Friday, 24 August 2018
Forgotten What A Wet Day's Like
Not for the first time this summer we've got caught in some rain at the allotment. In fact it was the second time this week. It's a long time now since we had what I'd call a thoroughly wet day. I imagine it was sometime back in April, when it seemed the allotment would never dry out, since then we've really had nothing but showers. So far this month we've had some rain on 10 of the 23 days but on 6 of those 10 "rainy days" the amount has been less than 1.0mm or 0.04in. That doesn't have any effect on the dry ground at the allotment or in the garden.
Rainfall Totals - Summer Months 2010 - 2018
It's easily the driest summer I've recorded although there's a week or so of August still left and rain is forecast for Sunday but we'll have to wait and see if that forecast turns out to be correct or it becomes another day with just a few showers.
Bed Prepared for Planting Over-Wintering Onion Sets
The very dry ground makes preparing beds for more crops very time consuming as the ground needs to be well watered before any attempt can be made to dig it over. The patch above has been prepared ready to plant some winter onions. The potatoes which occupied the bed over summer had been watered on a regular basis since the middle of July, more in an attempt to keep the ground moist enough to dig out the potatoes than increase the size of the crop. Our watering did at least make it easier to dig up the potatoes but the ground was still very dry. The soil got another good soaking once the potatoes were out before it was dug over once again and broken down with the cultivator ready for planting. Now all we need are the onion sets.
If you'd like a look around our plot I've included a video taken in the middle of August.
Monday, 27 August 2018
I'm to Blame
It was only on Friday that I posted that it was absolutely ages since we'd had a thoroughly wet day and then a couple of days later one comes along. To make matters worse it's waited for a holiday weekend.
Temperature & Rainfall Records 01-27 August 2018
As you will notice from the chart above not only have we had some rain but the temperature has been much cooler too which means that the rainfall isn't drying up as quickly as it falls.
Bank Holiday Monday hasn't started off very well either with a dull damp start to the morning. It's forecast to be much brighter with some sunny spells though. There isn't much rain in the forecast for the next week to ten days but hopefully Saturday’s total of 9.4mm(0.37in) will save us watering duties at the plot for a few days.
Friday, 31 August 2018
Beginning To Feel a Bit Like Autumn
August began with lovely hot sunny weather but that certainly hasn't lasted and the last week or so has had a distinctly autumnal feel about it. Early on Thursday morning the temperature dipped down to 6.4°C (43.5°F) making it a very chilly start to the day and on Friday morning even lower at 5.2°C or 41.4°F.
Temperature & Rainfall Records 29-31 August 2018
At the allotment there's a bit of an autumnal feel too as we clear away summer crops and begin to harvest apples and plums. However, the allotment remains very dry and although crops can be cleared away to the compost heap the ground is far too hard to dig over. After rain last weekend I though I'd dig over the summer onion bed.
The onions had been lifted a few weeks ago and placed into boxes to be stored over winter. I thought the rain would have softened the soil up and it would be easy to dig over. I was wrong, in fact, it was difficult to tell there had been any rain. I did manage to turn over a couple of spades of soil but it was tough going and I didn't think it was worth carrying on.
The problem is that the number of beds that we are clearing are mounting up and ideally they all need digging over before any bad weather sets in. To make matters worse there's still no "proper rain" in the forecast for the next week to ten days so our drought conditions look as though they will continue on into the first weeks of September.
However, the good news is that the fine sunny weather looks set to return and we may well be in for a very nice spell of September weather. Apart from the possibility of a few showers there's certainly no prolonged wet weather in the forecast.
Ten Day Forecast Based on GFS Weather Model from http://www.wetterzentrale.de
If you choose your photographic location carefully the plot still looks summery especially our perennial bed.
Rose - Jacqueline du Pre
Our roses have seemed to enjoy the long hot summer and have been flowering since the end of May. However, our cardoons are now looking very sorry for themselves.
The bees are now having to look elsewhere for their nectar fix as the flower heads have now died off. It's been windy enough to break some of the thick stems so the saw will have to come out and they will be removed to the compost heap. At least it's a job that doesn't depend on it raining.