FT: Iran demands crypto fees for ships passing Hormuz during ceasefire

Ohhhh so this is the use case!

Did I accidentally shove a fistful of LSD up my arse or did this really happen?

I’d always imagined the pickup truck John Steinbeck drove in Travels With Charley as altogether more rugged and minimalist. This is basically a caravan. Vanlife always disappoints.

Puffed up podcast image

My new radio/podcast series Puffed Up starts today! Its fun and stupendously interesting. Featuring the origin of wind and brass instruments, the importance of inflatables, and dentistry. Given the moon fly by today the series also covers inflatable space craft which are a big thing for NASA.

And the pneumatic tyre? An idea so good it was invented twice, and both times by a Scotsman.

250 years too late 😉

You don’t make cyclists mix with motor traffic at roundabouts and rely on driver behaviour.

You design them so they don’t have to, removing the risk altogether.

📍 ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Decided to invent some mushrooms

Pickled Hogspot
Pennygallow
Meadow Bunions
Larking Hideaway
Alfgang's Shitter
Spotted Pennygallow
Pifflecap
Red Gilled Devil
Forest Truncheon
Reeking Peter's Elbow
False Pennygallow
Widows Salter
Greycock
Foaming Bogball
Leaning Constable
Soupwitch.

Small seedlings of Sungold F1 tomato plants

Tomato plants on the windowsill. I’m early this year which is dangerous as I need to wait until it’s reliably 10 degrees overnight in the greenhouse. Usually get the first crop in time for the opening weekend of the Tour de France. They’ll keep producing until mid October.

*for /weeks/ - can usually count on a two month harvest, mid Feb to mid April

Purple sprouting broccoli

Daily handful of purple sprouting broccoli I’ve been picking for week from five plants in a 3x1m patch in the garden. Dead easy to grow, very difficult to buy at this quality & freshness.

A path with white blackthorn blossom fringing it

The blackthorn blossom is something else this year

Definitely. Purple sprouting broccoli a good example. We’ve got plums and greengages. I planted out some blueberry bushes last year with high hopes for those.

Needless to say, food prices are going up and growing your own can save a few hundred quid a year in shopping. But it's not worth doing it unless you think you might enjoy it. Start with these easy crops and you almost certainly will. Good growing!

On seeds: the packets from Franchi (Seeds of Italy online) are far more generous than garden centre packs. For lettuces & herbs, you can skip the seed stage by buying small, densely planted pots of lettuce & basil and carefully separate up the roots and replant as individuals.

Carrots are good if your soil is sandy (mine isn't) and can be bothered to net against carrot root fly (I can't). I should try harder.

If you like to eat Radishes, Tuscan (black) kale and Swiss chard they’re all productive and easy to grow. Kale may need netting against pigeons and/or butterflies depending on where you live. But no point growing it if you won’t eat it.

Growing tomatoes outdoors is viable if you’re in eastern or southern England, with a south-facing wall to hold heat. Grow cordon varieties of cherry toms (trained as a single stem, and supported) - 'Sungold' and ‘Gardener’s delight’ are v dependable.

No such pest problems with Courgettes, the triffids of the veg patch. Two or three plants will feed you through summer. Harvest small and often — they turn into marrows if you look away.

...French beans. Need to wait until it's warmed up a bit but these are amazingly easy if you keep an eye on the slugs and snails when the plants are small. Dwarf varieties like Ferrari are first to crop, climbers like Cosse Violette are even more productive.

Climbing varieties of mange tout and sugar snap peas. Pick them young and often. Expensive in shops, easy to grow. Good but not quite as productive as....

Seed tray with first germination of lettuce plants

Tiny lettuce plants germinating on my windowsill. Once grown and harvested using the Charles Dowding method (find it on Youtube) they'll produce around 100 large bowls of salad leaves. Lettuce has the best cost-effort-space ratio of all the things I grow. I'd also recommend...

Can’t see a quick fix happening - they’ll need to reroute over the A48 bridge. There’s a stepped ramp & footway for pedestrians - the road isn’t the nicest for cycling.

This supersedes the FAQ lower down

Erm yes, that's what I posted !

Old Wye Bridge Chepstow - Monmouthshire UPDATE 27/03/2026 Monmouthshire County Council has taken the decision to close the Old Wye Bridge in Chepstow to all users following recommendations from specialist engineers. The bridge, which connec...

Old Wye Bridge at Chepstow closed to *all* users - including pedestrians and cyclists, after more cracks in the cast iron structure were discovered. www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/old-wye-brid...

The Ben Nevis Summit Observatory.

Manned weather station on Scotland's highest peak, operating continuously from 1883 to 1904.

Jet’s book was first published in 2019

Jack Thurston: Lost Lanes Scotland - Edinburgh Festival of Cycling Event Details Date: 21st May 2026 19:00 – 20:00 Venue: Paterson's Land Jack Thurston: Lost Lanes Scotland Jack will talk about the latest – and greatest – book in the best-selling Lost Lanes series, L...

We are delighted to announce that @jackthurston.bsky.social is coming to Edinburgh to talk about his new book, Lost Lanes Scotland (published in May).
Get your tickets for "Jack Thurston: Lost Lanes Scotland" here edfoc.org.uk/events/event...

Just got our big range cooker working again - official Falcon/Rangemaster repair agent refused - but can-do local electrician swapped out some generic parts that had burned out. I then replaced the grill elements myself. So satisfying.