need a glass of wine at a seed swap but it does help.

We’ve just seen these 3 London based seed swaps on the Garden Organic website which look up our street and are all free too! If you hear of any others do get in touch with us and we’ll post them up.

GreenFriends UK Seed Swap
Amrita Hall, 211 Fairacres, Bromley BR2 9UN
(use the entrance via 40A Letchworth Drive, BR2 9BE)
Saturday 15th March 2025 11am

IEL Seed Swap
Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB
Sunday 15th March 2025 1pm
www.incredibleediblelambeth.co.uk

Islington Seed Swap
Olden Community Garden, 22 Whistler Street, London N5 1NH
Sunday 23rd March 2025

“No WSTLing at WORK” said the foreman

Here’s the audio of the weekend just gone Imaginary Station show WSTL/WORK in a whistling while you work tip. Expect all sorts of tunes from related genres (including Heavy Whistling and Gainful Employment-core) and at 22.30 there’s a mix by One Deck Pete called “Work while you whistle”.

Here’s the tracklisting:
The silhouettes – Get a job (excerpt) (00.01)
コディ – Clocking In (00.19)
Nexotica – Whistlin’ Blues (04.21)
Whistling Kettle in dub (6.40)
The Secret Whistle – Lebensmittelvergiftung (07.00)
Paul Blackford – Night Shift (11.20)
Phoenix City All-stars – Career Opportunities Dub (excerpt) (14.03)

Tune in and enjoy the sound of WSTL/WORK!

What is (your) neem?

The other week we were chatting with a gardener friend about those damn fungus gnats that in the summertme usually plague our plants on the kitchen windowsill. She recommended using some Neem Oil which we’ve never heard of before and brought some for us the other day. We have no idea if it will work, how it works and what you do with it apart from diluting it and putting it on your plants. Any ideas? Does it work and what’s the best way to use it? Do drop us a comment.

A garden related tune (even if the ground is frozen solid)

 

A big thanks to our good mate Gerry Hectic for sending us this nice bit of laid back soul with love vibes, namechecking the plant also known as Rosa rubiginosa. It’s from Thee Baby Cuffs from San Jose, California. Nice tune Gerry!

Funnily enough we’re not that mad on roses here. Dahlias and vegetables yes but not roses sadly. Can we be converted? Punk or Reggae named rose varieties may make us think again. There’s a Rose Paul McCartney so why not a Rose Jimmy Pursey? If only the gardeners were united…

Some nice finds…

This week’s great finds whilst scouring various second-hand/charity shops (AKA Thift Stores for our friends across the pond) in the south London area include all sorts of stuff. No reggae records sadly, but the first (above) is a very 1970’s picture sleeved LP from The Metropolitan Police Band called Dull it isn’t! All that’s missing is a picture of a “criminal” in a sheepskin coat being brought down by an alsation as they used to demonstrate at summer fetes and country shows all those years ago. Nice touch of the two tone graphics at the bottom.

The above is a wonderfully named band that were appearing at a 1970’s office function which was printed the back of a programme of said event. Is the track below from the same “Sounds Nice”?

And award for the best “Cockney saying used in a postcard” award goes to this one below from Pirgos in Greece from 1978. “Cor strike a light!” indeed!

Please send us your charity shops classics and we’ll post up the best. No pictures of Des O’Connor or Max Bygraves LPs please as a refusal often offends.

More good advice

The other year we started some seeds off in some peat-free compost bought from a local supermarket which we thought was a right old bargain at the time. The seeds germinated and then stalled at the seed leaf stage, hung around for a couple of weeks and just withered away. We mentioned this here the other week and got some good replies about the same problem and also some great advice from Alan who mentioned he started mixing garden compost in with the peat-free compost and it seemed to work a lot better.
We mentioned the problem of peat-free compost to Thompson & Morgan’s blog who replied with some great info from their resident horticultural expert. She said…
“Well, what can I say? Not all composts are the same!
 
There is no problem with using peat-free compost for seedlings – I do it all the time. The National Trust has banned peat-based composts and successfully raises all its plants in peat-free mediums. Similarly, the RHS promotes the use of peat-free. The only thing with peat-free compost is that it requires slightly different management particularly as regards to watering. The surface of peat-free compost dries out quickly but it is often still moist underneath. Consequently, many gardeners fall into the trap of over watering plants growing in peat free composts, and this is especially a problem with seedlings which can quickly succumb to ‘damping off’ in over-wet conditions. From the description, this does sound like a case of damping off – affected seedlings quickly keel over and wither.  
 
When working with peat-free, it’s important to poke the top few inches of compost in the pot and check how damp it is underneath as surface dryness is not a true indicator. Cheap peat-free composts are full of cheap fillers and do not have the right texture balance to distribute water evenly. For the best results, use a peat-free compost that is specifically for seeds and cuttings. A limited number of plants need raising in compost with a low pH and so will do better in peat (e.g Meconopsis) but for the vast majority of seeds it is absolutely fine. Plants raised in peat-free may require a bit more fertiliser as peat-free compost has a tendency to ‘lock-up’ some nutrients.”
Brilliant stuff! Thanks a lot to Thompson & Morgan for letting us know more about peat-free compost. From now on we’ll be spending that little bit more on seed compost as someone once told us “there’s no such thing as a bargain” and they may be right!

A two tune Wednesday selection

While doing a shortwave mix the other night we came across this duo we’ve never heard of before called The Secret Whistle. It’s a great name and turns out they’re from Portland, Oregon and they make some fine tunes. Here’s two here.