Radio Dada and it goes something like this…

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A big cheers to Will for telling us about the programme last night on BBC 6 Music with Terry Farley talking and selecting records with Andrew Weatherall as well as giving a potted history of London’s clubland. Some great tunes and some great stories and it’s up on the web for six more days if you fancy it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g9cdg

All the talk about youth cults and fanzines on the show brought me back to the time I produced my first fanzine many many moons ago. Here’s an excerpt from it; a letter I wrote to the local paper complaining about the latest youth cult at that time. I was appalled!

What a difference a day makes

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How mad has the weather been this week? I’ve tried to make the most of it and popped out when I could to do the odd bit of weeding and have sowed the odd bit indoors. The combination of the sun and the rain is sending the garden crazy!

I tell you what else was crazy, last Sunday morning as I went downstairs to make a cup of tea I looked out of the back window to see a massive Heron standing motionless by our pond. It looked bonkers, I swear it was three foot high and it looked like it was made out of plastic and boy, the size of its beak! I legged it to get the camera and when I got back, you know it had gone. He must have been right disappointed, as all there is in our pond are thousands of tadpoles and the odd newt!

It was root day last Sunday too so put in the last of the chitted seed potatoes in the bed next to the pond which is mainly going to be just spuds with two rows of onions and a couple of bean poles in a tripod formation style.

As frost is still on the cards for a few weeks I planted them (chitted end up) about 4 inches deep and earthed up the soil around them which will help protect them from any cold snap. The super extra earlies I planted a few weeks ago in the cold frame are steaming on, I swear I am raising the thing with row of extra bricks each week. There’s a log wedged at the back of it now to raise it up even higher. They are doing brilliantly and it’s not even the end of April yet!

Lazy wednesday afternoon

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I’m off work this week as it’s the kid’s half term and spending a bit of time doing some DIY on the house. I started early on the painting this morning so I could treat myself to a bit of gardening if the weather perked up in the afternoon, which it did!

Between the April showers I “tipped about” with the hoe, cut the grass and sowed some courgettes and french climbing beans “under cover” aka a jam jar and having ran out of plastic seed labels improvised with a bit of wooden moulding (found in the street last week) and a saw!

I even had to raise the glass on the cold frame made out of the old window as the super early spuds are tearing away. It’s not ideal so I’ll be wrapping them up in fleece while the threat of frost is about and move the frame elsewhere. It’s certainly working well for the spuds and the biodynamic malarky seems to be helping too!

Everything is starting to take off now what with the combination of the sunshine and the showers. The raised bed made out of the scaffolding boards has been filled with plants and in front of that is the salad bed and the seeds sown there are starting to germinate. I ran out of fence protector so need to purchase another couple of tins and the second raised bed needs filling too. This gardening lark, it’s never ending!

Holidays in the sun

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I had a dream on Easter Sunday morning involving a presenter from a 1970’s TV gardening show (whose name escapes me, if he ever really existed!) whose last words to me before waking were “indoor lawns really thrive”. I don’t know about indoor lawns thriving this bank holiday but indoor activities have, what with the dreadful weather here!

Most of the weekend was spent painting the hall but I did find the time to sow and pot on some seedlings indoors but nothing much outdoors apart from chucking some veg peelings into the compost heap and feeding the worms in the wormery.

I found another couple of pics of our back garden a couple of weeks after we first moved in on an older computer this weekend while I was looping some shortwave stuff for some new Madtone tunage. I had forgotten how bad it really was. And sometimes I’m a bit hard on myself and think I’ve let the back garden get a bit untidy…

Don’t let the weeds (and the weather) get you down!

Tales from the zerox machine

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Last week I got a copy of the fanzine “Gardeners Delight” after seeing the review for it on the site produced by DJ Frederick from the US fanzine Paper Radio called One Minute Zine Reviews http://zinereviews.blogspot.com/. I originally thought they from the States too but turns out they are from S.W. London!

Issue 1, produced last year is an excellent introduction to the world of gardening, has great tips and information for those who are interested in the hobby and want to get started. Issue 2 will feature how to set up a community garden amongst other things which is well up our street. Great stuff and all for the cheap price of £2 including p+p! More information from flissc@gmail.com

They are associated with a community garden which has a nice site at http://www.wimbledonfoodgroup.co.uk/fireplace-garden-blog.html
Inspiring stuff!
It was easy, it was cheap. Go and do it!


A touch of the twirlies

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Year ago when I worked as a postman in Coventry, if you were ever late back to the office after the first post your workmates would jibe you with the line “did you get the bus back with the twirlies?” Back then, pensioners could ride the buses for free after 9.30am but you’d get the odd one trying their luck at twenty past using the phrase “am I too early?” (sounds like ‘twirly’ in midlands twang) if ever a jobsworth bus driver gave them the knock-back.

Talking of twirlies, a couple of weeks ago I sowed a couple of seed potatoes in the cold frame and they are now on their way. I’ll have to keep them under cover until the risk of frost has passed which might mean raising the frame up a bit as the plant grows but it’s worth the trouble for those early spuds. I do like a home-grown potato!

On the biodynamic calendar it was a “flower” day today so sowed some Borage and Foxgloves in trays on the kitchen windowsill. I transplanted some hardened off Morning Glory seedlings into the new raised bed, putting some jam jars over them just in case the weather gets cold again (which it might) and also moved some self-seeded Poppies from around the garden in there too.

This is a very busy time in the garden now, preparing for the season to come and to get a bit of a head start on yourself, so sometimes it does pay to be a bit “twirly”!

Eye eye eye eye moosey

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A weekend fit for gardening or what? Here in the UK it was! Yesterday while thousands of others were sunning themselves crammed onto Brighton beach I was weeding in the back close to the house listening to the excellent slow-mo electonica of Andrew Weatherall on the red bull music academy site recorded in one of the pods of the London eye last year. Lovely stuff!

Things are starting to roll now in the garden and not forgetting the windowsill! There’s three pots of “cut and come again” cos lettuce mix ready to eat soon. The seeds cost me £2.35 and just add to that the price of a pot of compost, it’s cheap as chips to grow it yourself. As it was “leaf day” yesterday too, I took the chance with the weather and sowed outdoors two sorts of lettuce; artic king and little gem plus some spinach in a part of the garden that throughout the day will get some dappled shade which will stop the plants from bolting and going to seed early. If there’s any sign of frost I’ll stick some fleece or an old net curtain over the seedlings.

Today I did another couple of jobs in the garden, including making a very simple raised bed out of a couple of scaffolding boards given to us by the Portugese man with a van (an excellent bloke who does removals and house clearances at a decent rate, contact number on request!) who sometimes uses our garage combined with three end pieces found in a skip last weekend. Those with a couple of screws and voilà, a raised bed! Now I’ve got to give them a lick of weather protector when I do the fence next month and find some compost to fill them with.

I’m also in the process of “hardening off” some `sweet peas (I’ve jam jars on them at night which I take off during the daytime to get them used to the weather conditions outdoors as they were started off on the windowsill). I couldn’t find any bamboo canes to put in to support the plants when they grow taller, so used the prunings off the apple trees from early this year as a substitute. I knew there was a reason I kept them!

The Andrew Weatherall mix is here: http://redbullmusicacademyradio.com/shows/4555/

The day the worm turned

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Last weekend I made myself a wormery which I’ve been meaning to do for a while now but my drill packed in a few weeks ago. When you see the price of the commercially sold worm-composting bins it’s definitely worth making your own. The main reason I made one is for the excellent compost I’ve been hearing a lot about and the liquid by-product produced, that can be used as great plant feed when diluted. Much cheaper and better than the chemical laden stuff you get for a fiver in DIY shops!

Armed with notes from the excellent “worm composting in the city” course at the walworth garden farm and some research in the library the week before, combined with the purchase of a new electric drill from Wickes (£29.99 from their “no frills” range) I was ready to roll!

The container is a plastic mop-bucket sized tub with a lid which was procured outside a shop in Theobalds Road (left out for the binmen) which I first gave a good wash out. I drilled a few dozen holes in the bottom (for the liquid to seep through) and the same amount 1” from the bottom and 2” from the top for ventilation. You could also drill some small holes in the lid for good measure too.

I then put a good layer of well ripped up newspaper and (untreated) cardboard at the bottom of the tub and gave it a soak and left to drain out for a short while. I then put in a layer of rotted compost from bin attempt 2, put the lid on and left overnight.

In the morning I put in a handful of composting worms (tiger or brandling worms, available from fishing tackle shops, the internet, off a fellow composter or as Bob Flowerdew suggested, lay a sheet of wet cardboard on the ground and in a few days you’ll get the worms on the underside) into the container. You only need a few as they breed like crazy.

I then put some a thin layer of finely cut up scraps of vegetable/kitchen waste in for the worms to feed on. They don’t need much at one time as they can only consume so much but they do like it regular so keep checking on them while making sure the compost doesn’t dry out and is kept just moist at all times. You can put in fruit and vegetable peelings, washed out uncooked egg shells, bread, leaves, dead flower heads, tea bags and coffee grounds etc. No meat, dairy products, oily foods etc as you don’t want to attract rats and mice even though it’s like catworld in our back garden! Once a month you should also add more fibrous material like ripped up newspaper and ripped up egg cartons.

The bin can be left outside but a warm place like a garage or the like is better, somewhere sheltered so as not to get hit by extreme cold as the worms can’t tolerate being baked or frozen. You could always insulate the bin with bubblewrap or similar if you do choose to site it outside (check that the airholes don’t get blocked) and make sure the bin is never in full sun.

Do remember to put a tray or something similar underneath the bin (mine is on two bricks to lift it off the floor) to catch the liquid that is produced. I will you keep you updated on how I get on and pass on any tips learnt as this is a first for me!

Cost of the post:
Electric Drill (Wickes “no frills” range): £29.99
Bucket: Free from outside a shop left out for the binmen.
Newspapers: 2 x Daily Mirrors bought for the Free Seeds
Composting Worms from Compost Bin Attempt 2 (Free)

Howling at the moon

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It was a lovely old day today so spent a couple of hours outside. I made a wormery after getting my hands on a plastic tub left out for the bin-men outside a shop on Theobalds Road the other week and used a handful of worms out of compost bin attempt number three. More about how I got on with it in a later post.

Also, I’m now following “biodynamic guide to sowing and planting” by Maria and Matthias Thun to the letter. As today’s a root day to 8pm, I sowed a row of potatoes, carrots and beetroot. It’s early I know but I’ll take me chances with the weather.

When I mention the biodynamic method to most people they think I’m daft saying such things as “ah ok?” and then changing the subject or say it has never been proven to work or think I’ve joined a mad gardening cult. Well as it costs nothing to try (apart from £4 odd for the book on amazon) you’ve got nothing to lose!