We still need some rain

We've had a most peculiar gardening year this year. Not only have we had the cold months of April and May to contend with but also a very strange pattern of rainfall. April was very dry, one of the driest months of the last 12 years for us. By the end of April, the allotment was so dry digging over beds was put on hold waiting for some rain. 

Dry Ground 26 April 2021

Then May arrived and it turned out wet and we got far more rain than we needed and digging over beds went on hold this time because the ground was too wet.

May's Rainfall 104.2mm (4.1in)

The continuous days of rain abated towards the end of May and normal gardening returned for a week or so, once beds dried out a little bit. We spent a couple of busy weeks getting beds filled up with crops, that had been patiently waiting at home to be planted out.

However, so far we've had only 15.6mm of rainfall in June and the ground is once again very dry. Today's rain has amounted to 4.0mm, better than nothing, but I don't think it's going to penetrate very far into the ground. 

June's Rainfall 15.6mm (0.6in)

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much rainfall in the forecast over the next week and temperatures are looking above average as we move into July. It looks like we will be busy with our watering cans at the allotment.

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

Hottest Day of the Year - Not Here!

Monday was declared the hottest day of the year in the UK. It certainly wasn't the case where we live, as Monday was our coolest June day of this year.

Monday's temperature here only managed to reach 20.2°C (68.4°F) which is nothing special for the middle of June. Our warmest day of the year remains 09 June when the temperature peaked at 26.7°C (80.1°F).

We are still waiting for some rain to cut down on watering time at the allotment. We've had just 2.0mm so far this month or about 0.1in

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

Nearly Planted Up

We've made the most of the fine June weather to do some catching up at the allotment. The last week has produced the warmest days of the year. In the end, Wednesday 09th June was the warmest day of the year, so far, with the temperature reaching 26.7°C or 80.1°F.

To date, it's been a very challenging gardening year. April was cold and very dry. May continued cold but very wet and only at the very end of May did the temperature return to more normal values for the time of year. Since the temperatures improved, we've had no rain to speak of and we are back to having to water crops at the allotment. Both April and May produced the coldest average monthly temperatures I've recorded over the last 12 years. In complete contrast, June's average temperature by the middle of the month is the warmest I've recorded.

We are still 3 to 4 weeks behind at the allotment. Last year at the beginning of June we were harvesting the first of our spring planted cabbages.

Regency cabbage harvested on 02 June 2020

This year and a couple of weeks further on into June we are still waiting for our first Regency cabbage to mature.

Photo taken 13 June 2021

As you can see from the photo above, this year's cabbages are getting there, but I think it will be another week before they are ready to harvest. Last year, by this time, we were also harvesting calabrese from our early brassica sowings. 

At least our strawberries are ripening at the same time as last year. No doubt the warm weather over the last couple of weeks has helped them ripen.

A few weeks ago, we were concerned that our potatoes weren't making much effort to grow. Some had pushed a few tentative shoots through the ground but we were concerned that some could have rotted away in the wet May weather. Fortunately, that hasn't been the case and our potatoes are looking much healthier now.

Our runner beans and climbing French beans were planted out this week and this was probably 2 to 3 weeks later than normal, but this week we also manage to plant out our courgettes and winter squashes which is about the usual time for us. 

The forecast is for cooler weather to return this week, or at least temperatures returning to more normal values for early June. There's also some rain in the forecast which would be most welcome as it would give us a break from watering.

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

Creeping Up

Saturday became our warmest day of the year as the afternoon temperature reached 24.1°C or 75.4°F.

Temperature & Rainfall Records 07-May to 06 June 2021

The last week has been a dramatic change from cold wet weather to warm dry weather. 

We're making the most of the fine weather. This bed was planted up with a variety of brassica plants. These plants were growing so slowly in the poor cold weather that they were almost consigned to the compost heap a few weeks ago. However, they've come on in leaps and bounds over the last couple of weeks so I'm glad I never found the time to dump them.

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

Will We Catch Up?

At long last after 2 months of unseasonably cold temperatures we’ve returned to more average temperatures for the time of year. April was cold and dry and whilst May continued with the cold theme it finished up the wettest May of the last 12 years.

The charts of May temperatures and rainfall data are shown below.

Average Temperatures & Rainfall for May 2010-2021

It wasn’t the coldest spring I’ve recorded that is still 2013. However, that was a result of a very cold and snowy March. The poor weather of April and May this year have certainly presented some gardening challenges. Now that the weather has improved, it’s all about trying to catch up.

Average Spring Temperatures & Rainfall 2020-2021

We can get some lovely weather in May but I always think that the overnight low temperatures through the month are the governing factor in how well the season starts off at the allotment.

Low temperatures for May 2010-2021

Once again this May was the coldest of the last few years by a considerable margin.

We made a video of a look around our plots this week.

It will be interesting to see, as summer progresses, if our crops perform as expected and overcome the very poor start to the growing season. 

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