Get those buckets out, possibly

Posted on April 20, 2024 by onedeckpete

This scene is from a couple of years ago but this weekend we may go back in the time machine and relive it as it’s going to be 2°C overnight on Sunday, supposedly.

We’ve got spuds that have sprouted and even some coriander seed that have propagated outdoors so it’s better to be safe than sorry. We reckon give it a couple of more weeks and we’ll be out of the danger zone but then again remember that snappy old-time gardening saying “Button to chin, till May be in, cast not a clout, till May be out. If you lose your seed spuds you will get angry and swear and shout”.

The sun’s out this morning, the sky is blue but it’s still nippy. Whether we’ll be in the garden today for long is another thing. So for this sunny morning, here’s a tune by Billy Hope with Riding West which has a bit of a Steptoe and Son vibe to it.

Sophisticated frost protection for beginners

Posted on April 17, 2024 by onedeckpete

Here’s an example of one of our cheapskate frost protection schemes in situ in the bed at the bottom of the garden. We’ve got a couple of split bin bags down to keep the weeds out and the soil warm, an old vase, some glacé cherry containers and an old plastic cloche we found in the street years ago. They may be not look pretty but they will hopefully work to keep that damn frost out!

Thank goodness, there wasn’t a frost last night. Now the SE23 weather forecast has changed a bit, tonight is still supposedly going to be 5°C, tomorrow 9°C and from Friday night to Sunday night there’s lows of 3°C during the wee hours. So the protection will be back on for the next few nights and of course be taken off during the day if it heats up a little like when the sun came out today for a couple of hours.

We’ve seen online all sorts of frost protection from old clothes, net curtains to random bits of fabric draped over bamboo canes in a teepee. It’s not about what it looks like more about if it’ll work or not and what you have at hand, punk rock style.

And here’s a nice chilled tune made by a punk rocker so it says on Bandcamp, it’s from “Dan Rincon, longtime drummer of the prolific psych-punk band OSEES’” and the tune is called MotorRhythm, Wooden and it’s a good one if like us, you like a bit of out there downbeat.

A bit of improvisation

Posted on April 16, 2024 by onedeckpete

The weather doesn’t look that great tonight, what with a forecast low of 4 degrees C. That’s the trouble with this time of year, we get a little bit of sunshine over a weekend and we think that the garden is under starters orders.

We’re a bit paranoid here, so we went out earlier and put what jam jars and a couple of plastic cloches that we had over some plants. We even improvised using those little plastic containers that glacé cherries come in, put over some small seed potato shoots. Let’s see how we get on with these tonight. Tomorrow isn’t looking good at 3 degrees C either so we reckon we’ll be putting them back on tomorrow too. It’s better to be safe than sorry as they say.

And just to add to the drama while we were out the back we were treated to a short hail storm. That’s all you need when you’re running about the garden at dusk covering random plants with glacé cherry containers and jam jars, what must the neighbours be thinking?

Where have all the flowers gone?

Posted on May 1, 2022 by onedeckpete

On Saturday morning while we were out and about on our travels we were told of an interesting garden in development around the back of a charity shop.

When we got to the said plot we were greeted with some nice raised beds surrounded by walls with a wooden frame and wire mesh that were covered in numerous empty plant pots all connected up to a clever irrigation system. Even the gate to get in had pots on the back of it, talk about vertical veg and not wasting any space!

No idea what they may be growing but we wonder if it’s micro-greens on a commercial basis. We did see some fruit bushes ready to go in too. Whoever is taking over this garden is taking it very seriously.

Also this weekend we had a right of mixture of weather. It was gorgeous yesterday with the sun out most of the day but today it was a few degrees colder and we even had a bit of drizzle. As it’s still cold at night we have a variety of different kinds of plant protection from jam jars, the tops of propagators and plastic mini-cloches plonked over some tomato and pepper seedlings. (Above) the mini veg patch at the bottom of the garden with the frost protection and the plastic mushroom bought from a bric-a-brac stall at a summer festival which is placed over a cut off washing line pole. Keep an eye on the temperatures at night as we’re still not out of the doldrums yet!

So the neighbours think we’ve gone mad again

Posted on April 5, 2021 by onedeckpete

So it’s been another nice day with some sunshine here in London but there’s reports of snow and Arctic conditions up north this afternoon. It may have been nice in the sunshine but when you walked out of the sun it weren’t half nippy!

The forecast tonight is for possible frost so we got out the protection for some newly planted shrubs in the form of old bits of fabric flung around a trio of small bamboo canes in a tent formation. We’ve made sure the cloth don’t touch the leaves, there’s no gaps where the cold can get into and a few stones at the bottom to anchor it down. We can only hope for the best!

Don’t leave me this way

Posted on May 16, 2020 by onedeckpete

Looking on BBC Weather we see that it’s going to be a warmer 8 degrees overnight in London so we’ve done away with the frost protection.

It hasn’t been easy y’know, all that old polythene, an old window frame, jars, an upside down fish tank and all sorts have been over those plants for the last few weeks now so we don’t know how we’re going to cope with knowing they won’t be there tonight. Fingers crossed! #lockdownfrostparanoia

We don’t want any frost during lockdown

Posted on May 11, 2020 by onedeckpete

We may just be paranoid or going mad in these lockdown times but it’s going to be cold one tonight here in London, three degrees according to some weather forecasts. We don’t want to be losing anything so the last of the black membrane and also some old christmas tree/florist buckets (taken from outside the local florists on bin night a few years ago) were put over the potato plants that are some size now. The dahlias are sprouting so we’ve covered them too. Fingers crossed tonight’s weather isn’t that bad. #nofrostinlockdown #don’ttrusttheweather

Who put the clocks back?

Posted on May 10, 2020 by onedeckpete

Looking outside this evening, we can’t believe it! The sun was out this morning, it was relatively warm and the protection was taken off all the plants in fear they’d be baked alive. What happened?At 5pm it was windy, freezing and every cloche, bit of polythene and B&Q bucket was thrown over the vegetables in double quick time. We may not get a frost over the next night or two but it is cold, so better being safe than sorry.

And in warmer times (at about 10am) the sight of the first poppies in the garden. As the song goes, what a difference a day makes.

Post-frost therapy

Posted on April 28, 2017 by onedeckpete

There was a frost here Wednesday morning (as we’re sure we saw a white veil over the local cars on the way to work) and hopefully that’ll be it now, even though it’s still a bit parkie outside today.We’re not taking any chances here for a few days at least, the tomato plants that were outside in the upside down terrarium are now in the back room (that might have to be hardened off a little before they go out) and there’s still fleece over the Easter Sunday sown spuds. And then there’s the brassicas, runner beans and peppers that want to go out, finger’s crossed it won’t be too long now…And if you have lost a plant or two in the recent frosts here’s a tune for you…

It’s a corker from the great Mongo’s Hi-Fi (which we’ve featured a few times here at Weeds) with Johnny “Move Out Of Babylon” Clarke called “Rain keeps falling” which comes back with a lovely dub as well. The 7″ single is a special record store day release and you can get it here and if you fancy the download go here. Tune!

Let there be fleece on earth

Posted on December 15, 2015 by onedeckpete

Last weekend I treated myself to a big old roll of horticultural fleece from Shannon’s for a fiver. All I need now is to find some plants to use it on!

It offers great protection from frosts (even though net curtains and large sheets of newspaper are alright too) as it works like a cloche around the plant creating a microclimate and at the same time allows air, moisture and light in.

I started the “big wrap up” on Sunday when I spent half an hour in the garden “tipping around with a hoe”, as they used to say at Westminster Council. I’m sure over the next few weeks they’ll be more plants covered in said fabric, I mean I’ll have to use it as I have tons of the stuff left!

I like the effect as it makes the garden look a bit mysterious (and possibly make the neighbours doubt your sanity) but you’ll be the one laughing when your tender perennials that you’re too lazy to bring indoors survive the winter.

Geraniums under fleece I shouldn’t worry as I know come late spring I’ll have a handful of leggy Tomato plants to go out before the risk of frost is passed. The fleece will then be pulled out from under the stairs to do it’s job. Safe and warm_Lemon Verbena Another thing put to good use is the terrarium/upside down fish-tank I found in the street a few years ago. It’s now covering up the Lemon Verbena I bought after Haji Mike from Cyprus sung it’s praises on his Facebook page. It’s a great smelling plant and makes a good old herbal cupa too. Big up the fleece!

Weeds up to me knees

Madtone, gardening and life

Tag Archives: Frost protection