Summer makes a late comeback

Wednesday was superb with some long sunny periods and warm too. It did cloud over late afternoon with our first drop of rain around 18:30. Pity the forecast predicts a change to cold northerly winds by the week end.

It’s now time to start give some thought to what went well and what didn’t on the plot. We like to try something new each year even if it’s only a different variety of vegetable. This year we tried a different carrot called Flakkee. It’s turned out well and produced a good crop of well flavoured roots.

From 03 Weather 2010

Its ultimate test is to see if it survives winter left in the ground with only a protection of straw against the winter frost and snow. Click here for more details of how we protect carrots over winter.

No blight or breeze

In contrast to last week Tuesday was a day without even a breeze. The morning had a few warm sunny periods but the afternoon was mostly cloudy.

From 03 Weather 2010

It was our first visit to the plot in nearly a fortnight. Last week's wind had blown over one tepee of runner beans and the cardoons were lying all over the path but they had already been wind damaged by strong winds before last week’s.

There’s plenty of tidying up to do on the plot. The first of these is to lift my remaining potatoes so I set about lifting my Nicola potatoes. They’ve produced an excellent crop with minimal slug damage. For the first time in several years I haven’t noticed any signs of blight on any of the potato crop. Perhaps a benefit of the particularly poor August weather this year! I've only Sarpo Mira left to lift now.

From 03 Weather 2010

Local Showers

Monday turned out to be a mild day with light showers most of the day. The showers were localised as I noticed logging on to my newly found brilliant Weather Underground map that other weather stations within a few miles of Ossett didn’t record any rainfall.

My first or second day on Weather Underground didn’t go without any hitches. First my new blog weather sticker stopped updating and of course I immediately took this to be as a result of something I had done, although I had no idea what this might have been. Then gradually other Weather Underground data began to disappear just as it seemed to arrive but checking other weather stations they seemed to be having similar problems. So I just waited, did nothing, and sure enough the problem sorted itself out and everything got back to normal. Isn’t computing wonderful!

So another damp day meant no visit to the plot. I just had to make do picking a few peppers from the greenhouse. The variety is Tequila Sunrise.

From 03 Weather 2010

Joining the Underground

Sunday turned out to be a miserable day. It was cloudy and damp all day. It never really seemed to dry up although we only had 1mm of actual rainfall.

As it wasn’t very pleasant outside I decided to catch up on a bit of computing. I decided to rebel and join the underground, well the internet web site Weather Underground. I’ve thought about joining for a while but until yesterday not taken the plunge. Joining and getting my weather station on line was pretty straight forward even for me.

From 03 Weather 2010

(click on the image to visit the web page)

So I’m a member now IWAKEFIE3 is my code to find my weather station amongst the thousands already on Weather Underground. I’ve much to investigate to make full use of the web site.

Back home (Saturday 18th )

We spent last week in the Cotswold staying in this beautiful detached 17th century, Grade II listed cottage. It is located in the Severn Vale in the pretty village of Apperley, close to the medieval town of Tewkesbury.

From 03 Weather 2010

The weather during the week was a bit mixed but it didn’t stop us getting out and about. To satisfy our gardening requirements we visited Hidcote Manor Gardens which still looked good as autumn approaches.

From 03 Weather 2010

Stanton was one of the many picturesque villages we visited with its cottages built with traditional Cotswold stone.

From 03 Weather 2010

Cloudy and mild

Friday was another mostly cloudy day. During a few very brief sunny spells in the afternoon it felt very warm with the temperature reaching 22.8°C. It started to rain around 22:00. So far this month most of our rainfall has been during the night, leaving us with some nice autumnal days.

From 03 Weather 2010

Our greenhouse tomatoes are now ripening quickly and have produced enough for a freezing for use during the winter months.

Cloudy

Thursday was mostly cloudy especially in the morning. The afternoon brought a few sunny spells and it felt warm in a gentle westerly breeze.

From 03 Weather 2010

Much more cloud than blue sky down on the plot on Thursday afternoon.

Autumn arrives

Wednesday really heralded the arrival of autumn with a very seasonal misty morning. The mist hung around until midday when the sun came out to give us a beautiful afternoon and evening.

From 03 Weather 2010