We now have proof that it is indeed the squirrels that are having a go at the sunflowers (the giant “10 feet”ones we got off ebay) when we caught one today feeding off the flowerhead. At least they’re actually waiting now until they’re in flower as it was the buds they were nicking previously but surely it’s the seeds (that come after the flowers) they should be waiting for. Who knows?
Here’s a container that came available today for the current batch of Comfrey liquid (nice video about making the stuff here) we tipped out from the bucket at the furthest end of the garden today. It’s well handy to tell you the truth when it comes to squirting it into your watering can. Less chance of splashing about we hope. Get this stuff on your clothes or hands and the smell will be with you for days, months and years.
We had heavy rain on and off most of today so the neighbours must have thought we’ve lost the plot (again) if they looked out the window at 7.30 pm and saw us with a watering can giving the plants a feed. At least the plants will appreciated it!
It’s been a funny old week, the weather did’t know what it was doing and we have sunflowers reaching silly sizes which is brilliant. As you know we love any seeds that say they’re “giant” or “massive”, half the time they don’t live up to their promise on ebay but the ones we got this year have.
The sunflowers down the side bed are doing well they’re well over 8 feet, a few have flowers. The ones that don’t have, have been the victim of the squirrels. They seem to be going for the buds this year rather than waiting for the large seed heads, very strange. We awoke this morning to one of the largest ones that was well over 9 feet, broken in half (below). To say we’re fed up is an understatement but they’re next to a fence so what can we do?
On a brighter note our Sweetcorn plants we got from Shannon’s and Chilli’s (Jalapeno) we grew from seed are coming on great guns! Whether we get any cobs on the corn to eat for ourselves are another thing. Squirrels aren’t keen on them are they?
And if you look hard enough you can see the Jalapeno’s we’ve already had a few off them and they’re great. Well worth growing.
This blog post was written whilst listening to This is a music show 125. Thanks to Dazman for putting it up on his cloud and cheers to Your Host for the selection. Some great stuff as ever including a lovely bit of reggae and some nice dub including the version of this.
A show always worth listening to and it’s on the shortwaves! Have a listen below, you won’t regret it!
It’s been an action packed week out in the back with a good bit of watering in the morning and sometimes the evening. The late great Joe Maiden used to say the later hours weren’t the best time to water as it attracted slugs and snails but what can you do when the ground is parched and we do enjoy a stroll up and down the garden path with a watering can. It’s a bit of moving meditation innit?
The wild part of the garden (above top) where we put in some seed bombs plus additional borage, poppies (above) and nasturtiums is now looking a bit wild but not in the organised wildness of the great Horniman’s Gardens locally (pic below). As some gardening mates have told us, it takes time and a lot of care to make a wild garden look good. That’s a paradox is there ever was one.
That reminds us, years ago we stayed in an Airbnb in Ireland where the owners were very much into nature (not the stripping off in your back garden type nature but the bird watching type nature) and since they moved in (they’d been there 25 years) they just left their garden to its own devices to attract as much nature as possible (again not the stripping off in your back garden type nature but the bird watching type nature).
The space looked mad and a little unkempt to say the least but each to their own. What was funny though they did say “We do try and make a point of taking care of the lawn though. We have a farmer’s horse come in for a feed once every few months”. Oh that’s alright then!
Since the relining earlier this year things have gone a bit haywire (in the best sense of the word) down the pond. The water is a hell of a lot clearer, the fish seem happier and we’ve seen far more wildlife in and around there.
We usually get frogspawn, then tadpoles and then usually nothing after. This has had us scratching our heads thinking “Where have they gone then?” expecting to see lots of “something” but no, nothing, just an pond full of fish and plants, nothing frog-related at all.
It’s been different of late as there’s a load of mini frogs sunbathing, swimming and some even making the trip out of the pond out to the surrounding jungle (it’s going to look like a jungle to something so small!) We’ve been watering around the pond recently as we usually just leave it to go dry so we wonder if that’s helping matters too. Nice to see a frog sitting down comtemplating what to do next (above) on this the so called “Freedom Day”.
It’s been a hot weekend to say the least here in SE23!
Yesterday was spent at a local “Midsummer Fayre” in the searing heat but a great time was had by all. Between the Taekwondo demonstration, a brass band (playing renditions of Dancing Queen and Anarchy in the UK) and the eagerly awaited results to the prize rafffle, various plant and bric-a-brac stalls were visited. A few bargains were acquired; some plants, a couple of rugs for indoors and a foot high plastic mushroom (above) for a pound. A right bargain!
And as you know we are suckers for any plant that is subtitled “Rare” “Giant” or “Unusual” in seed listings and it looks like the giant Sunflower seeds we bought on ebay are coming true to their word. They’re at seven foot now and not stopping. We’ll keep you posted on how high they get.
And talking of Rupie Edwards’ Ire Feelings here’s a couple of cuts of it, the second has a little bit of the tune Nite Owl from Tony Allen and the Champs and also later covered by Lee & The Clarendonians. More about that great piece of music from a post earlier this year here. It’s a small musical world. Keep cool and keep safe this week as it’s going to be a hot one!
A big thanks to Stevyn and Yukako Prothero for sending us pictures of their first journey into the world of gardening in Hokkaido, Japan. We know Stevyn from the excellent Iron Feather Journal fanzine (there’s loads about it here and here) and he was also behind the Towne Club Records Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast remix project here which included a musical contribution from Madtone.
We at Weeds love a garden no matter its size or form and this is a neat little one. What makes it even better is that it’s the first time they’ve both had a go at growing stuff and in their own words with “little knowledge or experience.” That’s what’s gardening’s about, starting small, learning from any mistakes and see how you get on. You may get the odd failure but you’ll get successes too. Just being in the outdoors tinkering away with the many gardening jobs is healthy for a start and keeps your mind off the various lists and worries of the week.
The plot is compact “the earth is very rich, it’s excellent soil and get lots of sunshine and rain” says Stevyn. There’s a great mix of stuff growing including tomatoes, beans, peppers, zuchini, eggplants, shiso, carrots, lettuce, pumpkins, asparagus and onions! It’s right up our street.
He told us that the American orange pumpkins are rare compared to the green Japanese pumpkin and also jalapeno peppers are scarce over there too and cost a fortune.
As always we ask our contributors to pick a tune and Stevyn chose this one, a cover of a song from “a very touching sweet tv show about a man and two kids who live in a shack in Hokkaido trying to survive called Kita no kuni kara (From the North Country)”.
Also Stevyn sent us a pic of a rice paddy near his house “Many miles of rice paddys here, as the people eat rice daily” and how great is that scenery?
Also whilst we’re on the subject of Japan and gardens have a look here at a great garden they visited last year in Tomakomai. Here’s a sneak preview. A fun garden indeed!
Thanks again to Stevyn and Yukako for sending the great pics and we’d love to see more photo’s later on in the year to see how things develop!
Today’s been a mixed bag of weather again and it’s been sending the garden into madness, flowers are blooming everywhere. The scattered poppy seed have given us some great purple blooms dotted around the garden.
The courgette/zuchinni seed we bought off the web is now well and truly on its way and flowering and we’ve even had a water lily open up (below). We’re well chuffed but would appreciate less rain during the day (could it rain at night?) and more sun!
It’s all gone a bit bonkers in the garden here what with the good weather of late plus the combination of the rain we had a few weeks previous to that. The veg in the raised beds (above) are tearing away and the spuds are almost flowering.
We’ve let the grass go a bit wilder due to No Mow May and we’re beginning to like the idea. I think it’s the council gardening background made us a bit reticent to let the lawn grow more than a few inches. The only thing is now that we can’t see where our old cat leaves its “presents” so we have to go by smell and tread very carefully in the evening.
The pond is going great after the big pond liner change. The fish seem to like it and we’ve even got tadpoles in there now and we didn’t even spot any frogspawn beforehand. We were told many years ago by a workmate that down the Walworth Road one Sunday in the 1960’s “It rained frogs” (a report of raining frogs in Croydon here), perhaps it could’ve been raining tadpoles overnight in Forest Hill recently?
And the bed next to the new fence has come alive with new plants procured from the market, garden centre and seeds off ebay and friends. The comfrey plants that usually go mad have probably been checked when the fence went in so the comfrey feed has suffered so far but you never know as we’ve got a few months yet. But can you believe that it’s really June? We cant.
Whilst we’ve been writing this, the below was the musical background. One of the best music shows on the shortwaves!
KFOG takes to the high seas via Channel 292 on Sunday June 20th 2021 at 1200 utc (1 pm UK time) and on Saturday June 26th at 0900 utc (10 am UK time) on 6070 kHz. Expect tunes in a nautical style and “see the glimmer from a distant lighthouse, as the buoys ding and the (radio) waves crash onto the rocky shore. This is music from the mist!” as they say at KFOG HQ.
Expect a mix from One Deck Pete called “A mix from across the Pond” with tunes from Kiyoko, Honeychild & DJ Olive, BOATS, Robert Mellin and The Congo’s. Grab yourself a lifejacket and a shortwave radio and tune in. If the shortwave radio is a problem tune in here at the alloted time. If you haven’t a lifejacket we’re sorry but we can’t help you with that!
Weeds up to me knees 