Gardening connects us all (Woolwich edition)

Posted on October 20, 2025 by onedeckpete

Thanks a million to an old friend Peter B for getting in touch and for sending some pictures of his allotment in Woolwich. Top picture, as he writes “The sunflowers are holding up well – apart from the ones in the back garden which are beheaded by squirrels.”

We understand 100% Peter as they are popular with the wildlife here in our garden. A long while ago a parakeet was robbing the seeds even though we were standing underneath it (see post here) then half an hour later two squirrels were chancing their arms too (see post here). Even a living scarecrow can’t stop them!

We found these pictures above interesting, as Peter mentioned “The cardoon shots are from the allotment – the stems are wrapped in cardboard for a month apparently to help blanch them. It’s supposed to make them taste better – the ones I tried earlier this year are bitter tasting even after extended cooking.” He added “They are an Italian favourite, a parmigiana made with cardoons as opposed to aubergines is to die for or so I’m told by a colleague at work.” We have a cardoon growing here at Weeds HQ but just for decoration purposes as we have never even tasted them before.

As he goes on to say “The cardoons are an experiment – I planted these a bit late this year and I didn’t space them far enough apart so they’re smaller than they might be – they grow to about 2 metres if spaced a metre apart.”

And finally “Tomatoes – I just like the look of them right at the end….”. Excellent stuff Peter, great for getting in touch again and ta for the photographs. Do send us an update next year!

Before the 40 mph wind came

Posted on December 31, 2024 by onedeckpete

It’s been a while since we’ve been out in the garden so we spent a couple of hours yesterday and today tidying up little areas rather than tackle the whole thing (and then possibly feel defeated). We found a giant garlic bulb (below) which was sprouting so we took the cloves apart and replanted them, fingers crossed!

We also had a go at the bed at the bottom of the garden (which has the wild bit behind it which is looking a bit messy at the the moment) which has been overrun with nasturtiums and weeds (below). We’ll be putting some vegetables in again we reckon. The cardoon on the right hand side is still going as well.

We also tidied up the bed by the garage, making it look a lot more tidier. The handful of hours we spent today will hopefully saving us a bit of work when spring finally comes around.

We’re supposedly getting 40 odd miles an hour winds later so it’s doubtful we’ll be sitting around the firepit watching the New Year’s Eve fireworks at midnight.

And talking of the new year, happy 2025 to all our readers and friends worldwide from us here at Weeds.

You’re really telling us it’s the August bank holiday weekend?

Posted on August 30, 2021 by onedeckpete

God knows what’s happening weatherwise, it’s freezing here in SE23 at the moment and there wasn’t much of an appearance of that yellow thing they call the sun over the weekend despite the promise of it.

Yesterday we spent an hour or two weeding the “rewilding” area at the bottom of garden where we put the “wild flower seed mix” and the odd bee bomb or two. As most of the flowers are “wild” so to speak, it’s hard knowing what are the actual weeds. The area does get a lack of significant sunlight so it’s a big gamble whatever you put down there. The cardoons do well though despite something that’s been eating their leaves for most of the summer (above).

Like we said before, it’s an art to get a part of a garden to look “wild, wild” instead of “wild” as in neglected if you see what we mean. We think we need to give our untame area a bit of time to develop before it looks as nice as the great insect garden of the great Horniman’s Gardens below. That’s “wild” but nice wild.There are successes though, towards the top of the garden we have a couple of sunflowers growing against the garage wall and it’s the smaller one (7ft) that is flowering first. This gardening hobby is all about patience isn’t it? Shame we haven’t got any.

Three’s (not) a crowd

Posted on March 22, 2021 by onedeckpete

We spent another couple of hours yesterday “tipping around with a hoe” as they used to say at the council and sorting out what’s what, now the new fence is in. As we cleared the side bed the day before we now can see what can go where.

At the bed at the bottom of the garden (pic above top) are a couple of cardoons that are now on their third year now after getting them originally from Shannon’s knowing nothing too much about the plant. I mean we don’t now that much about them now apart from the plants soar up to seven feet high and their thistle-like flowers attract bees and all sorts of pollinators in droves.

There’s also a globe artichoke next to the cardoonswhich we obtained after doing a swap with a mate at a local community garden for some egyptian walking onion bulbs (another “out there” plant). We’ll keep you posted on how they get on this year but do have a look at getting a cardoon or two if you fancy a bonkers looking plant!

Is there anybody out there?

Posted on November 29, 2020 by onedeckpete

The bed at the bottom of the garden is always a bit of a problem as it only gets sunlight in the late afternoon. At the present moment the nasturtiums have taken over and so has the borage behind them. We haven’t had a hard frost yet so it’s looking a little wild to say the least!

If you can remember we were going to “rest” the bed and fill it with the Thompson and Morgan Beneficial Flower seeds mix then COVID 19 came along. We were so fed up that one of the local shops had a 3 potato per person rule we put in a couple of rows of spuds plus some onions and broad beans there (see the bed in July here). After they were harvested in mid-August we gave the bed a good tidy up (here) and boy has it grown since!

The state of play at the moment is a Globe Artichoke root (1) we did a swap with a mate at a local community garden (for some Egyptian walking onion bulbs) is now starting to grow and the brilliant cardoons (2 and 3) we bought at Shannon’s a few years ago have starting sprouting again. Talk about value for money! And in the middle of the crazy nasturtiums are a couple of rows of autumn sown broad beans (4). When will the growing ever end?

As big as a wall, wall, wall

Posted on July 14, 2020 by onedeckpete

It makes us laugh, we’ve got some cardoons at the bottom of the garden we bought in Shannon’s a couple of years ago, they were only a few quid and they didn’t come with any claims about them being giants or anything, all we got were a couple of unassuming healthy plants with a plant label in each pot. We’re on the second year now and both plants are near on seven and a half feet tall and there may be more growth left in them!

Now compare those cardoons to the giant sunflower we got on ebay. In the ad for the seeds there were all sorts of claims of massive, large, tall and the like and there even may have been mentions of it being the actual plant in Jack and the Beanstalk. Use the small cabbage on the left of it as an indicator of scale. That is no giant cabbage!

And here’s an oddity (pic below) from one of our raised beds. The lime green fruit towards the top of the pic is a tomato. The dark green one towards the bottom, just behind the poppy bud is the fruit of a potato. Eat that and you’ll regret it!

As it says on wikipedia: “After flowering, potato plants produce small green fruits that resemble green cherry tomatoes. Like all other parts of the plant except the tubers, the fruit contain the toxic alkaloid solanine and are therefore unsuitable for consumption.” Now we know!

The answer my friend…

Posted on June 6, 2020 by onedeckpete

The weather has taken a turn for the windy this morning. Those cardoons we bought out of curiosity from Shannon’s as seedlings are on their second year now and well over six foot at the moment are swaying all over the shop. The flower heads are now starting to form, they really are something else when they come out. As for that Giant Russian Mammoth Sunzilla Big Massive and Broad 12ft Super Size Sunflower we bought on ebay…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=40&v=M6k9RfXpJFM&feature=emb_title

The day the sun came out…

Posted on January 19, 2020 by onedeckpete

We haven’t been out the back for weeks and it showed (above). The side bed had all sorts of debris on top of the soil: rotting comfrey leaves, dead sunflower sticks, dried nasturtium stalks and the like. We wrapped ourselves in a few layers of clothing, got the kneeling mat out and within an hour it looked fairly respectable (below).

The veg bed at the bottom put us in mind of an abandoned allotment (below) but now looks like any other bed during the winter. It was a bit frozen down there so the garden fork was left in the garage, a rake was the tool of choice and we got as much rubbish up as possible using it. All that’s left in the bed now is the couple of cardoons and a broad bean or two (below lower)!

The best thing we done was pull up the dahlia tubers, getting as much of the soil off as we could without damaging the them before storing them somewhere dry until the spring. We should have pulled them up earlier but laziness and life kicked in towards the end of last year. Let’s hope we’re not too late!

We may not have started gardening yet but the garden has

Posted on January 5, 2020 by onedeckpete

We still haven’t ventured out the back to do any work even though there’s a lot to do and the weather weren’t that bad yesterday. The couple of cardoons we got from Shannon’s a while back, flowered last year and then died down and we thought that was the end of that. Then in November the plant came back to life and here it is at the moment (above). We’ll be popping back to Shannon’s soon to get a couple more cardoons as they are great stuff. We hope in the next couple of weeks as well to spend some time tidying the garden up for spring as it’s looking a bit messy. And the Dahlias haven’t even been taken out yet!

And to start the new year off on the downbeat tip here’s a nice mellow number from Davin Plashin with Norkav, it may only be 2 minutes and 22 seconds but it’s chilled and infectious!

And the next, a lovely bit of electronica from L.Porche with Saint Gingolph. Who says the new year is dead when it comes to music and the garden?

Weeds up to me knees

Madtone, gardening and life

Tag Archives: cardoons