2018

Posted on May 29, 2018 by onedeckpete

Two things to get stuck into. Firstly a big thanks to Mark at the Thompson & Morgan blog for including one of our tips in the interesting “Seed and seedling tips…” post here that’s worth having a look at. There’s lots of other posts on the blog that’ll hopefully float your gardening boat too.

Also the above has been listened to twice today, “Greetings music lover” the story of one of our favourite shows “On The Wire” on BBC Radio Lancashire and Steve Barker who keeps it all together. It’s a lovely documentary about a very interesting radio show. Big up On The Wire!

Now bacon is off the ration…

Posted on May 24, 2018 by onedeckpete

The complete vegetable grower – W.E. Shewell-Cooper – Faber & Faber 1955
Here’s a great book picked up in a charity shop in lovely Sudbury last week. First published in 1955, it describes itself as a “book for the amateur who wants to grow all his/her own vegetables and save him/herself at least £100 a year”. It covers subjects as crop rotation, soil structure and composting and has a comprehensive section on “The culture of vegetables alphabetically” covering growing tips, harvesting and using the vegetable featured.

The chapter “Unusual vegetables for original gardeners” sounds like a name of a Buzzcocks live LP and features all sorts of veg, some we knew, the asparagus pea for instance and lots we didn’t: Good King Henry, the Potato Onion and Couve Tronchuda.

Amazing what you learn from those old school gardening books from a time when blokes wore shirts and ties down the allotment. One to search out for!

Welcoming back that yellow thing in the sky

Posted on May 17, 2018 by onedeckpete

Here’s a lovely tune called Janet 50 from Smith & Mudd, with the top frenchman I:Cube on the mix. If this 7 minutes of joy don’t welcome the sun back into the garden, god knows what will! One to stick on (in the headphones of course) when getting the hose out at 7am to give those plants their morning soak.

And if you enjoy “tipping around” with a hoe later on in the day here’s a tune of the calmer variety from Everton Blender called Sing for Jah with a great dub to boot.

It’s good this gardening lark especially at this time of the year and it can only get better!

Seed swap in the area!

Posted on May 10, 2018 by onedeckpete

News of a great seed swap this Sunday 13th May at Springbank Road Community Garden, Hither Green SE13 6SS. It’s free and from 11am-1pm, bring whatever you fancy swapping (seeds, plants, seedlings) and if you don’t have anything to bring to the seed swap table so to speak you’ll be welcome too! #londonseedswap

Veg watch – May 2018

Posted on May 9, 2018 by onedeckpete

Work in progress: the veg bed at the bottom of the garden from left to right, 2 rows of onions (red and white), seed potatoes, another row of onions (mixed) and three canes worth of french climbing beans and a heirloom pea called Tall Telephone (named after Alexander Graham Bell and one which grows well over 6ft!) Here’s to more good weather and veg progress!

The first of many (we hope)

Posted on May 9, 2018 by onedeckpete

In the new look Weeds garden these poppies (above) showed their heads over the bank holiday weekend. We sowed lots of them in the autumn and earlier this spring (alongside tons of night scented stock nearer the house) and here’s the first of them. They may be small but the flowers certainly pack a vibrant punch! Long live the poppy!

Music to accompany the sunshine

Posted on May 6, 2018 by onedeckpete

Big shout to Dr Strangedub & DJ Baby Swiss out of KFAI’s The Echo Chamber and Bruno out of Dan Dada Records for the latest instalment of Around The World in Dub (volumes 9 and 10) available free from the Dan Dada Bandcamp page here. Thanks a million to the crew for including Jazzmin & Madtones‘s Earth Citizen.

The free (we repeat FREE) compilation contains 35 cracking tunes of a dub wise or dub influenced nature from all around this planet of ours featuring Dubmatix with Earl Zero, Trevor “The Technician” McKenzie and The Last Boss & Dubby Doo and a lot lot more, all on a top quality tip! There is no excuse; download, chill out then dub out! #jazzminmadtone #earthcitizen

From April showers to a dub shower

Posted on April 30, 2018 by onedeckpete

Big thanks to long-time friend The Rhythm Doctor for pointing us in the direction of this tune the other night, Hold Up Your Head by Errol Carter (aka “Flabba” Holt of the Roots Radics/Morwells) produced by the great Rupie Edwards. With a keyboard sound reminiscent of Unexpected Places by Hortense Ellis it’s a killer of a tune and on the B side a top dub called Tank Skank that the youtube here doesn’t do justice. The single is less than a fiver on discogs so hunt it down! We would like more dub showers on the stereo and less rain in the garden please (or could it rain in the night?).

Not a prediction for today’s weather

Posted on April 22, 2018 by onedeckpete

We celebrated Record Store Day 2018 (supported by BBC Music) at Weeds by putting two coats of Cuprinol on a garden gate (supported by two ham sarnies, a posh sausage roll and copious cups of tea.)

The Scotch Bonnet crew did it in a far better style by releasing a belter of a tune using a vocal from the late great Bim Sherman (courtesy of Adrian Sherwood) over a hard rhythm built by Mungo’s Hi-Fi as you can hear! Already played on On The Wire and I can hear this going down a storm on KFAI’s Echo Chamber as well as many others. May Scotch Bonnet and Mungo’s keep putting out such fine music forever!

And news just in from Berlin…

Posted on April 15, 2018 by onedeckpete

Big shout to our good friend Phil Harmony out of Berlin who’s made a start on his great balcony plot which we’ve featured a few times here on Weeds (one of a few posts here).

He’s got some chilli’s on the go from a nice little kit (above), a basil plant from last year, tomatoes, salad and trying some radish and sunflowers. Phil mentioned growing scarlett runner beans (aka feuerbohne or fire beans) on his balcony plot too. Good stuff!

And for this post Phil nominates this mix from Peter Kruder from a couple of years back.

Brilliant stuff Phil. Keep those progress reports and tunes coming!

Weeds up to me knees

Madtone, gardening and life