Will it rain on Friday?

Sunday was another sunny, dry and windy day. With already dry conditions the wind will be drying out the ground and plants even more.

I've noticed a couple of times heavy rain forecast which miraculously never arrives. The BBC 5 day forecast has some heavy rain predicted for Friday. I wonder if it will arrive.

Rain forecast for Friday

The weather charts I keep an eye on suggest that the high pressure system will break down next weekend with the likelihood of some rain next Monday the 9th May. In the meantime the watering will have to continue.

In our garden we think our nectarine has set some fruit which will be a first for us. We will need to keep a check for any forecasts of frost and cover the tree with fleece if necessary to protect our fruitlets. Wednesday night looks a bit of a worry at the moment with the chance of a frost.

Nectarine - Fantasia

April - Driest and warmest!

Saturday was once again dry and sunny but with a cool gusty easterly breeze. The breeze is probably the worst thing the plot needs now in its very dry state. Our onions are starting to grow but have needed regular watering to get then to this stage.

Onions from sets

April has set several records for lack of rain and the warmest on record since 1659 when records began. Read about it on Paul Hudson's blog.

Click here for link to blog or on image

What an entry!

Friday continued the fine spell of weather. There was a little more cloud around today but still no signs of any rain. It looks like April will set both a high average temperature and low rainfall record.

I spent some time trying to capture images of our blue tits entering or leaving their nest box. The speed at which they enter the nest box is amazing. As shown in the picture below our blue tit heads for its nest in an arrow shape blur!

Blue tit heads for nest box

More firsts

Thursday was yet again another sunny dry day. It was fairly cold over night so Thursday morning started cool as the temperature had dropped to 1.7°C in the early hours - a reminder that it's only April.

When we visited Walton Nature Reserve last week we heard our first cuckoo of the year. In fact it seems it's been a few years since I last heard a cuckoo. The video below is included for its soundtrack rather than the content of the video. A cuckoo can be heard calling.

I was having a coffee break outside and watching the fish in the pond when I spotted some fry from last year. I'm surprised these little fish have survived our harsh winter. I'm sure they will be rudd which usually produce a few offspring each year. The challenge now is to get some pictures.

They're back!

The sunshine returned on Wednesday with another almost cloudless day. As we were about to leave the plot we spotted that the swallows had returned a sure sign that spring is here. The photograph is rather blurred but it was a dashed affair taken from long distance through an extremely dirty car windscreen.

Swallows return to the allotments

On the plot we planted out some broad beans and cabbage seedlings. We had delayed planting them out hoping that some rain would make the process of planting out easier and watering the plants at home is more convenient than down on the plot. 

Broad beans - Witkeim Manita

These broad bean plants could wait no longer in their pots so we decided to plant them out. They will need to be kept watered whilst the dry conditions persist.

Cabbage - Primo

These cabbage plants were one of the first tests of our indoor grow light system. They too will need to be kept watered in the dry spell. They were protected from marauding pigeons with some netting otherwise they will be reduced to nothing more than bare stems in just one attack.

Just not good enough

Tuesday 26th April was the first time this month that our actual daily maximum temperature didn't manage to exceed the expected. It was a shock to the system as it felt cool after the recent unseasonably mild spell of weather. The light rain forecast for today never arrived although it was cloudy all day and to be fair to the forecasters at times there was just a hint of rain in the air.

In the garden our new Candy Club tulips are putting on an excellent display.

Tulips - Candy Club

Transplanting melons

Monday was another very pleasant day with plenty of sunshine, above average temperatures and once again no rain.

Our melon seeds have germinated and grown well under our indoor grow light but in order to prevent them becoming over crowded I thought it was time they were transplanted and left to fend for themselves in the greenhouse.

Melon seedlings - Noir  Des Carmes

These seedlings have been grown in a multi-purpose compost and have been watered individually rather then relying on the capillary matting. I felt the compost might get a little too wet using the matting. The germination rate was 100%.

Melon seedling - root system

Each seedling had developed an excellent root system and the seedlings were easy to remove from the cells which I have found difficult to achieve if the compost is too wet.

Transplanted melon seedlings

The seedlings are now transplanted and will be left in our cold greenhouse to grow on before potting on into their final containers. They may need covering with some fleece if over night frost is forecast.

Walton Colliery Nature Park

Far from the end of our spell of fine weather Easter Sunday turned out to be another sunny warm day after a rather unpromising start. We decided on a walk around Walton Colliery Nature Park located just a few miles from us rather than risking any Easter traffic jams. It was our first visit to the nature park and we were surprised by the area it covered and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon stroll around part of the site. We'll certainly be making more visits to explore other paths and see how the park changes over the seasons.

Walton Colliery Nature Park

The park is situated on the site of the old Walton Colliery closed down in 1979. More details about the colliery are available here. The grassed area above looks more like grass at the end of a dry August rather than the end of April and is certainly showing the effects of no rain for almost 2 months.