Category Archives: Songs to sow seeds to

Spring may have sprung

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One great thing we love with this gardening lark is the passing on of surplus seeds from one gardener to another. This week we received a little package off a gardening friend with some interesting seeds and stuff that we’ve never grown before (Cheers again Ruth!)

Firstly there was a small envelope with some Amaranth seeds (more on them here) which we’ll be sowing in a sunny area in the garden as they like that. Also in a brown bag was a climber called Mashua which we’ve never heard of before, turns out it’s climbing Nasturtium with deep orange-red trumpet flowers with edible tubers and the young leaves can be eaten in a salad. You learn something every day, especially in gardening!

The other bag contained some Jerusalem Artichokes (aka Sunchoke), we read it’s not like the globe variety but a kind of sunflower with an edible tuber. We’ve also learnt they can spread like wildfire but we will be giving them a go. We’ll keep you posted on how we get on with everything above. Any tips appreciated!

And on the shortwave radio tomorrow evening at 10pm UK time is a repeat of a transmission of a while back of KSOL which features a mix from One Deck Pete called “A bit of sunshine and soul” which feature tunes by Jackie Lee & Delores Hall, Cat Stevens, George McCrae, Carl Bean and Love Unlimited. If you haven’t a shortwave radio you can tune in here.

Take a chance on me

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We’ve all heard stories of keen gardeners on seeing the sun in the early months of the year getting the seeds out or travelling to the local garden centre to buy plants. Then come the day after the seeds or plants have been put in, the weather changes and then there’s a frost.

We’re not immune to it here at Weeds even though we know the risk. Over the last week we’ve had nice sunny days so took a chance to stick a couple of the seed spuds in the raised bed which has protection from some plastic and another couple under some old seed propagator tops weighed down so they don’t get blown away by the cold winds. Fingers crossed if we get snow they may be protected. It’s worth taking a chance, you’ve only got a couple of seed potatoes to lose if the weather gets too cold. (Please) roll on spring.

 

Seed swap alert, seed swap alert!

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We’ve just found out about the Incredible Edible Lambeth Seed Swap and AGM at the Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB on Saturday 12th February 2022 from 12 noon – 3 pm. The cost is by donation and looks like to be a great event. As it says on the Eventbrite page “Meet up with fellow gardeners, share seeds, tips, stories and connect with the community” sounds good with us! Tickets available here.

Have you news of any other garden related events for 2022, if so send us them in the comments with an email and details with location, date and price.

And while we’re on the subject of seeds…

Second Annual Report

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Here’s the audio of this morning’s broadcast on WRMI of the KMTS End of year transmission. This programme features two shortwave radio themed mixes from us at Weeds up to me knees. The first mix opens up the proceedings from 00.00:

“Keep it chilled for KMTS”
Grey Frequency – Chimes (Rai Internazionale)*
Audiovert – Another Universe*
Lapa – 45th Parallel
U Roy talking about King Tubby’s pirate radio adventures
KUNTARI–Orchid
(*Both tracks from the Cities and Memory shortwave project, more info here)

Then follows some eclectic programming from our good friend from across the pond, Ye olde DJ until 42.10 and then:

“The Circles of your mind”
Upcoast Channel 5 – CODAR
Lullatone – Sunday Morning Shopping with a Stroller
liloieee – Train tracks
Paul Davidson – Midnight Ridim (from the Jamaican release of the single Midnight Rider)
Gats – Schneewittchen 
Love Unlimited – Under the influence of Love

Hope you enjoy the show and do turn it up loud. As the station says on their mixcloud:

“The KMTS transmission service winds down our 2021 activities with this fast radio burst of test tones, sounds and songs.

So click on the radio, turn out the lights, and let exotic sounds from distant mountain top towers, take you on a trip to a land that is far away…”

There will be more to come in the following weeks and months so keep ’em peeled!

Blink and you’ll miss them

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It’s crazy the weather we’ve had the last few days, rain then sun then sun then rain so everything is starting to grow like billy-ho. We’re not complaining though as the strawberries we put in a tub we found in the street (after we gave it a lick of paint) are doing well.

Also the randomly sown poppies are coming along too. We bought more poppy seed from ebay over the weekend and just chucked it around whilst it was spitting today (that’ll help the seed germinate).

These pics we took yesterday are from our earlier “Chuck ’em and see what happens” experiments. Shame the actual flowers don’t last long on the plant.

In the Air Tonight

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In a few hours time the intergalactic and the very interdimensional sounds of KSOL will be back in orbit on the shortwaves. The satellite of love will hopefully be keeping out of the way of the Long March 5B rocket body which is heading to earth too (we’re keeping our fingers crossed that the rocket body lands in the middle of nowhere or in the ocean).

Tune in on 3955 kHz via Channel 292 at 2200 UTC (11pm UK time). The show will also be repeated next Saturday the 15th May at the same time. Radio conditions are good this evening and if by chance you haven’t a shortwave radio give this SDR a go here.

Expect a mix called “In Orbit” from the urban spaceman One Deck Pete at about 35 mins in which’ll feature tunes by A Man Called Adam, Rubin Steiner, Rockers Interplanetary and this great tune by AVEM. #KSOL #shortwavesnotdead #shortwavelistening #channel292

And talking of good tunes here’s one we were directed to on friday by L.S.Diezel called Volume 1 that has a lovely Yabby You sample in it. #dubsnotdead

UPDATE: And here’s the studio audio of KSOL with One Deck Pete‘s “In Orbit” mix at 35 mins in.

Blimmin’ eck the sun’s out!

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https://soundcloud.com/thisisamusicshow/this-is-a-music-show-074

This blog post has been written whilst listening to this week’s This is a music show. We love the intro, over Max Greger and his orchestra’s Never Can Say Goodbye we hear Your Host with “Lot’s of different countries (played this week) including Germany, Brazil, The Cayman islands, Haiti, France…” Great stuff!

And we also love this tune by The (Fabulous) Wailers from Seattle (not Kingston, JA.) that was played at the beginning. That’s what’s great about the show, there’s always something great that you’d never heard before. Big shout to Your Host!

On a gardening note, we nipped out to the raised beds this morning to thin out the carrots (below) as it’s a bit of a jungle out there. We’re proud as punch as these were put in at the start of lockdown. We also found out the hard way that it was tons easier pulling out the carrots in the beds with the bought multi-purpose compost in them rather than the ones with London clay. We will rectify that come the spring!

We reckon that the carrots we pulled this morning were the early nantes free with Kitchen Garden magazine pre-lockdown in January. We’ll be getting some of them next year for sure. Anyone else having a bit of success with their veg? Do send us your pics! onedeck (@) gmail (.) com.

And on that note we have to say goodbye even if we can’t, we have gardening to do and the odd sunny interval to enjoy! #classiclockdowneweather #gardeninginlockdown

It(’s not) just the same old show, on my radio pt2

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Tune in to DJ Frederick’s Radio Lavalamp on Sunday 9th August 2020 (and repeated the week after) at 2200 UTC (11pm UK time) on 3955 kHz via Channel 292.The transmission will feature One Deck Pete with a mix called The Purple Nucleus of Creation 002 featuring this great tune from Drowsii (below), Nayl, Tabitha Project, Seventh Soul & Homayoun Shajarian and Camille Murray. Tune in to “Your ethereal shortwave music station” on 3955 kHz or this link here when the time is right! #radiolavalamp #shortwavesnotdead

Tomorrow’s music yesterday

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This Sunday 21st June sees the last in the present schedule of DJ Frederick’s Free Radio Skybird until the autumn. So tune in at 1100 UTC on 6070 kHz in the 49 Metre shortwave band 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.

This month’s programme will feature DJ Frederick, Justin Patrick Moore’s Radiophonic Laboratory, our very own One Deck Pete with Tunes to cheer you up, Jim Salmon with Radio Emma Toc World Service and a documentary on singer/songwriter Jim Sullivan (more on him here).

Tunes to cheer you up features a shortwave exclusive of an early mix of Jazz’min & Madtone’s brand new tune Return to the branches (at 33.33 mins in the Soundcloud link below). #shortwavesnotdead #freeradioskybird #jazzmin&madtone

https://soundcloud.com/djfrederick/free-radio-skybird-june-21-and-28-2020

And lay the seed tape on the ground

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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!