ossettweather.com
Tuesday 01 May 2012
A Poor Gardening Month
After a nice day to end last month May started off dull and cool.
There’s no getting away from it April was wet. Last year in April we had just 2.4mm of rain compared with 120mm this year. That’s certainly good for the garden but we need some dry weather now to be able to actually cultivate the soil.
Last year we had 157.6 hours of sunshine compared to just 90.4 hours this year. That lack of sunshine has taken its toll on temperatures as well. Last year the average daily temperature was 12.1°C down to just 7.1°C this year. That’s colder than March this year which averaged 8.7°C. I thought the months should be getting warmer now not cooler! Our warmest day of the month last year reached a very pleasant 24.7°C against a pretty poor 17.1°C this year. Indeed last year we had 17 days where the temperature exceeded 17.1°C little wonder that this year is a bit of a struggle to get plants growing well in the garden and greenhouse.
At least all the rain means the plot doesn’t need constant watering and we’ve a few excellent cauliflowers ready for cutting as they don’t seem to mind the cooler wet conditions. I’m looking forward to an improvement in the weather in May so that the gardening year can get well and truly underway.
Wednesday 02 May 2012
More Fruit Blossom
Wednesday wasn’t too bad a day. We had a good deal of sunshine and it remained dry all day. Seems strange wanting dry weather after wanting rain for so much of the last 12 months but you can have too much of a good thing. The breeze remained out of the north east so it never got particularly mild but 13.9°C is better than most days over the last month.
At least the advantage of fruit trees and bushes is that they do their own thing regardless of the weather. They can always be relied on to produce a display of flowers in spring and then it’s in the hands of nature whether they produce an abundance of fruits in autumn.
Our crab apple “John Downie” is in flower in the garden. Last year we didn’t use the crab apples but I just have a sneaky feeling that this year we’re going to have to make use of every last bit of produce we can unless we get a sudden improvement in the weather.
Thursday 03 May 2012
Gardeners Beware
Thursday was dull and cool and although we’d been planning a trip to the plot to sow our carrots the weather put us off.
The forecast for the weekend is for frosts overnight so I might delay sowing carrots until next week. I keep anticipating an improvement in the weather but so far it’s just not happening.
This chart shows the predicted temperatures for 03:00 on Sunday morning. In May we don’t expect any red indicating a frost so any tender plants might need some extra protection.
As we hadn’t made a trip to the plot, I decided to prick out some young brassica plants in the greenhouse. All these seedlings have germinated in the cold greenhouse and were in need of moving into rather more spacious accommodation.
I like to reuse these plastic modules as many times as possible. Last week we planted our young strawberry plants into the allotment and the empty trays were on the greenhouse floor ready to be used again. The insides had been given a brush out and looked clean. I had a quick look underneath and found these small snails taking refuge in the crevices formed in the plastic.
So the underneath of the modules got a good brushing too to remove all the snails that were just waiting for me to plant up my cabbage ready for their next meal.
Friday 04 May 2012
Tomato Growing In February!
Friday was another cool and cloudy day with the maximum temperature failing to reach double figures again, managing a high of only 9.3°C. Overnight into Saturday morning the temperature fell to 0.8°C outside and 1.4°C in the greenhouse.
|
Date |
20- |
21- |
22- |
23- |
24- |
25- |
26- |
27- |
28- |
29- |
Average |
|
Temperature °C |
5.8 |
9.9 |
10.8 |
12.8 |
9.7 |
6.6 |
8.3 |
9.6 |
10.7 |
8.9 |
9.3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Date |
25- |
26- |
27- |
28- |
29- |
30- |
01- |
02- |
03- |
04- |
Average |
|
Temperature °C |
6.6 |
8.8 |
7.2 |
6.4 |
5.5 |
11.9 |
9.4 |
9.7 |
7.7 |
6.9 |
8 |
My greenhouse tomatoes aren’t making much progress, to be truthful they’re not making any progress. To be fair I wouldn’t try to grow tomatoes in the greenhouse in February but that’s pretty much what the growing conditions in the greenhouse correspond to at the moment.
The table above compares the average daily outdoor temperatures for the last 10 days of February this year with the last 10 days. As you can see February was warmer by 1.3°C, little wonder my tomato plants are struggling.
It’s not all bad news though. Our celery and celeriac plants are growing well. I was a little worried that they had become leggy when transplanted but now they look to be becoming strong and healthy plants. With the dull and cool weather it’s not been difficult to keep them on the damp side even in the greenhouse.
Saturday 05 May 2012
Green Manure Update
Saturday had some pleasant sunny spells but they didn’t do much to lift the temperature as the maximum for the day just crept to 10°C. Overnight into Sunday morning the temperature fell to -1°C the coldest I’ve recorded in May.
Although it was cold we decided on a visit to the plot. We knew we had some cauliflowers to harvest and we planned on doing some weeding if it wasn’t too cold when we got there.
Back on the 27th March I sowed some green manure Phacelia to be dug back into the soil before the bed is planted up with winter brassicas. So far it’s slow going which I’m putting down to the cold weather. Germination has been a bit patchy or it could just be that I didn’t distribute the seed very evenly. In some areas the Phacelia is growing better than others. I’ll leave it and see how it performs when the weather warms up a little.
Our mint has produced a first few sprigs which I couldn’t resist cutting.
I’ve started a full list of our May harvesting which can be found on our web site here.
We did manage to get some weeding done too so on Sunday I might see if I can run the tiller through the cleared beds as the forecast is for more heavy rain on Monday.
Before (21 April)
After (5th May)
Our cardoons have certainly put on a growth spurt since the end of April. Obviously they must enjoy the cool wet weather.
Sunday 06 May 2012
Frost Damage
Sunday was good for this spring with plenty of sunny spells. After an overnight frost it felt pleasantly mild in the afternoon sunshine as the temperature rocketed to almost 12°C.
Down on the plot the overnight frost had taken its toll. A frost at the beginning of May seems to have become the norm now and this year, once again, all the new leaves on the kiwi have been damaged by the frost.
New leaves looking full of life but not after an over night frost
We were late planting our potatoes and they still haven’t appeared above ground. This is just as well as they too would have been set back by the frost. Not everyone had been able to make it down to their plot to cover up the delicate new shoots on their potatoes and the foliage now has that frosted look to it.
The sunny weather allowed us to finish the weeding we started on Saturday and the beds were tilled. The soil was in good condition and had dried out well from its soaking last month.
If the temperature would just warm up we could get on planting and sowing in these newly cultivated beds.
Monday 07 May 2012
Colder than Christmas - That’s a Joke Isn’t It?
We had a bright sunny start to Monday although it clouded over at lunch time the rain that had been forecast held off until late into the evening.
I couldn't help but notice this headline in the Mail Online. Christmas Day was warmer than the Bank Holiday in May. That must be somewhere odd in the UK it surely hadn’t been like that here. Or had it!!
The table below shows the temperatures I’ve recorded over the last three Bank holidays.
|
Holiday |
High °C |
Low °C |
|
|
|
|
|
Christmas Day |
13.4 |
8.9 |
|
Boxing Day |
14.2 |
9.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
Easter Sunday (8th April) |
13 |
7.9 |
|
Easter Monday |
10.6 |
6.6 |
|
|
|
|
|
May Bank Holiday Sunday |
11.8 |
- |
|
May Bank Holiday Monday |
10.9 |
1.9 |
Amazingly it was milder over the Christmas Holidays than both the Easter and May Day holidays.
Remember that forecast about this May being the coldest in the last 100 years. I thought I’d have a look to see how that forecast is looking at the end of the first week in May. Much to my disappointment, because I’d really like some warmer weather, the forecast is pretty close.
The purple line showing this year’s temperatures is far too close to that coldest in 100 years blue line to make the gardener in me happy.