Jul wk 4

Thursday, 21 July 2016 to Saturday, 23 July 2016

Vivaldi Meets Robin Hood

After Tuesday's very hot temperatures, for us anyway, the forecast was for cooler weather with thunderstorms on Wednesday followed by more showery weather for the remainder of the week. Neither the thunderstorms nor showers turned up in Ossett and it remained on the warm side all week with temperature in the high to mid twenties Celsius.

Temperature, Sunshine & Rainfall Records 18 July - 23 July 2016

In my last post I mentioned that I was going to lifted one of our Potato Day varieties Vivaldi as the haulms were starting to die back.

I cut off the haulms and peeled back the weed control fabric which lifted the roots to reveal some decent sized potatoes. There was 1.58 kg or 3.48 lbs on this particular root which I didn't think was too bad.

On closer inspection some of the tubers had been slug damaged but not too many.

We also managed a first picking of broad beans, Robin Hood, a short growing variety that only produces small pods but the beans are very tasty. Our earlier planted broad bean, Witkiem Manita, still has a few remaining beans but has nearly finished cropping so Robin Hood will add some continuity of cropping.

Vivaldi and Robin Hood were taste tested for dinner and both were very good. We might have a few problems choosing our potato varieties for next year.

Sunday, 24 July 2016 & Monday, 25 July 2016

Where Are the Butterflies?

The weather's gone off a little bit over Sunday and Monday. It's cooled down a bit and has been mostly cloudy even threatening to rain at times but it hasn't.

On the plot Sue's avenue of buddleia bushes are looking good now they are in full flower.

The strange thing is though there aren't any butterflies visiting the flowers. We've plenty of bees but no butterflies. Sue's cut flower patch is also planted up to attract the bees and butterflies and is looking good as more and more flowers appear.

If the butterflies aren't quick they're going to miss the best of the buddleia flowers.

Tuesday, 26 July 2016

Might Be Our Driest July?

Tuesday was another dull day but we missed any showers that were about to finish up with another mild and dry day.

Rainfall & Sunshine Records July 2016

After a rather rainy start July is turning into a dry month. On the plot and in the garden the plants would welcome a good watering. So far our total rainfall for the month comes to 22.8mm (0.90in) and the driest July over the last seven years was in 2011 when we had only 23.0mm (0.91in)of rainfall. Will we have less than 2011? It's close.

Showers are still forecast for the next few days but then again they've been forecast for the last week or so and we've missed those. This post should guarantee a few good downpours by the end of the month.

On the plot what we think is a giant puff ball is suffering in the same way as any of our other crops left unprotected on the plot. It's being eaten. Last week it looked like this.

If we had have been tempted into eating it, last week would have been the ideal time. After a week or so on the plot it looks like this.

I like to think that all the slugs that have nibbled away at it have upset stomachs for their troubles.

Wednesday, 27 July 2016

Potato Day Interim Report

Wednesday was another not too bad sort of a summer's day but nothing special although we did have a little light rain through the night.

Our potato Day trial is now one third completed as Orla and Vivaldi have both been lifted.

The planting times for these potatoes is in the table below.

As the potatoes were planted under weed control fabric they've had no special attention since they were planted back in April. The other varieties Amour, Blue Belle, Setanta and Valor are maincrop potatoes and have been left to grow on until their haulms die back.

Here is a general description of Orla and Vivaldi.

Orla (First Early)

This first early potato has good foliage and tuber resistance to blight. It produces creamy skinned, pale yellow fleshed, oval to round potatoes. It can also be used as a second early or early main crop variety.

Vivaldi (Second Early)

This variety sounds too good to be true. It produces a high yielding crop of potatoes that are lower in carbohydrates and calories than other varieties. As a baked potato they are considered to be good enough to eat without any butter. They have a light yellow skin and flesh with a unique velvety texture.

The haulms on Orla were the first to turn brown followed shortly by Vivaldi. Vivaldi may have been affected by the hot dry spell over the last few weeks although the remaining maincrop varieties are still growing well. The yields from the two varieties are listed below.

We've taste tested both varieties and found them to be very good. From our limited cooking of Vivaldi I think it is more likely to boil down in the water when cooked than Orla but carefully timing how long the potatoes are cooked for can limit this problem.

Orla to the Left & Vivaldi to the Right

Personally I think Orla lived up to its description the best. Some of the potatoes were fairly large which you could consider either a good or bad thing depending on how you want to use your potatoes. I might try to bake a couple of the larger potatoes as a test. The larger potatoes also back up using this as an early maincrop variety.

I was surprised when I added up the harvested weights to find that Vivaldi was the larger of the two but not by very much. It produced some decent sized potatoes but nothing as large as some of the Orla specimens. We will have to bake a couple of the larger potatoes to test out how these taste without butter.

Both varieties had some slug damage but nothing more than I expect from potatoes growing on the plot and not enough for me to think that either of them is particularly attractive to slugs. After all most things on the plot have suffered from slug damage this year.

The bottom line is I'd grow both Orla and Vivaldi again if I can decide which other variety not to grow and obtain some tubers in a suitable quantity.

Thursday, 28 July 2016

Was That It!

Thursday started off well enough but by lunchtime it had clouded over and the first few drops of rain began to fall. We set off to the allotment as I thought the tomato plants might appreciate a drink. A few minutes after we got there it started to rain a little heavier and so having watered the tomatoes we headed home with only a meagre picking of raspberries.

That turned out to be the heaviest it rained all afternoon. It drizzled for most of the afternoon but as far as watering the garden or allotment goes it was a complete waste of time. All in all we managed a total of 1.6mm, enough to wet the top of the ground and re-energise the slugs which had become a bit less active in the dry weather.

It also means that July 2016 won't become the driest July I've recorded over the last six years and July 2011 will hold onto the record with 23.0mm (0.91in). We've now had 24.4mm (0.96in) this month.

Friday, 29 July 2016

Rain in Ossett - Sun in Dalby Forest

Friday turned out to be this months wettest day with 9.2mm (0.36in) of rainfall.

Rainfall & Temperature Records July 2016

We've one bed on the allotment that has been waiting for some rain to hopefully soften up the soil a little bit so that it can be dug over. I'll have to see if Friday's rain has done the trick.

With the rain still falling on Friday morning we decided on a trip to North Yorkshire and a visit to Dalby Forest. The wet weather almost put us off and it was a rather damp journey as we headed into North Yorkshire. Luckily in the afternoon the sun broke through the clouds to give a lovely afternoon for a walk in Dalby Forest.

We arrived back home in the early evening to find the ground still wet from the afternoon's rainfall in Ossett.

Saturday, 30 July 2016

After the Rain

Saturday wasn't too bad, after Friday's rain, with some decent sunny spells. I'd been waiting for a drop of rain to moisten up the soil on a couple of beds on the plot so that they could be dug over. Friday's rain was just what I'd been waiting for.

This is what the soil looked like before I started. It didn't look like it had received a decent amount of rainfall on it the previous day. I decided it might be better once my cultivator started to break up the clods of soil. Dampness might magically appear.

I don't know where the rainfall went but it didn't do anything to soften up this particular bit of ground. On the larger lumps, which are hard enough to use as bricks, my cultivator merely bounced up in the air. After a few passes some of the lumps had at least been broken into more manageable sized pieces but the ground remains very dry even after Friday's rainfall. I'll have to have another go when we've had some more rain.

Before leaving the allotment the greenhouse tomatoes were watered. It's the first time that I've noticed that the fruit on our Gardener's Delight tomatoes look a plum tomato shape.

I don't think our Gardener's Delight tomatoes have looked this shape before and what's more I didn't buy any plum tomato type seeds. Well I didn't think I did!

Disclaimer

This weather site is operated as an amateur weather station site and should not be used as official data. I make every effort to ensure my data is as accurate as possible but I cannot guarantee that the data meets the requirements of the Meteorological Office or other professional weather monitoring organisations.