Category Archives: Jobs to do

We’re pushing the (seed) envelope again

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The shoots are coming through from one of the chitted seed spuds we planted in a big pot in a Monty Don style. We’ll stick an old jam jar on the top as soon as we’ve covered it with some more soil as you never know it’s still frost season and it has been cold in the mornings here.

Talk about being keen, we’ve even stuck a tomato plant outside (talk about a gardening sin of sins) after a quick harden off (keeping it outside during the day and bringing it back in at night) over the last few days so it could get used to the weather outdoors rather than the warmth of the kitchen windowsill.

We covered it with a small plastic cloche that we found in the street years ago and then covered that with another larger plastic cloche. We’ve been influenced by the great Bob Flowerdew there as we reckon that’s the sort of thing he may do. Looks a bit mad but why not as they say. It may be too much for the poor plant but we’ll take either one or all of the protection off when we get a warm day. It’s all about giving it a go and getting one step ahead.

Ne’er cast a clout or throw anything out

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We picked up another bag of Lldl’s best peat-free compost on Saturday and in between the rain and the suprisingly warm for the time of year sunshine we filled up an old washing up bowl (with some drainage holes in the bottom) and sowed some lettuce seeds. May not be classy but it works.

A good few years ago we did a great Saturday gardening course with our friend Scarlett Cannon and she us told of many ingenious ways of growing spuds including using carrier bags and such-like containers. An old shopping bag with holes in the bottom and a seed spud in it is now perched on a found in the street coat stand down the side of the garden. A bit unorthodox but why not?

And finally we had to put another layer of bricks below the old windowpane as those shallots are fast moving on! Keep your fingers crossed we get more sunshine that rain this week heading into May.

Fast and bulbous. Got me?

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A couple of weeks after we featured them in a post here we can see that those shallots are coming on well. As we said last time, we haven’t had much success with them in the past in the raised beds but it looks like starting them under cover and sticking some organic matter in may have done the trick. We’ll keep you posted.

In the top right of this pic above you can just about make out the giant garlic. We stuck the sides of the raised bed (without the polythene on top) back on them as a bit of added protection as the wind seemed to give them a bit of knock last week. We’ll start feeding the garlic and the shallots soon with some comfrey/nettle liquid as soon as we can get some started and on the go. Hopefully that combined with some good weather to come may help them on their way.

They went WEST

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Here’s Sunday night’s WRMI Imaginary Station’s WEST show which features tunes of a West nature. At 2.40 minutes in is One Deck Pete’s “We’re going up West” mix. Here’s the tracklistings:
Phil Western – 5 6 7 8
Quantic (Ft Louis Towers) – Westbound Train
Ennio Morricone – Sixty Seconds to What
Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra – Tunnel Vision Dub
The Flaming Ember – Westbound #9

Go west and enjoy!

Sha-na-na-na, sha-na-na-na-na, get a job

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Here’s last night’s broadcast of WORK on Imaginary Stations on WRMI on Shortwave. There’s an hour of work related tunes from DJ Frederick and Justin Patrick Moore and at 7 minutes in there’s a mix from One Deck Pete called “Work (The old fashioned way)”. Here’s the tracklistings:

Eric Coates – Calling all Workers (excerpt)
Willie Hutch – Brothers gonna work it out
The Blue Orchids – Work
Culture – Work on Natty
Chairmen of the Board – Working on a building of love
The Silhouettes – Get a Job (Extract)

So ditch the sarnie box, kick off the Toetectors and interview slacks and tune into WORK.

… you’ll sing again, shal-lots in Forest Hill*

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We’ve had some shallots sitting about in a bag for weeks and noticed they were looking like they had to be put out soon or they’ll go mouldy, so yesterday (on the eve of the official start of spring) we undertook a little job in the garden.

Years ago we found an old window frame on a skip and over the years it’s had many uses but since lockdown it’s been lying up against the back fence in retirement. The weather’s so changeable at the moment we knew those shallots had to be put in under cover, so the window frame had a bath in warm soapy water and is now back in service.

We got some bricks to make a simple support to put the frame on and then dug out a good bit of soil out of the space within, then made a small compost trench with a little bit of kitchen waste pinched from the top of the compost heap (whilst we were there, we gave the heap a bit of a fork over and a mix). Also using a trowel, we fished out about two buckets worth of decent compost (Black Gold as they call it) from the bottom of the heap which we put on top of the compost trench and then covered that with the soil we initially took out and there you go, we’ve now got some shallots “under glass”!

All of the shallots went in, had a light water and then we gave the bed around it a little hoe over (top pic) and then gave the path next to it a good old sweep. This gives a nice contrast between the bed and path making the bed look like it had a good few hours work on it. A trick learnt from the council. Now we have to wait and see. Springtime weather, do your job!

* To the tune of “Tulips from Amsterdam”.

And they’re off!

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Spring may be springing or maybe not but we’ve got in and sowed some seeds in the propagator on the windowsill. We’ve done some miner’s lettuce, giant sunflowers some tomatoes and some chillies along with some rows sowed outside (we’re pushing our luck but having a try anyway, what we got to lose?)

Years ago we bought some wild garlic bulblets on ebay and they’ve popped up yet again down the shady area behind the pond and are kept safe under the watchful eye of a plastic dalek. And the second lot of the giant garlic we bought is starting to peep through the inch or two of the leaf mulch in the raised bed. We don’t know if it’s the plastic protection on the top that has helped or the the fact that one of the Weeds cats spends a lot of time sleeping on top of it! Who knows but something is working!)

And here’s some spring inspired dubs to get those plants on their way.

Ain’t it sprung yet?

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Sunday was lovely for a spot of gardening after a rather wet and windy Saturday. The lawn was cut, the beds got a bit of a tidy up and we even got caried away sowing some borage under the tree. It’ll probably won’t be the best spot for them and God knows if they’ll even germinate as it may have been sunny Sunday but who knows what the future weather has got in store for us.

And we even had a peek under the plastic covered raised bed and the elephant garlic is coming on a bit and the foxgloves that were once plugs have even survived after a bit of a change from the warmth of the kitchen windowsill to outside in the freezing cold.

Come Monday morning it was back to the cold weather again and we went down to the compost heap to stick a couple of tea bags in and to give it a turn. What was well suprising was how much heat was generated in the heap even overnight with the grass clippings, there was even a bit of steam coming off the heap after forking it over. Covering the heap with cardboard certainly keeps the heat in. Let’s hope we can get out there again this Sunday.

And here’s a wonderful tune for a Wednesday night from Les Mamans du Congo & Rrobin called Loango Weaver. It’s from last years set “A Guide to the Birdsong of Western Africa by Various Artists” well worth checking out here.

Who’s in the garden tomorrow?

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We took Friday off work hoping to do few jobs in the garden but we didn’t actually get around to it as it was a bit cold and tried again this afternoon but the weather was rubbish again with some light rain. The forecast looks great for tomorrow though so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.

And here’s a nice bit of chilled business, a track from GORE in Tokyo, Japan with Bills are piling up. Get some rest tonight as we all may busy in the garden tomorrow.

And talking of spring which we weren’t directly, here’s a favourite of ours from a long time ago. Very apt!

Seed swapping in SE15

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This morning we popped into Glengall Wharf Gardens SE15 for their seed swap. We picked up some Orange Pumpkin, Chard, Hollyhock, Cherokee Vale of Tears Beans, Tree Spinach and American Pokeweed seeds so it was well worth popping down.

The garden itself is interesting and well worth visiting. They also have regular sessions and workshops which are very good by all accounts. Check their twitter here for what’s on and have a look at their website here. By the way on their seed swap table we saw a nomination for possibly the best rock band name ever (above).

And here’s a few pictures taken whilst walking around said gardens. There’s some great gardening ideas dotted about which are inspiring and could be adapted for use at home.

And there’s even some hens. We love that hanging cabbage feeder!