Those Blasted Wood Pigeons Eat Everything!!

We went down to the allotment in the afternoon. The morning had been quite sunny but the afternoon didn't look too promising. We set off in some nice sunshine but before we arrived at the plot a heavy shower led us to wonder if our trip might be a wasted journey.

Our jobs for the afternoon provided it stayed fine were to sow a couple of rows of peas and finish planting our left-over onion sets. We made a bit of a start when another shower arrived so we decided on a cup of coffee whilst we sheltered from the rain in the shed. Half way through my cup of coffee I spotted a wood pigeon in our Oullins Gage plum tree. I could see it was eating something but couldn't really tell what. We thought it might be eating any insects it could find amongst the foliage but then again it’s a wood pigeon so it couldn't possibly be doing anything useful could it.

There was only one way to make sure so the camera came out and the zoom lens put into action. Watching on the small screen I thought it looked to be eating the immature fruitlets rather than insects or even green leaves, after all they're happy to devastate any brassica crop left un-netted. 

Looking at the picture above there is no doubt it was working its way around the tree eating any immature fruits it could find. If you're not sure from the picture above check out the video below.

It doesn't look like we'll have many plums this year. Our only hope is that being a heavy bird it won't be able to reach fruits growing at the end of thinner branches.

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

Making Space and Misleading Labels

Tuesday was a nice mild day following on from some light rain in the early hours of the morning.

I managed to make a little bit of space in the greenhouse by moving more plants into the cold frame. I could then prick out a few more seedlings immediately filling the space up again.

I normally just take a few photos to remind me of the seeds sown, what’s been transplanted or moved to the greenhouse. Most of the photos are then tagged in Lightroom for future reference. I like to try and keep up to date with my plant labelling even if many of the labels are just made from cut down yogurt cartons. 

This was my reference photograph for the sweet pea varieties I transplanted on Tuesday. They had to be been given a tag in Lightroom so I added the variety names under the sweet peas tag already created. The names on the label are Warden Scarlet and Bernard Jones. I added the names and then thought that they didn't ring any bells with ones I’d sown. Checking the varieties sown the names should be Air Warden, a scarlet flowered variety, and Mrs Bernard Jones. Even the simplest of things can cause problems sometimes.

Parts of my writing is buried just under the compost for a very good reason. Once planted in the plot the label will be stapled to a small piece of timber  to mark the variety on the plot.

I tend to write on the label assuming all the label can be read rather than some of it being buried beneath the compost before it gets stapled to the timber marker. This system works well as the label can be removed at the end of the growing season and the timber reused many times. I've still to find a permanent marker pen that will last through the winter. For most marker pens I've tried permanent means about six months.

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

Good & Bad News from the Plot

The weather was pretty good for a Bank Holiday with some long sunny periods and warm. We had a little light rain which started early in the evening and continued into the night.

It was our first visit to the plot since Saturday morning’s frost and the news was a bit mixed. The good news was that our carrots have started to germinate under their environmesh frame.

Our first sowing of peas “Carouby de Maussane” are also pushing their first tender shoots through the soil. We've normally sown this variety in the luxury of the home greenhouse and transplanted them into the plot. It’s not proved very successful at all in the past so this year they've been sown directly in the ground but a couple of weeks later. 

Now for the  news of Saturday morning’s frost damage. It’s caught the foliage of our kiwi, broad beans and grape vine.

Broad Beans - Witkeim Manita

Kiwi

Grape Vine - Boskoop Glory

Surprising the most damage seems to be to our broad beans which I thought were supposed to be as tough as old boots. Obviously they've put on some soft growth due to a few weeks of mild nights and a frost has been a little bit of a shock. The kiwi is often damaged by frost and usually makes a full recovery although we've yet to see it produce a fruit. That’s another problem altogether though and down to pollination. Not all the shoots on the grape vine have been damage so I'm sure that too will make a good recovery. I noticed that one or two potato shoots had also been caught by the frost even though they’d been covered with some straw.

Apart from the broad beans, which look very sorry for themselves, I'm anticipating everything will make a full recovery. Of course there is no way of knowing at the moment the effect that cold morning has had on all the fruit that is just setting or is still at the flower stage.

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

Delicate Decision

After Saturday’s lovely weather Sunday was a bit disappointing with lots of cloud about although it did remain mild and we certainly didn't have any problems with frost.

Our home greenhouse is now full of young plants and with more to be moved in from the indoor growlight space is now at a premium.

It’s now time for some of our more delicate plants to make their way into the cold frame to start the hardening off process. They all survived Saturday morning’s low temperature of 2.3°C in the greenhouse so hopefully they’ll be no problems when they’re moved outdoors.

A few tubers from last year’s dahlias made it through the winter and are growing well along with some newly bought this year. These plants will be the first to be moved out into the cold frame. Not only is more greenhouse space needed for plants moving from under the indoor growlight but our tomato plants are growing quickly and will need to be moved on into larger pots soon before they are finally transplanted into growbags and there are more seeds still to be sown.

These Sungold tomato plants are growing well at the moment and will soon need to be potted on into larger pots to allow them to develop unchecked. The latest spring frost for the last four years was on 06 May 2012 when the temperature fell to -1.0°C so I'm hoping we've had the last of this year’s springs frost.

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

After the Frost a Visit to the Yorkshire Dales

The weather forecasters were correct, in the early hours of Saturday morning the temperature fell to -0.1°C outside and 2.3°C in the greenhouse. Our tomato plants look to have survived the cold night without too much of a set back. The clear skies from overnight remained for most of Saturday which turned out to be a lovely sunny day.

Last week we visited one of Yorkshire’s National Parks, The North Yorkshire Moors, to visit a heritage railway line. This Saturday we decided on a visit to another of Yorkshire’s National Parks, The Yorkshire Dales. 

On our trips to the Settle to Carlisle Railway line,on the A59 near to Bolton Abbey, we've passed one of those brown signposts with Steam Railway on it. A little bit of Internet searching revealed this to be the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. This holiday weekend they were having a Branchline Weekend so we had decided on paying the railway a visit.

Bolton Abbey Station

Besides having restored steam engines, the railway also boasts some vintage railway carriages too. All of the vintage carriages are more than 100 years old and what’s more they're not just museum pieces you actually get to ride in some of them.

This is the inside of the carriage we chose to have a ride in. It was built by the Great Eastern Railway in 1889, for the use by their chief engineer and VIPs travelling on the Great Eastern Railway. The carriage has been put to a variety of uses since it was constructed before it was restored by Stephen Middleton. Its restoration was completed in 1998 more details of which can be found here.

The carriage has small sideways projecting windows and large panoramic windows to the rear affording excellent and unusual views of the railway and Yorkshire Dales scenery.

This is our carriage and steam locomotive at Embsay station. It was rather amazing that there were only two other passengers who took the opportunity to travel in this splendid carriage. Having been built for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1896, the steam locomotive was only slightly younger than the carriage. 

We had a couple of trips up and down the railway, lunch outside at a picnic table and a few cups of coffee too. We took Tivvy with us too. The railway was extremely dog friendly boasting its own station dog Gyp seen in the photo below. Not only was Tivvy allowed in the refreshments room but she also got to travel in the VIP carriage. 

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

May Gap

After a cloudy start on Friday it brightened up in the afternoon with some long sunny periods. Although it felt pleasant in the sunshine it never really felt very warm as the temperature only managed a very average 12.8°C.

On the plot we seem to have reached a sort of limbo between the rush of getting our first batches of vegetables planted and now making preparations ready for more planting, at a rather more leisurely rate over the next month or so. Our grass paths were in need of cutting so we decided to make a big effort and get all our paths and edges tidied up. It took us most of the afternoon although we did stop for a couple of chats with other allotmenteers and we managed more than one coffee break.

Weed control fabric around our fruit trees certainly cuts down on weeding giving us more time to tidy up other bits and pieces which would normally be neglected in our efforts to keep the weeds under control.

Large parts of the plot have either been cleared ready for planting or in some cases planted up with potatoes but at this time of year there is nothing to show above soil level. There are four large beds here which from left to right are planted up with, onions and peas, potatoes, a bed still to be planted, and finally a bed with carrots and parsnips under the environmesh.

It’s not that often all the paths are cut and edged as the task normally spills over from one day to the next, especially getting all the edges trimmed. A final job for the day was to wander round and check all the rows of potatoes and cover over any new shoots with soil to give them protection against the frost forecast for early Saturday morning.

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

Record Dullness?

Thursday got May off to a record dull start. Somehow it managed to be wet all day but the rainfall total only came to 1.0mm. It never really got light at any time during the day and my weather station recorded the dullest day since 17 February 2014 when the daylight hours were around 5 hours less.

Temperature and sunshine records 29 April 2014 to 01 May 2014

The forecast for the holiday weekend doesn't look too bad with Saturday looking the sunny followed by much cloudier weather for Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday. It will be a case of giving our tender plants a bit of extra protection over Friday night when temperatures are predicted to fall to around 3°C.

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

Frost Precautions

Wednesday was a disappointing end to the month as we expected the dull morning weather to brighten up giving us some warm afternoon sunshine. On Wednesday however it remained dull all day with a little rain early in the evening.

We cleared a couple more beds on the plot but as colder weather with the possibility of early morning frosts is forecast I thought I'd cover our young potato shoots with some straw to give them a little bit of protection against the cold.

A few cold nights are going to give our plants a bit of a shock as they will have become accustomed to much milder temperature. We've had quite a run of mild nights with the temperature not falling much below 8°C. Since the 21st of the April night time temperatures have varied between 9.3°C and 7.8°C so a frost will be most unwelcome.

I'll be making sure our greenhouse tomato plants have a couple of layers of fleece over them as protection. The forecast at the moment is for sunny days following any frosty mornings so greenhouse temperatures should warm up quickly in the sunshine and our tomato plants won’t get too much of a check.

Our peppers are still growing happily cosseted under our indoor growlight. I think I'll wait now until next week before transplanting these into pots and moving them into the cold greenhouse. I don't think they'll suffer from becoming too leggy by next week and hopefully they'll avoid the worst of the cold nights.

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