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.

Don’t let the green grass fool you…

It’s been a funny old week for weather, we’ve had some lovely days of sunshine (still a bit nippy at times out of the sun though) and then frost in the mornings like today (above). Don’t let the sunshine fool you! It’s just only turned March and as AI has just informed us “Plant out after the chance of frost has passed” means to wait until the last possible frost date in your area has passed before planting your seedlings outdoors. More on having a vague idea when your last frost date is here. Do remember though nature doesn’t always play to the rules.

Don’t get lulled into a false sense of security just because we’ve had some lovely days. We’ve even had some washing out on a couple of them but that don’t mean those leggy tomato plants (if you started them off on New Year’s Day like we used to do) can go out.

We did manage to do some jobs like finally getting around to cutting up some prunings from next door’s tree which will be burning in the fire pit in a few month’s time (above). In the picture next to the gardening recycling bin are the loppers we bought in Lldl many years ago where the person on the till said twice “Do keep the recipt handy just in case you need to return them”.

Make use of this bout of sunshine but don’t put out those geraniums out just yet!

 

“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!

It’s all starting!

Cheers to Mike and Julia from near Coventry for a picture of their new basil grown hydroponically and we must say the basil is looking far better than ours that we’ve started to grow on our kitchen windowsill.

Also thanks to Debby H for sending us some pictures of the first flowers in her garden. “Our snowdrops had their flowers eaten by something, which was disappointing. We have been more successful with the dwarf daffodils (tete-a-tetes?), which are now beginning to flower.”

“We have had primroses/primulas for quite a while. They are the conventional yellow colour but there are also a few red/purple ones. Lovely to have some colour in the garden.” Debby’s right

We here at Weeds hope everything is starting to pop up now in your gardens, if you’re not in those parts of the world that are covered in snow at the moment.

Make your own luck (and muck)

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?

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…

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.