Sunday 01 May 2016
April's Arctic Blast Ends
Sunday turned out to be a little bit milder so hopefully that blast of cold air we had all last week is finally coming to an end. After a bright start the majority of Sunday was a dull affair with spits and spots of drizzle.
My weather station produces annual temperature figures as the year progresses. It's interesting to note that the average low temperature for January 2016 was 3.2°C and guess what that's exactly the same for April just 3.2°C.
That average low temperature for this April is the lowest over the last seven years.
Even if January was mild I don't think I'd consider sowing many seeds then so I'm trying to convince myself that any sowings made on the allotment in April wouldn't have done very well. We certainly need temperatures to lift up considerably to kick start this year's allotment season.
I'm going to have to start doing much less of this and get on with some gardening.
Bank Holiday Monday 02 May 2016
Spring Might Have Arrived
Bank Holiday Monday wasn't too bad a day and at long last it seems we might have seen the back of that wintry weather we've been suffering from for a week or more. Monday started dullish, with a drop of rain around lunchtime which put us off making a much needed visit to the plot but by early afternoon the sun came out and it was a nice afternoon. We made the most of the good weather sowing and transplanting crops at home. Full details are listed here.
These Little Gem lettuces were all sown on 17 March and the smaller plants were transplanting into this raised bed on 18 April. Some were left to grow on in the greenhouse and these were transplanted into this raised bed on 02 May. The cold weather has prevented the early transplants from doing any growing at all. If we're lucky though this will prolong our harvesting period.
I'm growing this pot full of Little Gems on in the greenhouse hoping that they'll provide us with an early crop before the ones in the outdoor raised bed.
Tuesday 03 May 2016
Made It to the Plot
It was our first visit to the plot since the 21 April which was around the time the Arctic blast set in. For us that's a long time in what should be a busy time of year on the allotment. I expected that our grass paths would continue to grow despite the cold weather and they didn't let me down.
As I'd anticipated this I'd taken the strimmer down to the allotment. It had a very busy afternoon.
The fruit blossom continues to put on a fantastic display.
Pear - Invincible
I think that the term covered in blossom is a fair description for our pear tree Invincible. We've noticed in the past that pears never seem to finish up with as much fruit as the blossom leads you to believe. Still even a few would be welcome. Since our last visit our cherry tree Summer Sun has come into flower.
Cherry - Summer Sun
It too has lots of blossom but not as much as the pear. Unfortunately for some reason the resident woodpigeons consider the leaves of this tree a delicacy and will strip the leaves almost overnight. This year we have a plan to try to stop them. I'll no doubt be blogging about its effectiveness. Hard to believe that fruit trees like this are now banned on the plot. They bring a real touch of spring to the allotments.
With the plot strimmed and our early brassicas planted (4 weeks later than last year) parts of the plot are starting to take on more of a cared for appearance.
I was surprised just how wet and claggy the ground was when we were planting our brassicas. I'm hoping it's not too wet to dig over some beds ready for peas, carrots, parsnips, potatoes and broad beans all of which need sowing and planting as soon as possible.
Wednesday - Saturday 04-07 May 2016
What A Few Days!
It seems like summer has arrived over the last few days. Temperatures have soared and we've experienced the warmest days of the year so far.
Temperature & Sunshine Records for Week Commencing 01 May 2016
For the record our warmest day of the year so far was Thursday 05 May when the thermometer reached 22.0°C or 71.6°F.
We've had some very busy afternoons down on the plot. It's probably fair to say that what we should have done on the plot throughout April was all accomplished in the last few days.
Our coldframes at home have gone from bursting at the seams to empty.
I'm not going to go through exactly what we sowed and planted last week but if you are interested the detailed list can be found here.
We now need to get on sowing some of the more tender crops ready for planting out early in June. Some have already been sown like our courgettes.
Others like sweet corn and sunflowers are still waiting to be sown but we plan to do that over the next couple of days.
However, this excellent spell of weather isn't forecast to last too long. Rather worryingly the weather models are predicting another plunge of Arctic cold by next weekend.
These are the minimum temperatures forecast 06:00 on Saturday 14 May. There's plenty of time for this forecast to change and hopefully temperatures won't fall this low. If you want to follow these charts as they are updated you can do so at www.theweatheroutlook.com.