A Washout!

It didn't stop raining on Sunday. The BBC forecast was that the rain wouldn’t reach this far north. They were wrong although they had admitted some uncertainty about that prediction. The Met Office forecast rain and they were right.

Not only was it very wet it was cold too with the temperature steadily falling all day. The daily average was only 7.8°C hard to believe it’s the beginning of June. 

By the time it stopped raining we had managed a total of 22.8mm of rain making it the 3rd wettest day since I started keeping records in October 2009. 

At least the plot shouldn’t need watering for a few days!

Ready for the Chop

Saturday continued the poor start to June with another dull day and cool temperatures.

On the plot we managed to erect some wigwams and plant out our runner beans. The recent rain had softened up the ground and some of our potatoes were weeded and earthed up.

There are now a couple of dull but important tasks to be accomplished. The Phacelia sown back in March as green manure is in bud and is ready for chopping down and digging in. Our Comfrey is also ready for its first cut of the year. This might be added to the compost heap or used to make a liquid fertiliser to use throughout the summer. The latter being the smelliest option.  

Top row and bottom left Phacelia. Bottom right Comfrey.

Live Weather Cock

Friday was a disappointing start to June producing a cool dull day.

I bet the Meteorological Office don’t have this sort of a problem measuring wind speeds. It’s bad enough that down on the plot the resident wood pigeons are happy to feast on our crops once our backs are turned. Now our wood pigeons at home have taken a liking to roosting on the wind vane of my weather station.

At least only the wind direction will be affected and not the speed. To be honest it didn't perch there for too long. It was just queuing up waiting for more seed to be put out on the bird table.

Very Dull

After all the sunshine over the past week, Thursday turned out dull with some light rain on and off throughout the day. It was the first time in 9 days that the temperature didn't manage 20°C.

It certainly wasn’t a day for doing much outside. I had some rhubarb to cook and decided to compare the difference between 2 varieties. The first is a little uncertain it comes from one of our old mature roots which we think is probably Victoria but we’re not absolutely sure. The second is Giant Grooveless Crimson a variety we added a few years ago which now crops reasonably well. 

On the left is our typical stewed rhubarb compared with the much darker red colour of Giant Grooveless Crimson living up to its name.

Torrential Rain and New Horizon Compost Update

Wednesday was warm and muggy with less sunshine than we've become accustomed to. Then around 21:00 the heavens opened and it tipped down. At one stage the rain was falling at 100mm/hr (4”/hr) equivalent to a month’s rainfall every 30 minutes. Thankfully it didn't last long.

Before the rain came I had a check over some plants growing in New Horizon peat free compost. I was a little unsure, in my last post on this topic, about my brassica plants growing in this medium. Perhaps it was the cold weather holding them back as they've now produced good plants, helped on by this recent spell of warm weather, and are now ready for planting in the plot .

Cabbages - Golden Acre (Sown 6th April)

Foreground red cabbage Huzaro, then cabbage Kilaton and at the back sprouts Crispus. 

Cabbages sown on 16th April and Brussels sprouts on 6th April)

I've also tried sowing French beans and runner beans in modules of New Horizon peat free compost - as an experiment to see if this compost suited them. I thought it a bit of a risk at the time as, due to the cold weather, I was already late sowing these seeds  and didn’t want another set back with poor germination as a result of poor compost. I needn’t have worried as the results have been very good with almost 100% germination and some strong healthy looking plants.

French beans - Tendergreen (sown 13th May)

Runner beans - Painted Lady (sown 17th May)

So far so good with this peat free compost. I've also got some courgettes and cucumber growing in this compost and I'm hoping the results will be just as good.

Summerhouse Day

The fine spell of weather continued on Tuesday but a few degrees cooler than the scorcher we had yesterday.

After spending from last autumn through to this spring preparing the base for our new summerhouse the big day arrived and our summerhouse was constructed. Much to my relief it fitted the base. We don’t have space in our garden to allow for large overlaps so the base was just the correct size.

This was probably the best this area ever looked when the wisteria was in flower. Other than that there was never a desire to take any photographs of this part of the garden.

By the middle of winter though things were looking much worse as most of the demolition work had taken place and construction had still to begin.

But now it’s all sorted and the summerhouse is built and ready for use. It’s certainly made a massive improvement to this area of the garden.

All we need to do now is sort out some furniture to make use of our new acquisition. There are more pictures over on Sue’s blog too.

A Scorcher!

Monday continued the heat wave that has suddenly arrived and produced the hottest day of the year with the temperature reaching 28°C (82°F). It may well turn out to be the hottest day we get this year especially if this summer turns out to be like last year.  

As you can see from the temperature chart for the last 12 months the spell of weather at the moment is better than anything we managed last summer.

In the garden it was a question of finding a nice shady spot to do some pricking out of cucumber and courgette plants as well as sowing more french beans.

Unkempt - We Have Those Bits Too!

Sunday was another brilliant day. We visited the plot and did a little bit but spent much of the time sitting in the shade and putting the world to rights with our plot neighbours.

We certainly have areas of our plot in desperate need of attention and as you might guess we tend to avoid posting photographs of these areas.  

This is one of those beds. It’s our over-wintering brassica bed from last year. Some old roots have been removed but the bed is now ready for a good clear out. It doesn't matter which way you look at this bed it’s definitely untidy.

But lurking in amongst the weeds and old broccoli plants I found a Mayfair cauliflower and a Durham Early cabbage so I felt much better for not having already cleared this bed.

I guess I'm out of excuses now for not sorting out this patch, but it is rather hot at the moment and a drop of rain would soften the soil up to make getting weeds out easier. Maybe the end of the week might be a good time.