Category Archives: what will be will be

Make your own luck (and muck)

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The other day we used the tip that Alan mentioned a few posts ago about adding some home-made garden compost into peat-free seed compost to give it a bit of added goodness. We looked at our compost heap thinking we’d have to clear the many layers of rotting vegetables, cardboard and egg boxes to get to the bottom and then remembered last year we found a way to the bottom from the side of the heap (above). All we did was move an old floor tile and voila we were rewarded with some fresh “Black Gold” (below), wonderful stuff!

We only put a few handfuls of it with the remaining peat-free seed compost we had left as we didn’t want it too nutrient heavy and kill the seedlings but just enough to make a difference. Once we mixed it up we filled one of the seed tray, tray lid and bottom set we got from a large DIY supplier (their name rhymes with T&Q) for the bargain price of £4. You can’t even get a pint for that sort of money these days.

In the tray went some self-saved seeds of sweet pea we grew last year, some jalapenos, the black moon tomato we got from Thompson & Morgan and also from T&M, “great stuff” peppers that grow to the size of a human hand! We’ll keep you posted when the seeds germinate and we’d love to hear what you’re starting off at the moment. Remember it’s only February.

What is (your) neem?

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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)

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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…

A two tune Wednesday selection

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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.

From Beatles to Bigfoot to Aetherius

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Here’s the audio of Imaginary Station’s From Beatles to Bigfoot broadcast last weekend via Shortwave Gold, a show full of the songs of Lennon/McCartney covered in a way you’ve never heard before. Also beatles soundalikes, plus UFOs, flying saucers and a Yeti Choir (*subject to availability). It’s a odd mixture but a very nice odd mixture featuring contributions from all of the Imaginary Stations crew.

At 14.04 mins in One Deck Pete brings you a UFO themed mix called “A pint of lager please Earthman”. The tracks are:
Tena Stelin – UFO
Jah Warrior – Unidentified Flying Dub
The other self – Men from Venus
The Psychedelic Aliens – Blofonyobi Wo Atale
Meridian Brothers – Guaracha U.F.O (No Estamos Solos…) (excerpt)

Big shout to Thompson & Morgan – Part 2

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A big thank you to Katie and all the team at Thompson & Morgan Blog for sending us over these new vegetable seeds to see how we get on with them. They look great, so this afternoon we popped 4 of the chilli seeds into compost to start off. Quick Fire is the variety and it mentions on the pack that you can get up to 100 chillies per plant! We’ll keep you all posted on how we get on with all of them. Cheers again T&M!

From Seed Tins to ex-Thompson Twins

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It’s February by a week, some earlier sown seedlings are growing, sowed seeds are starting to germinate and there are more seed packets to be opened.

In an earlier batch we started off in the heated propagator in the back room, we made sure we turned the heating off as soon as the seeds started to show through and then over a few days took the plastic lid off completely. The tray is lidless now by the back window and seems to be doing well. Most have germinated apart from the chillies that had “Sow by the end of 2023” on the front of the packet. We’re still giving them the benefit of the doubt though, they could be late starters or we could be a bit impatient.

And here’s a seed sowing musical accompliment from International Observer called Seedsavers Dub. It’s a nice bit of dub which if played to up and coming plants, will stimulate them (or so we reckon!)

Big shout to Thompson & Morgan

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Thanks to all at Thompson & Morgan blog for including a tip of ours in their new article “Money saving garden tips: cost-effective seed sowing” here. It’s a great article and a great blog to check out.

By the way we hope that anyone who has sowed early like us is having some success and the seeds are starting to germinate. Looks like the chili seeds we had that said “Sow by end of 2023” haven’t, but that’s a risk you got to take with out of date seeds. Good luck with what you stick in your seed trays!

 

Yoga, not yoga

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A big thanks to our musical mate Gerry Hectic for this ode to “a mind and body practice that can build strength and flexibility”. It’s by the wonderfully named Odion Livingstone and called simply Yoga. Excellent stuff which will make you smile, the mention of “Do the handstretch” and “Chest expansion” cheered us up no end. And as it says on his Bandcamp “Odion Livingstone is a Space Station chanelling signals and sounds from the past to the future.” Now there’s a nice description of an artiste.

And another Yoga influenced track by The Dubvisionist with Deva Dub.

 

And let’s not forget Tai Chi which is not Yoga. Here’s a nice bit of pushing hands with Lou Reed and Master Ren.

The pirate radio/Rare Earth connection

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Here’s a wonderful track (complete with the classic radio being tuned in intro) from a forthcoming shortwave mix that’s called MV Ross Revenge (For Ever!) and it’s by Morschen43 from Le Puy, France. The Ross Revenge was/is the home of the great Radio Caroline (and Radio Monica) from 1983 which once nearly became a cropper on the infamous Goodwin Sands. More on Goodwin Sands and the irregular cricket matches and utter lunacy that sometimes happened there (and still does), here.

Talking of pirate radio stations here’s a snip from the Radio Nordsee/Radio North Sea International film and for years we’ve always wanted to know what the track playing for the first ten seconds was and tonight we’ve found out what it was thanks to the powers of the internet. It’s the start of a song called Big John is my name by Rare Earth.

In the clip does the DJ Leo van der Goot just play the first 30 seconds of the tune and then fades it out or is there another version where the start ends the track so to speak? We would like to know, any ideas?

And if you want more of Rare Earth in a percussive style this one below is crazy! Uncredited edit allegedly by the great François Kevorkian.