A Record Breaker for March

It’s been an excellent spell of weather over the last three days resulting in Tuesday becoming the mildest March day I’ve recorded in the last 12 years. The temperature made it to 23.5°C (74.3°F) smashing the previous record of 21.9°C on 28th March 2012.

 

We made the most of the weather with an afternoon at the allotment although we tended to enjoy the conditions rather than do any serious allotmenting.

 

We did manage to harvest a red cabbage and some broccoli in between cups of coffee.

 Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Another mildest day

Sunday’s record for the mildest day of the year didn’t last long with Monday setting a new warmest day of the year as the temperature reached 19.7°C or 67.5°F.

 

What’s more with much lighter winds than Sunday it was a much pleasanter day altogether.

 

Temperature Records 28 - 30 March 2021

We’ll have to wait and see, but it’s possible that Tuesday might be even warmer. My record high temperature for March is 21.9°C or 71.4°F set on 28/03/2012. After Tuesday the weather is forecast to turn much cooler.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Warmest Day of the Year But.....

Sunday became our warmest day of the year with the temperature reaching 17.0°C or 62.6°F in the afternoon. However, it wasn’t a very pleasant day as accompanying the mild temperature was a gale force wind which certainly took the edge of the temperature.

 

The forecast for the rest of the month and the Easter Holiday is very changeable with more mild temperatures forecast for early next week before it turns much colder for the Easter weekend. With the holiday weekend more than a week away there’s plenty of time for the forecast to change although at the moment the main weather models are suggesting a similar outcome.

 

It would be a shame now if we get a lot of wet weather as a relatively dry March has helped the allotment dry out. With the forecast as it is I’m waiting until after the Easter holidays before beginning any planting at the allotment.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

A grisly find

There’s no doubt about it that wood pigeons are one of our most annoying pests both at the allotment and at home. They’ll devastate any brassica crops left unprotected not to mention the damage they do to fruit crops. 

 

One of the problems is that they don’t seem to have any natural predators. I might occasionally find the remains of a dead bird at the allotment. I’ve put that down to foxes and at home we occasionally see a sparrowhawk but that tends to prey on small birds.

 

However, there have been sightings at the allotment of a goshawk taking down at least two wood pigeons. Then under our plum trees I found these remains.

 

They look as though something has had another wood pigeon. That makes three killed in a couple of days. Perhaps a predator has arrived to help itself to the plentiful supply of wood pigeons.

 

On the weather front, there’s very little to report as we seem to be heading for a fairly average March. The last week has been dry and dull although when the sun has managed to put in an appearance it’s felt quite pleasant. 

 

The temperature for the month is around average with no unusually low or high values.  We’ve had a dryer spell of weather over the last week which is helping the allotment to dry out. Unless we get some particularly wet weather towards the end of the month rainfall will finish up below average.

Copyright: Original post from Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments http://glallotments.blogspot.co.uk/ author S Garrett

Turned out nice

After a wet start on Tuesday morning the weather cleared up and we had a lovely sunny and mild afternoon. We made the most of the weather with a visit to the allotment. It was our first visit since the gales of last week. The only damage on our plot was that our cold frame had been overturned.

There's no real damage done as there's no glass in the cold frame. We use environmesh rather than glass. However, there was some other damage on other plots. Our neighbour had lost his shed roof and one greenhouse had had its polythene covering ripped to shreds. It was the most wind damage I'd seen at the allotment for a number of years.

Tuesday afternoon though became our warmest day of the year with the temperature reaching 16.2°C (61.2°F) in the middle of the afternoon.

Temperature & Rainfall Data for 16 March 2021

The forecast for the next week is suggesting settled weather but there doesn't appear to be a repeat of  Tuesday afternoon's mild temperature.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

A wet and windy week

It’s certainly not been a brilliant start to March. It’s been more wintry than spring-like. As a result, we haven’t visited the allotment or got any gardening jobs done at home.

 

The allotment was beginning to dry out nicely but 25mm (1in) of rainfall this week will have set the drying out process back. 

Rainfall Data 12 February - 14 March

You can see from the table above that, after three reasonable dry weeks, that run came to an end last week.

There doesn’t appear to be any really cold weather in the forecast so it might be time to start a few hardier seeds off in the greenhouse. I’m thinking about sowing some broad bean seeds and getting a few early seed potatoes into tubs. Last year we grew some early carrots in tubs and they were pretty successful so we’re planning on trying the same thing again this year.

 

Carrots - Aron

Last year we grew these stump-rooted carrots but this year we are going to try some longer rooted ones. Lots of gardening bloggers and YouTubers grow a variety called Sweet Candle so we're giving some a try ourselves.

I’m also giving some thought to sowing some sweet peas. Last year I sowed them far too late and whilst the plants eventually produce some decent foliage they never managed to flower. I might sow some in small seed trays and place them under our indoor grow-light to germinate. Hopefully, they will have germinated and be moved into the greenhouse by the time our tomato seeds need to go under the grow-light in early April.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Getting Battered

I think the storm-naming man must be off work this week. Gale force winds were forecast and they have arrived along with some heavy spells of rain. The strong winds are forecast to continue into the weekend before abating.

However, for some reason, this spell of windy weather doesn't warrant being given a name. Other much less windy spells for the winter of 2020/21 have been named.

Named Storms for Winter 2020/21

I've listed the named storms above and the maximum wind speeds I've recorded. 

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

Not a Brilliant Start to March

It’s certainly not been a brilliant start to the month. On the upside, we haven’t had any rain which has meant that the allotment has begun to dry out. However, it has been cold and dull generally with very little sunshine and temperatures below average. Unfortunately, the forecast is for the weather to worsen over the next week with wet and windy weather returning bringing with it the possibility of wintry showers. I was hoping we’d seen the last of any snow.

 

I’m not planning on sowing any main crop seeds until the conditions warm up. The allotment was getting towards being in a suitable state for sowing and planting but it won’t take an awful lot of rain to tip the balance between suitable and unsuitable.

I’ve sown a few experimental lettuce and salad leaves which have been placed in our growlight to germinate. 

If we’re lucky the salad leaves will produce some salad leaves for sandwiches. I’m planning on leaving them under the lights to grow on to maturity but the lettuces will have to move into the greenhouse to grow on. They probably won’t survive any very cold weather even in the greenhouse. There are several hundred lettuce seeds in the packet so I’ve nothing to lose if this very early crop fails.

Over the next week, I’d like to get a couple of tubs of early potatoes Casablanca planted up and another couple of tubs with carrots. Hopefully, temperatures in the greenhouse will be good enough for the carrots to germinate.

 

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett

February - A Month of Two Halves

The end of February and the beginning of March sees the beginning of meteorological spring. However, from the weather, you wouldn’t know it. We’ve just had a lovely weekend with temperatures above average for the time of year. Not only were the temperatures pleasant but we had some lovely sunny spells through the afternoons. We made the most of the conditions and got some tidying up done at the allotment.

 
Monday, the start of meteorological spring saw a return to more winter-like conditions. Monday dawned cold and misty and it took all morning for the mist to lift leaving a cloudy afternoon. The temperature didn’t quite make 5°C or 41°F. After the pleasant weekend temperatures, it felt like winter had returned.

 

Temperature Records 01 March 2021

I know it’s an overused expression but February really was a month of two halves. The first half was cold and wet with some of the precipitation in the form of snow. By the middle of the month, the average temperature for the month of 1.7°C (35.1°F) was the coldest I’ve recorded in over 12 years. The second half of the month was much drier with temperatures well above the average for February. 

 

Temperature Records - February 2021

You can clearly see this from my Manhattan temperature chart. This February finished a little below average with the mild second half of the month making up for the cold start. We had enough rainfall in the first couple of weeks to make it the fourth wettest I’ve recorded.

 

Average Temperature & Rainfall Comparisons February 2010 - 2021

Winter 2020/21 has turned out to be one of the coldest I’ve recorded too. Only the exceptionally cold winter of 2009/10 turned out to be colder.

 

Average Temperature & Rainfall Comparisons Winters 2010 - 2021

Winter 2020/21 came in second place as far as rainfall is concerned.

The forecast is for the cold weather to continue for a few more days. Hopefully, we’ll soon get some warmer weather and our thoughts can turn to getting some early seeds sown.

Copyright: Original post from A Gardener's Weather Diary http://ossettweather.blogspot.co.uk/ author M Garrett