A Gardener's Weather Diary

Monday, 12 June 2017

A Tasty Treat

It was another blustery day on Sunday but nothing like the gales of mid-week. Some decent sunny spells were spoilt by the strong breeze. It wasn't very welcome after the gale force winds of last week.

Temperature & Hi Wind Speed Records for 11 June 2017

However, it was one of those days that make you aware of why you "grow your own" despite the setbacks that weather conditions and pests throw at you. On our visit to the allotment on Saturday, we harvested some calabrese and strawberries.

I emptied out our sack of Casablanca potatoes growing in our home greenhouse to make way for growing peppers and aubergines through summer. Three potato tubers were planted in the sack on 02 March 2017 and had been left in the greenhouse to do their own thing. They'd got very leggy and certainly hadn't flowered but I decided to harvest them in any case.

The results were a little disappointing but we had enough potatoes for Sunday dinner. The main problem was that the compost in the sack had become extremely dry and no amount of watering helped as the water merely ran down the inside of the bag and out of the drainage holes in the bottom.

Growing Record for Potatoes & Calabrese

Just out of interest, I've included my growing records for the sack of potatoes and calabrese. We've still got more calabrese heads to harvest and then with a little bit of luck we'll have some tasty side shoots too. Once we've harvested all our calabrese I'll enter the total weight of the crop in the table.

For Sunday dinner we had home grown potatoes "Casablanca" with a helping of calabrese "Aquiles" followed by "Cambridge Favourite" strawberries for dessert. It was a reminder of why we go to the trouble of "growing our own" and hopefully the harvesting season is only just beginning.

Saturday, 10 June 2017

Extra Support

The weather's not been too bad since the gale force winds died down although Saturday morning has started off on a damp note.

Temperature & Rainfall 08-10 June 2017

We had a visit to the plot on a sunny Friday afternoon to see if we could undo some of the damage caused by the mid week gales. If only there was an undo button! The easiest job looked to be the cornflowers which now had a very dramatic lean.

We decided to use some of remaining coppiced hazel poles to create a frame. The difficulty is actually getting the hazel poles into the ground which remains stubbornly concrete-like despite some recent rainfall. Using my trusty wooden leek dibber knocked into the ground with a sledge hammer some poles were eventually coaxed into the ground.

A rustic looking framework of hazel poles completed, the cornflowers were a little bit more upright. I've still got to fathom out what to do about our cardoons or indeed if much can be done to recover them at all. They may have to remain as they are for the rest of the summer. The flowers, much adored by the bees, will still open even though the plants themselves have been blown about and spoilt by the wind.

Thursday, 8 June 2017

Storm Damage

Tuesday and Wednesday were windy, very windy especially considering it's June.

Temperature & Hi Wind Speed Records 05-07 June 2017

The gale force wind abated almost as suddenly as it arrived but according to the weather forecast it should have died down much sooner than it actually did. We did get some rain mixed in with the gale force winds but it was a bit of a mixed blessing as I'm sure the wind has done more damage than a few more days of dry weather would do.

I'd seen the weather forecast so when we were on the plot late on Monday evening I took a little bit of video of our cardoon plants. Even if I say so myself they were looking pretty impressive on Monday but I'm aware that they don't deal with strong winds very well.

It or rather they as we do have two plants standing well over 6 feet or 2 metres tall so I've never really considered any form of staking for them. Maybe from now on I should but for this year I think it might be a little bit too late.

This is the same plant after it had been battered by the gale force winds for a couple of days. I'm considering what measures to take to see the cardoon through the rest of summer.

At least the cardoon isn't a productive vegetable for us as we've never quite worked out which bit of the plant we would use as a vegetable. The storm has damaged some of our crops ranging from breaking smaller branches on fruit trees to snapping our newly planted sweet corn plants.

I'm in the process of editing a video of the damage the winds caused on our plot which I will post as soon as it is processed. For now though. it's nice to be having some light rain without a gale force wind accompanying it.

Wednesday, 7 June 2017

I Thought It Was Summer!

Tuesday would have been a grim wet and windy day had it been in October or November but given it was the beginning of June it made it even worse. The morning was wet and windy but through the afternoon, evening and the night the morning's strong wind became gale force.

Temperature & Hi Wind Speed Records for 06 June 2017

A gust of wind in the afternoon reached 29.0mph at 15:45 becoming the strongest I've recorded since beginning my records in 2010. The previous highest was 27.0mph on 02 June 2015.

The wind hasn't abated overnight either and is continuing through Wednesday morning which has seen another record equalling gust of 29mph at 05:10. The garden has been on the receiving end of a real battering for over 24 hours.

I'm planning on a visit to the plot on Wednesday afternoon to assess any damage there from the gales.

Rather oddly on Wednesday morning we have blue sky and fluffy white clouds with a gale force wind. It's not very warm either with the current temperature at 13°C (55°F) at 09:20. Hopefully, the weather will improve a little as the day progresses starting with the gale force wind abating.

Tuesday, 6 June 2017

I Want It All!

Well I did blog about wanting some rain and that has arrived but what I didn't want with it was the accompanying gale force winds.

The roses which have just come into flower are taking a battering from the wind. The heads are bending over as they become heavy with water and the wind is stripping off the petals or in some cases the entire flower head.

The alliums too were almost at their best but in the wind they are now leaning over at a rather precarious angle.

Once again I think it's a combination of water and strong wind that the stem is unable to cope with. I'm hoping they'll straighten up provided the wind abates soon.

Temperature, Rainfall & Hi Wind Speed Records 05/06 June 2017

The wind picked up this morning and has continued to strengthen into Tuesday Afternoon. The temperature is doing the opposite and continuing to fall. By the middle of the afternoon it is down to 11°C or 52°F. (The storm total is the amount of rainfall without a 24 hour spell of dry weather.)

It's a good job we put in a late shift at the allotment on Sunday as it looks as though it might be a while before we make another visit. I did manage to make a video of our allotment progress before we left on Sunday.

Monday, 5 June 2017

How Firm Is Firm

Now I know that brassicas like to be planted in firm ground but I'm assuming that the bed I'd like to use for our winter brassicas is a little bit too firm.

This is how the ground looked on Sunday afternoon. I've been waiting for a few weeks now for a suitable opportunity to get this bed dug over but there's not much chance of that happening until we get some decent rainfall. The ground has gradually got dryer and dryer over the last two months as any rainfall has been so light that it's done nothing more than moisten the top of the soil. The good news is, if a forecast of rain can be good news, that plenty of rain is forecast over the next week.

https://www.ventusky.com

The chart shown above is repeated on several days through this week as rainfall comes in off the Atlantic Ocean and passes over the UK. We will have to wait and see if the forecast turns out to be correct.

Saturday, 3 June 2017

In Broad Daylight!

Friday was another of those damp days when it tried to rain at times but never managed anything of any use.

Temperature & Rainfall Record for 02 June 2017

I say it's of no use as far as watering the garden goes but it seems it's just what our snails love. That record of rainfall at 11:30 on the chart above took most of the morning to accumulate but it meant that plant leaves were damp all morning. The condition meant the snails couldn't resist the temptation to graze our front garden even in broad daylight.

No need to go out in the dead of night with a torch to collect the marauding minibeasts this was just after lunch as we were getting ready to visit the allotment for the afternoon.

They were collected up and disposed of in the garden waste bin. The two heading up the side of the bucket making a bid for freedom didn't make it. They've a week in the bin with our green waste before it's collected for composting.

It's a constant battle trying to keep young seedlings from being eaten by what seems to be ever increasing numbers of slugs and snails.

Friday, 2 June 2017

A Very Mild May

May turned out to be a dry mild month. Whilst it wasn't the driest May I've recorded since 2010 it was the mildest. However, I don't think it was that good a gardening month even though the average temperature for the month was the highest over the last seven years.

May High Temperature Records 2010 - 2017

The colour code for the table above is that dark red represents higher than average temperatures, dark blue colder than average and white around average for May. As you can see May didn't start off that well but finished off very warm which included the hottest May day I've recorded at 28.6°C on 25 May.

Looking at a similar chart but this time for May's low temperatures we see a very similar pattern with the month's early low temperatures below average.

May Low Temperature Records 2010 - 2017

It wasn't until the middle of the month that the month's low temperatures improved and these are the temperatures that are most important as they govern how well our plants are going to grow.

To make gardening matters even worse the month started off very dry, following on from a dry April.

Temperature & Rainfall Records for May 2017

The first two weeks were completely dry coinciding with temperatures below average too. At times it was difficult to know if plants were struggling because they were cold or because they were dry. It also feels rather odd watering plants when the weather feels on the chilly side. Watering is a job to do when the weather's nice and sunny.