Category Archives: Jazz Gardening

Forget what we said about seed tapes

Posted on by
Reply

There is a downside to seed tapes we found out after buying a bargain assorted vegetable tape off ebay. Turns out the names of what seeds they are, are only at the beginning of the tape (not all the way through) and now we’ve sowed a few we have no idea what’s what except brussel sprouts. Who told us seed tapes were a good idea?

And after a couple of hours hard graft today the front wall (nearest the road) can now be seen, trouble is the mass of ivy on the top right of the picture is covering a piece of wall that isn’t there. We’ll get back to you tomorrow with our solution to the problem.

And the first delivery of guinea pig straw (with added roadent waste) was left on the garden fence in a plain carrier bag with no note but we had a vague idea what it was when we spied it. The contents have now been dumped into the heap and we will keep you updated on its progress. We’re an interesting lot aren’t we? Blame the lockdown.

The link between composting and lockdown lunacy

Posted on by
Reply

It is a bit difficult to do it with a darlek type bin but we got a garden fork into the compost heap today to give it a good mix up and to get some air to the pile. We could feel a bit of heat in there while we were doing it so it looks like the heap is working.

Since the lockdown we’ve taken the composting a bit more seriously because we’ve got more time on our hands, anything suitable goes in pronto and a trip down there with a single tea bag is not unusual!

We think the neighbours may have noticed our passion for the heap too as we were asked did we want a weekly bag of straw procured from a guinea pig hutch. Turns out the straw and any guinea pig product is alright for composting as it’s classed as a “brown” and would be ideal if you recently had a load of grass clippings deposited as the straw would add a bit of dryness to the heap. We’ll keep you posted on our guinea pig hutch gifts and let you know if they are any help or not!Apart from the composting a good bit of gardening was done in the front, weeding and attacking the ivy on the garden wall and learning that some of it is in fact holding up the said wall. There may have to be a compromise tomorrow when it comes to finishing the job because of that. We’re clearing all of the two tier bed and when things get back to some sort of normality and garden centres are open again we’ll fill it with some shrubs and grasses but it’s good to see it so clear for once! #lockdowngardening

And lay the seed tape on the ground

Posted on by
Reply

We received a part of a seed order we forgotten about from Thompson & Morgan this morning. It was a favourite vegetable of ours beetroot and what was good about it was they’re of the seed tape variety. There’s no fiddling about with trying to sow the seeds thinly, spacing them out evenly or trying to keep them in a straight line, the tape does all that for you. We are getting used to this seed tape idea even though it’s been around for a while!

And the seed potatoes we planted straight outside rather than under the cold frames are starting to show through the black membrane that was used for putting under the decking. All we done is cut an X in it and plonked in the seed potato. The membrane will keep the weeds off and hopefully keep warmth in the ground. We covered the tips of the buds this evening with a bit of soil just in case a frost comes out of nowhere!

Talking of potatoes we’re in the process of tidying up the front garden that isn’t really doing that much. We may copy an idea of a neighbour of ours who the other year sowed some potatoes in his newly designed front garden as they are supposedly good for breaking up compacted soil we were once told at the council. It may be a while before Shannon’s is open again where we can pick up some shrubs so we might as well make use of the ground and grab some potatoes into the bargain!

One alternative to lockdown lunacy

Posted on by
2

This Sunday coming 26th April 2020, DJ Frederick’s Free Radio Skybird will be broadcasting another show in its weekly spring run at 1100 UTC (1200 UK) on 6070 kHz via Channel 292. 

This week’s episode features Justin Patrick Moore’s Radiophonic Laboratory and One Deck Pete’s “Radio connects us all” mix featuring Patrick McGoohan, Sasskia, Mokka and Camille Murray. We’ve also the debut of Shane Quentin from the excellent Garden of Earthly Delights radio show who’s bringing us a bit of “Radio Re-flex-ology”.

Tune in using your shortwave radio in the 49 Metre band on 6070 kHz or by using the link here. It’s going to be one interesting hour!

What you can actually do in ten seconds

Posted on by
Reply

A big shout to Gerry Hectic who told us about this compilation when they were originally looking for contributors. This compilation has over 200 10-second tracks and is released by ATTN:Magazine here. What’s great about it is that ALL proceeds from the sale of the set are donated to the charity Cool Earth who work alongside rainforest communities to halt deforestation and climate change.

There’s ten seconds from a variety of sources including Gerry Hectic, Justin Patrick Moore and Madtone amongst many many others! Cheers to Jack Chuter for including our track!

Can’t wait, won’t wait, will try

Posted on by
Reply

Patience, that’s what you need when it comes to this gardening lark. Sadly we haven’t got any.

This week we took the dahlia tubers straight out from under the stairs (where they’ve been hibernating since late autumn) and into the ground even though there’s still a chance of frost. We also left a couple of them in the garden from last season as we couldn’t be bothered to dig them out. Why do we do these things when we know we shouldn’t?

We have got protection for them and the other plants that don’t do well when it comes to frosts though. There’s the seed potatoes under the black membrane that was used under the decking and lots of DIY plastic/wood contraptions (don’t throw out your jam jars!) over vegetable seedlings that are germinating so it ain’t that bad.

All the gardening books tell you to be aware of late frosts, they also tell you that runner beans seeds don’t like sitting in cold soils and “for god’s sake don’t put out your tomato plants out early as they’ll suffer if it gets cold” but we still do it (we’ve a couple of tomato seedlings in the ground at the moment we’re ashamed to say.) It goes like this, we see a period of lovely sunshine so the hoe is taken out from its winter hiding place and then it’s all systems go after that. We don’t think this lockdown has helped in holding back either.

Talking of lockdowns, there’s a new gardening-related game developing here. At least once a week on our (very) regular visits to the compost heap a gloved hand will be thrust into the mass of rotting vegetables, old ripped up leccy bills and single tea bags to “feel the heat”. That’s not normal behaviour is it? Early signs of “lockdown lunacy” perhaps?

When does the weekend actually start during lockdown?

Posted on by
Reply

The big lockdown’s a lot better when the sun’s out, but it was cold and grey today in SE23 so spirits were dampened. It don’t look that better tomorrow so any gardening jobs will have to wait. Saying that, the single teabags and the odd banana skin still have to be taken down the compost heap one by one so we still can pick out the odd weed by hand on the way back up to the house, so gardening won’t stop, it’ll just be on a slower scale!

Even though there’s no frost predicted here, the spuds and the other early vegetable seedlings are safe and warm under the Blue Peter type cold-frame constructions and the few dahlia tubers we put in (far too early) this week are covered with the plastic mini-cloche type things we found in the street a long while ago.

Here’s a picture of happy gardening climes earlier this week before the sun went away and the below is a lovely bit of dub from Camille Murray called Find Your Way To Love which will be featured on the “Radio connects us all” mix to be broadcast on shortwave on Free Radio Skybird on Sunday April 26th at 1100UTC via Channel 292. Don’t let the lockdown get you down too much, it will end just as you are getting used to it.

There’s a leek in our daff patch what are we gonna do?

Posted on by
1

On Good Friday we received a message from our gardening mate Gerry Hectic telling us he noticed he had blossom on his apple tree and it was like it appeared almost overnight. We looked at ours straight away and there was nothing, until this morning and as if by magic (above)…Cheers Gerry!

Whilst doing the big clear up around the pond the other day we found a little clump of Wild Garlic down there. Years ago we’d found out about them on a woodland walk while on holiday and bought a couple of bulbs off ebay. We put them in and duly forgot about them until now. They smell pungent and we’ve seen them on sale at Borough Market for silly prices but never really fancied eating them. Anyone got any good recipes?

And today we stuck some peas in a grid type pattern in one of the raised beds so in a couple of weeks time, if all goes well we can have a small portion of pea shoots. Now that’s something to look forward too! As someone told us years ago (and Vertical Veg mention it in this great article here too) if you can get you hands on a box of dried peas for soaking, they’re cheap as chips and work great when it comes to getting pea shoots.

And finally there’s a leek in our daff patch what are we gonna do?

A quick lockdown gardening progress report

Posted on by
Reply

The seed spuds we put under the upside down terrarium and the small plastic cloche we found in the street are now starting to show (and look at that celery!) and so are the parsnips, cabbages and carrots (below). As long as we keep them under cover until the risk of frost is over we should be okay! Those Blue Peter style mini-coldframes made with some plastic sheeting tacked onto some old wooden palettes are working well!

And that lovely red nasturtium from the Thompson & Morgan seed trials has returned, we don’t know if it self-seeded or if it ever went away, it’s great in any case!

Fort madness in these times…

Posted on by
4

Whilst searching for more information on Dangerman’s “Not so jolly roger” episode (parts of which were filmed on the Red Sands sea forts) we found out something quite apt especially in these corona lockdown days.

During wartime, the men were stationed on those forts out at sea for six weeks on end, living on top of each other, seeing each other day in and day out and getting on each others nerves we imagine. It must have been pretty hard. It’s only been three weeks on corona lockdown in London (Has it? We’ve lost track) and we’re even experiencing the odd moments in this short time.

In those days it was called “Fort Madness” and the forces psychologists advised each man to take up hobbies. There were some great ones: embroidery, painting, knitting, fishing off the side, wood carving, drawing or making models to keep their mind off everything and the best artworks were rewarded with a bottle of rum. We reckon that idea could be revived in these uncertain times and a big bottle of Bailey’s could be the prize (for the over 18’s only of course!)

So it’s out with the superglue and the old yoghurt pots and egg cartons to make a realistic model of the Butchers in Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, playing “Find the largest stone in the flower beds” or who can make the best fake Picasso out of those half-empty tins of old gloss paint dumped under the stairs. Whatever keeps you sane!