I’ve had a Dedica for a few years. Hands down the best value machine on the market. I see the newer version has a better steamer stem too - my only gripe with the older model is that it was too short. Mine is on the way out now, but it has made literally thousands of cups of coffee, and all I’ve ever had to do is replace one small component that set me back a tenner. Think I paid £150 when new, then just bought a bean grinder to sit alongside it.
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Beautiful, inspirational and yes, great timing, thank you. Surely the most balearic hobby/pastime?
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That border is beautiful! I’d buy a packet of seeds for that!
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Hi Jez,
Well a lot depends on soil, aspect and what you like to eat. But assuming a fairly sunny, open spot and average garden soil, you could get a couple of bags of sharp sand, dump them to make a mound facing south and plant thyme, rosemary, oregano. They love growing in sand.
You could sow: radish, spinach, chard, lettuce, rocket, broad beans, peas. All might be best started in pots but are hardy.
You could sow coriander, parsley and chervil.
You could get potatoes and chit them.
Maybe look at your patch too and see that you have a range of conditions if possible: higher, lower, sandy, composted. Sunny med herbs on the top of sand, shade tolerant and moisture loving lower down.
That’s a start!
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Well into this. Never seem to have enough time though. Great work on the borders - kudos!
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great tip on the sand, thanks
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Can you do the sand thing in pots as well? Even doing 50/50 grit and soil, I never seem to do well with Mediterranean herbs
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I’m by no means an expert but I do love Sun Ra and the Arkestra, I’ve been to see them live a number of times over the years and always try to catch them when I can. When seeing them live what makes it so exciting for me is how they can veer from easy listening exotica to full on noise blast and back all within the same song. When I’m listening at home though I’d much rather veer toward the former. here are some good places to start:
Probably his best known album and a good home listen from start to finish:
Excellent compilation concentrating on the more easier to listen to end of the Ra spectrum:
Another excellent comp that is a bit more representative of a wider range of the Arkestra’s output, meaning it does on ocassion get the ‘What on Earth (or Saturn) are you listening to?’ response:
Hopefully this should help you to dip your toes in. I would also mention John Swzed’s excellent biography ‘Space is the Place’ and also of course the film of the same name, which is where it all started for me after watching 30 odd years ago…
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With thyme, I would try full sand. Drainage is key for them. Just let them get well rooted before summer. They might appear to be completely dead in August, but with watering recover amazingly in September. Must be sharp sand though.
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That’s really lovely and great that you can do it for a living too. One of the highlights of the drab post-Christmas time for me in the last few years has been thinking about what I can plant and digging stuff over. However this year we have to move, looks like our new place 
has a much smaller garden and it’s all paved at the mo so may be pots for a while. It really is good for the soul I find though
I’ve had decent success with beetroot, dwarf beans, spinach beet and spuds in the bags, tomatoes too. Even tried some sweetcorn last year as I’ve always wanted to grow it. Fennel (veg not herb) was an epic fail 
and cavolo nero was OK until word got round to the caterpillars about the all you can eat buffet.
My late father in law was a gardener by trade, served his time at Kew, worked at Battersea Park then moved up to Scotland (Mrs CovKids mum from Glasgow) and worked in lots of castles north of the Border. Probably the most contented person I’ve ever known. I’ll stop wittering on now. 
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Well good luck with the move, Chris. Lots can be done in pots and paving stones can be taken up! It is certainly a relaxing and satisfying thing to do.
Thanks mate, much appreciated, it’ll give me something to do!
Thank you Joe!
I will get going on this at the weekend.
Looking forward to it.
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Thank you - lots to get started with and some lovely ideas. Much appreciated!
Love gardening. I have 2 types of chilli, watermelon, bananas, pomegranate, passionfruit, spinach, silverbeet, tomato, capsicum, sweet potato, lettuce, rosemary, coriander, saltbush, basil and a few others in season in the garden at the moment. It means making a meal doesn’t always rely on a trip to the shops. (I hate grocery shopping)
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I’m no expert on Sun Ra either. I’ve had that Lanquidity album for years but struggled to get into it, need to give it another shot.
This is an all timer though
Thinking about it, i seem to prefer his stuff with vocals. Here’s a few others
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The early singles are my fave Sun Ra output. This double CD comp is outstanding.
And i’ve been meaning to start going through this. It’s a 16 hour 14 CD boxset.
Back in the cofee tip siz but anyone got tips on decent burr coffee grinders?
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For Espresso ? Depends really what you’re brewing.
Yeah, espresso.
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