Esbjorn Svensson

Tragic to lose such a great jazz pianist. The E.S.T. represented all that was good about contemporary jazz. Having spent a year in Stockholm and being born the same year, I literally felt i knew where he was coming from :

Guardian Obituary

The Uncle from U.N.C.L.E.

Christopher Cary, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Strange Man Affair, 1965

1966 and all that

A friend lent me a copy of a 1966 episode of Batman, in which my late uncle, Christopher Cary, played a kilt-wearing Scotsman. Priceless lunacy !!

Rhubarb Rhubarb

Swapped a few cabbage seedlings for the right to help ourselves to rhubarb.

Harvest & Sow

Spuds coming on nicely - no sign of blight, yet.

Harvested :

Rhubarb
Peas
Lettuce
Broad Beans
Strawberries
Rocket
Pak Choi
Spinach
Kale

Sowed :

Carrots
Lettuce
Pak Choi
Spinach

Planted Out :

Cobra Beans
Cabbage
Sweet Corn

Broad Beans

Despite an attack of blackfly, the broad bean harvest is a good un.



Been picking around half a kilo every few days.

Spring Harvest

Harvested artichokes, broad beans, lettuce, rocket, radishes, peas.

Angelica

I was only expecting the angelica to last two years. This is part of one which was growing at home and I divided, three years ago. Perhaps this is the last year. We made crystallised angelica from the stems a few years ago.

This Year's Frog

This is the only one of seven froglets that survived this year. Then he hopped out of the jar in the garden one day.


A bit blurred - didn't use a tripod.



Coming up for air.



I probably should have kept them out of the sunlight.



Beginnings in the allotment pond.

A is for Apple

A list of most of the things i'm cultivating this year...

Apple - Cox's Orange Pippin
Artichoke
Asparagus
Basil
Beetroot
Blackcurrant
Borlotti Bean
Broad Bean
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrot
Celery
Chamomile
Chard
Chrysanthemum
Cobra Bean
Comfrey
Coriander
Cornflower
Cosmos
Courgette
Crocosmia
Cucumber
Dahlia
Datura
Delphinium
Dill
Echinacea
Evening Primrose
Foxglove
Garlic
Gladioli
Gooseberry
Honeysuckle
Kale
Lavender
Leek
Lettuce
Love Lies Bleeding
Marigold
Mesembryanthemum
Mint
Nectarine
Night Scented Stock
Nigella
Nolana Bluebird
Onion
Pak Choi
Parsley
Parsnip
Peas
Poppy
Radish
Raspberry
Redcurrant
Rhubarb
Rocket
Rosemary
Runner Bean
Sage
Spinach
Strawberry
Sunflower
Sweet Corn
Sweet Pea
Tagetes
Tulip
Vietnamese Coriander
Yarrow
Willow

...links to photos later.

Flower Photo Gallery

Mulatu Astatke v Britain's Got Talent

Escaped from teenage daughter watching 'Britain's Got Talent', with some joker playing 'keepy uppy' with a football, while a ghetto blaster played. At first, even Amanda Holden thought that he belonged on a football field rather than in a theatre, but hey, the crowd went wild and Simon Cowell loved it, so I must be wrong, it wasn't shite and he is the future of entertainment.

Thankfully, Gilles Peterson had Mulatu Astatke live in session from Maida Vale. I'd certainly rather listen to a 65 year old Ethiopian than anything that Piers Morgan thinks is entertainment. Note to self - time to stop watching certain TV shows with teenage daughter, we'll only upset each other.

A laptop for every donkey

Came across a great site, with loads of good piccies & links :

http://alaptopforeverydonkey.blogspot.com/

Planting by the moon

Not a good time for flowering veg, but good for leafy veg.
Hmm. Regardless, sowed :

- Celery
- Lettuce
- Nigella
- Black Eyed Susan
- Busy Lizzie
- Cosmos
- Larkspur
- Aquilegia

First sowings

Sowed some seeds into modules indoors :

- Mangetout (Reuzensuiker)
- Cabbage (Langedijk 4)
- Broccoli (Brassica oleracea Italica)

(sound like good album titles to me)

..and two types of leek, in big yogurt pots :

- Leek (Carentan 2)
- Leek (Autumn Mammoth 2 - Snowstar)

(or at least track titles)

Albums Of The Year

The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
The Tuss - Rushup Edge
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Efterklang - Under Giant Trees
Robert Wyatt - Comicopera


& failed to enjoy : LCD Soundsystem, Battles, Fiery Furnaces, Burial, Kate Nash, Jamie T, Mark Ronson et al

Crack open the sloe gin

Crack open the sloe gin and have a couple of listens to The Tuss - probably Richard James' alter ego - which finds its way to my ears. It's ok I suppose, but it just sounds like a lot of Ableton Live and a.n.other bit of software, with the same mashed beats and wafty pads. Don't get me wrong, it's still about the most important work to come out this year.

Good too, to hear a lot of Stockhausen on the radio, though it's a shame he had to die before that was possible. It's a guarantee of extra exposure, the dying game: Remember laughing with NJ @ Mouse Records back in '97, that it'd be the best way of marketing 'Baltic Beats'.

Oh dear - the Stockhausen's got a bit shouty now. Think I need to come back to earth with a mindless half hour of telly footy.

First frosts

Frost coming tonight, so I gathered up a few things from the allotment, including the last of the small pumpkins and dug up the vietnamese coriander bush to take home for the winter. I've already got half a dozen shoots in a jar of water which have sprouted taproots 3-4 cm long and are ready for potting up.
Never done so much faffing around before the first frosts - herded a load of potted plants indoors like sheep, some even though they don't really need it (olives, geraniums, parsley) and others to extend their lives a bit (lobelia, tomatoes, marigolds, dahlias). Wrapped up a couple of outside dahlias with bubblewrap, just to see whether I'll get the last buds to flower when it warms up a bit later in the week.

Late autumn sun

Late autumn sun ensures at least a couple of pumpkins mature in time for Halloween.
Sunflower heads in the shed had got damp and were starting to rot, so I sat in the sun separating a couple of hundred seeds.
Collected gladioli and rocket seeds too.
Planted out broad beans. The ones sown directly into the ground are finally emerging.
Harvested kale, rocket, lambs lettuce and a couple of carrots.

Sow when the moon is low

Peculiarly warm, dark, day, busy up the allotment :
Cycled with a bag of compost from home, dug a trench and buried it
Cleared more space and planted another 50 onion sets
Planted 24 garlic cloves
Planted a dozen broad beans in open ground & a few in a seed tray
Made a small bonfire
Skimmed off some pond weed
Harvested : a marrow shaped pumpkin, the rest of the late new potatoes, a parsnip, some rocket & the last cucumber.

Jorge Saxon / Galapagos Manufacture Remix

Jorge Saxon/Galapagos Manufacture Remix (edit) - mp3



Spent the last couple of weeks working on this remix for Jorge, who I met 17 years ago when I lived and worked in Poland and he was barely out of short trousers ! Apparently it's coming out on vinyl in Poland, together with other remixes - which is cool, 'cos I thought vinyl days were over. I'll be posting the whole track on MySpace soon.