Tag Archives: dustbin incinerator

Forest Hill in the spring time

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Well it’s the first day of spring today but it didn’t really feel like it weatherwise. We spent a couple of hours in the garden as the neighbours have put up a new fence so we cleared the bed on the side so we can actually see what plants are called for this year. We need a few shrubs so we’ll be researching them over the next few weeks.

There’s seeds galore on the kitchen windowsill including two types of tomatoes and sweet peas, cut and come again lettuce, chillies and various herbs. It’s all about being prepared as the growing season is going to come around sooner than you think!

There was a load of clearing up going on down the bottom end of the garden too, lots of ivy to be cut back and we found a nice pile of very dry clippings from months ago. So to end a good couple of hours in the garden we christened our fairly newly acquired incinerator, cheers Marc! It’s been a while since we’ve had a fire and we’ve forgotten how nice it is to sit around a burning bright dustbin feeling the warmth. Hands up who loves a garden incinerator!

Tales from the incinerator part 2

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Thanks to our gardening mate Gerry Hectic for getting in touch and for letting us know about ALDI’s present gardening bargains, mini-roses at £1.79 each. The above is where Gerry put his two recent purchases into. It’s a herb infused incinerator with some coriander, parsley and is that basil or mint in there too? Inspired thinking we reckon!

It’s a great idea for a tall raised bed. We’ve an old incinerator that’s missing a bottom that could be put into action now. You could have a mixture of all sorts in a container like that, a potato plant in the middle, some tumbling tomatoes at the sides, herbs, some nasturtiums, the list is endless. A great idea Gerry!

And to accompany Gerry’s great idea here is a mad cover of Nina Simone‘s African Mailman by The Rhythmagic Orchestra which will be featured on the next special Free Radio Skybird mailbag later this month. What a tune!

We bought some seeds on ebay over the week, some coriander and basil to top up the pots on the kitchen windowsill so we have a little supply over the winter. Also we’re partial to a cup of chamomile tea so purchased some chamomile seeds too for sowing outdoors next year. It’s never to early to start planning!

You’ve come a long way…

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It’s mad, the photo above shows the raised beds just before lockdown in March. My, how time’s flown eh? How many week’s have we been lockdown for? 14, 15, 16? The garden isn’t bothered how long though, it’s cracking on and with this present warm and wet weather here in London it’s getting on with what it does best. Look at those raised beds now (below), the spuds (Two bags of seed potatoes from Shannon’s. By the way the garden centre did a sterling job getting people supplied with stuff around the start of lockdown) are starting to take over and it’s becoming a bit of a jungle around there. There’s peppers, lettuce, carrots and a cabbage somewhere in amongst that lot! That’s our new incinerator too, ta for Marc B for dropping that off in a social distanced manner!

We’ve pulled out a few handfuls of spuds from around the potato plants making sure that the plant wasn’t disturbed too much and then we piled the earth/compost over the crown of the plant so any spuds near the surface wouldn’t have the chance to turn green. And here’s the spuds (below), we’re confused if they’re the first earlies, second earlies or premature maincrop ones. It doesn’t really matter, they tasted excellent and what did they taste of? Yes potatoes but real potatoes!

The lockdown may be getting us all down but if you’re fortunate enough to have a garden/windowsill/balcony and growing stuff, you know that it keeps you that little bit sane(r)! By the way here’s two tips we swear by here at Weeds, the first is to nip the sideshoots out of your tomato plants (not if they are the bush variety though) so all the goodness goes into the main stem and the flowers.

And a silly but effective one, if you know it’s going to rain get the hoe out a few hours beforehand and just scratch up the surface of somewhere in your garden that don’t look that grand. Below is a particulary not brilliant bit at the bottom of the garden which seems to get all sorts of weeds and bindweed a lot. We gave it a good “tip-around with a hoe” (as they used to say in the council) yesterday and it now looks great! We’re hoping it get’s a good covering of borage for the next couple of months to keep the bees happy. Happy lockdown gardening! #gardeninginlockdown #goingmadinlockdown

Return to the garden-Ing

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This tune from the mighty Mungo’s Hi-Fi went through my mind as I spent a couple of hours in the garden today. It was nice to be back, cleaning up, cutting back and getting that dustbin incinerator back into action!

Kirkbrandon's incineratorAs Kirk Brandon of Theatre Of Hate sang all those years ago “I incinerator, I incinerate, I incinerate” But he forgot to also put in the words “the neighbours are angrily slamming their windows shut, their windows shut, THEIR WINDOWS SHUT!”

Talking about Theatre of Hate, a few years ago I featured in the blog this stone that I found on the beach in Camber Sands. Ain’t it a ringer for old Brandon’s mob’s logo. Big up gardening!

kirk brandon rock

I’m going to wash that tarp right out of my hair

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For the past week there’s been a tarpaulin covering the six feet high (and rising) mound of woody materials collected over the year at the bottom of our garden. It looked like there was an old car rusting away down there much to the disgust of the neighbours. Earlier in the week I treated myself to a dustbin incinerator (£32 at Wickes) and last night as part of the bonfire night celebrations burnt a whole heap of waste. That bin will be a boon as they say, what with all the un-compostable stuff that stacks up and if you use the funnel lid it can create some decent heat inside. I also treated myself to a mushroom growing kit  (£3.99 from Robert Dyas). It’s now festering under the stairs and there will be a ‘shroom update next week if everything goes to plan.

Yesterday I did a little bit in the garden (little and often is my motto), preparing for winter including some weeding, cutting back and pulling out any old annuals, tomato plants etc and either stuck them on the compost heap or the pile for the bonfire. I also put a cover over the wormery (a council supplied hessian gardening bag) as it’s starting to get cold now and I might have to move it to the garage or near the house later on. Bubblewrap over the compost heap/wormery is also  good to keep the heat in and I know Bob Flowerdew uses old carpet but the heap would have to be well out of view from the house as that method don’t look too attractive.

I’ll be netting the cabbages soon for protection against pigeons but at the moment the net’s being used to keep falling autumn leaves (and this weekend stray rockets and air bombs too) off the pond. The lady down the road who has the mad veg plot in her front garden (spinach, cabbages, lettuces, a grape vine and more) uses old supermarket shopping baskets and what looks like wire trays from an old fridge to keep the pests off her plants. Bob Flowerdew would be proud of her! He’d be proud of me too, as I used last year’s plastic sweet tub from halloween upside down as winter protection for the parsley plant near the kitchen door.

Finally, I heard a good tip this week on “gardening with tim and joe” about putting any pots that will be overwintering outside, up on bricks, stones or purpose built “feet” you can buy at garden centres to help with drainage over the cold spell. Lift up those pots! http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/gwtj

Ta to Amanda for wicker man pumpkin pic idea and Paul W for the inspiration to start this blog. It’s been well over a year now!