A Gardener's Weather Diary

Thursday, 14 April 2016

Not Drying Out Much!

It's lived up to the forecast over the last couple of days. Monday wasn't too bad with some decent sunny spells and feeling very pleasant in the sun and out of the breeze. We didn't have much in the way of rain either. Tuesday on the other hand was a different matter. The morning dawned a little bit dull and drizzly but any hopes that that would clear away were dashed around mid morning when the rain set in.

The rain didn't stop until late afternoon by which time the daily amount had risen to 8.2mm (0.32").

When we left the plot on Sunday teatime we were hoping for some dry weather so the bed earmarked for our early cabbages (Duncan), cauliflower (Mayflower) and calabrese (Marathon) could be prepared ready to get them planted. It was a bit too wet on Sunday and I'm not anticipating that Tuesday's rain will have helped matters much.

When these plug plants arrived from Marshalls seeds they weren't the best of plug plants. They were potted on and left to grow on in the greenhouse.

Plug plants 18 March 2016 after potting up

Now I'm pleased to say they've improved a lot and are ready to move to the coldframe to acclimatise to outdoor conditions before finally being transplanted out on the plot.

Plug plants 13 April 2016 ready to move to coldframe

All that needs to be done now is get a patch of ground done on the plot ready for them to move home sometime next week.

Monday, 11 April 2016

Brilliant Weekend

For us this was a brilliant weekend. For the last six weeks we've had the worry of cancer hanging in the air. In Saturday's post I got the results that the biopsies I'd had taken showed no evidence of cancer. What a relief!! The last six weeks has been a very, very long six weeks.

The weather was decent over the weekend too with plenty of sunny spells and only a drop of rain late on Saturday evening. On the plot that gave us chance to get our early potatoes, Casablanca planted. I would have like to have dug over a bed earmarked for our early brassicas bought from Marshalls but the soil was too wet and claggy so I decided it was better left to dry out a little. Looking at the weather forecast for next week that might be a little bit optimistic.

We spent some time continuing our spring tidy up, a bit of weeding, strimming and edge trimmer. By the time we left on Sunday afternoon parts of the plot looked fairly tidy especially with our fruit bushes starting to leaf up.

Saturday, 9 April 2016

Just Right

Friday was another day of sunny spells but once again it often threatened heavy showers which didn't materialise. It did keep us from doing any gardening. I really do need to get the grass cut again if only it would dry out.

It's a few years ago that I did a hatchet job on one of our camellias. Unfortunately it had grown too well and was crowding out other plants. With that in mind back in the summer of 2011 I decided a bit of pruning was required. When I'd finished our camellia looked like this.

After pruning in August 2011

Now five years on it's back at its very best.

April 2016

The trouble is that it can't be allowed to get much larger or it will once again be taking up too much space. I'm hoping that some careful pruning rather than a major hacking session will keep it in bounds.

Friday, 8 April 2016

Staying In Day

Thursday was another mixed sort of a day with some sunny periods but we often had dark clouds threatening heavy showers. We certainly had fewer showers than Wednesday but the temperature was disappointing and in the breezy weather it didn't feel so warm outside.

It was a day for doing a bit of catching up. I'd taken a couple of videos at the weekend of a dunnock collecting nesting material in the garden and our frogs doing what they do in our pond. These two videos have now been edited and uploaded to YouTube and Facebook.

Thursday, 7 April 2016

Typical April Weather

Tuesday was a cool, cloudy day and windy at times. Wednesday was much more typical of what we expect in April with showers through the day and into the evening.

The showers were certainly short and sharp with one particular shower of hail almost turned our little pebble garden white.

The leaves of the daffodils were struggling to stay upright in the gale force wind that blew whilst the hail lasted. In between the showers we had some decent sunny spells but it felt cool outside in the breezy conditions.

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

End of the Crop

A rather strange day weather wise. We had a little bit of overnight rain which dried up slowly through the morning. By lunchtime occasional sunny spells were developing and we decided to do a little bit of tidying up outside at home. Then some thunder in the afternoon but no more rain. I decided to sort out the last of our overwintering potatoes, onions and shallots stored in the garage. There were quite a few casualties fit only for the council recycling bin. Some onions had lost their insides completely and only some dry outer skins remained whilst other were a mushy mess. The best were saved and hopefully they'll last us a few more weeks.

There's always a few spiders about in the garage but this one struck me as being a bit on the large side. Once disturbed it headed for the freedom of outdoors very quickly and it certainly didn't want its photo taking.

It was then back to sorting out the last of the potatoes. Lots had started to shoot and were only fit for the recycling bin but I managed to salvage a box full which didn't look too bad. For good measure I removed any shoots that had started to grow.

As soon as we get chance we'll be planting our first early potatoes on the plot. Hopefully this will be in the next couple of weeks.

Monday, 4 April 2016

The Ossett Gravel Snail

It wasn't too bad a weekend with Sunday the much better of the two days and becoming the warmest day this year nudging the year's highest temperature up to 15.9°C or 60.6°F.

I'm sure like us most gardeners are troubled by slugs and snails devouring seedlings and young plants as well as mature crops. Now one of the solutions suggested by many a TV gardening expert is to put some grit around young plants as slugs and snails don't like crawling over any sharp materials. Perhaps eggshells are supposed to work the same way.

Well a bit of sharp gravel doesn't deter the Ossett Gravel Snail. Want proof?

Clearly a little bit of sharp gravel is no deterrent at all to this particular snail. I found it crawling up the side of the garage this morning. I'm not sure what it's looking for to eat other than a bit of alga from the surface of the gravel.

One thing for sure is it's a long way down.

Saturday, 2 April 2016

A Cold Wet March

The first day of April wasn't anything special with a dull start to the month and some light drizzle at times. It was a cold start to the day as overnight the temperature fell to 0.0°C or 32.0°F.

March turned out to be a cool month for Ossett with only the bitterly cold and snowy March of 2013 been colder over the last six years. The average temperature for March was 6.3°C or 43.3°F.

It was also a wet month turning out to be the wettest March over the last six years with 79.0mm (3.11") of rainfall. We'll need a dry spell of weather to help the plot dry out ready for spring planting.