July 2026 Video Diary
05 July 2026
Plot tour 1st July 2026 – Drought, gales and wood pigeons have to be dealt with.
A look around the plot at the beginning of July.
05 July 2026
2026-07-02-swans and cygnets at Nostell Priory
A short clip of the swans and cygnets on our latest walk at Nostell Priory
06 July 2026
Hazel twigs for pea supports
A chat about supporting our early peas with hazel twigs and trying to protect peas from wood pigeons.
09 July 2026
Ruby’s early morning walk at Nostell Priory to avoid the heat
Ruby’s walks have been limited due to the hot weather. On Thursday, we decided on an early morning visit to Nostell Priory. Just as well it turned out to be the hottest day of the spell. The weather details for the start of the month are listed below.
🌞 Ossett Weather Update: July 2026 Starts with a Massive Heatwave!
🌡️ The first 10 days of July 2026 have brought some absolutely scorching weather to Ossett! We’ve already smashed past the 30°C mark multiple times. Here are the official NOAA climatological highlights so far:
🌡️ Max Temp: A blistering 34.8°C recorded on July 9th!
📉 Min Temp: A cool 10.2°C way back on the morning of July 3rd.
📊 Mean Period Temp: Sitting high at 20.5°C.
🔥 Extreme Heat: We’ve already clocked 3 days at or above 32°C!
🌧️ Rainfall: Practically bone dry! Only 0.6 mm of total rainfall, with the “wettest” day seeing just 0.4 mm.
💨 Max Wind Gust: 25.0 mph back on July 2nd, with winds predominantly blowing from the West.
What are your thoughts on this July heatwave? Are you loving the sunshine or begging for a thunderstorm to break the heat? Let me know in the comments below!
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12 July 2026
🥔 Too Hot, Too Dry… Our Potato Harvest Didn’t Go to Plan
After a long dry spell, harvesting our first early Ulster Prince potatoes was a big disappointment.
14 July 2026
More potato woes – Lifting trial potatoes Harry & Jacky
The prolonged hot, dry weather has taken its toll on our early potato crop, and in this video, we finally lift two varieties—Harry and Jacky—to see how they’ve coped.
Unfortunately, the results are disappointing. The lack of rainfall, combined with two spells of temperatures above 30°C, left the haulms completely dried up and the ground rock hard.
While Harry produced slightly larger potatoes, many suffered from what appears to be wireworm damage. Jacky produced smaller tubers but with no visible damage.
I’ve also included the rainfall and temperature records from the growing season, which help explain why this year’s harvest has been so poor.
Will the maincrop potatoes fare any better, or has the extreme weather affected them too? Only time will tell.
If you’ve experienced similar problems with your potatoes this year, I’d love to hear how your crop has performed.
Leave a comment below and let us know where you’re gardening and how the weather has affected your harvest.
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19 July 2026
Protecting our peas and evidence of a surprise visitor.
It seems we now have to protect our peas from being eaten along with virtually all our other crops. I’ve now improved my method of protection, as seen in this video. We also found evidence of a surprise visitor to the allotment who could be causing some of the damage we think wood pigeons are.
24 July 2026
Mystery solved – Our trail camera reveals the night visitors to our allotment
Ever wondered what visits an allotment when nobody is around? In this video, we head down to the allotment, unlock the gates, and make our way to our plot to see if our trail camera has survived the night.
After crossing our plots, we settle down by the shed and connect the camera to our phone, eager to find out what has been captured. Join us as we watch the footage for the first time before sharing the best clips from the trail camera.
You never quite know what you’ll discover once the camera starts rolling! Have you ever used a trail camera on your allotment or in your garden? Let us know in the comments – we’d love to hear what wildlife you’ve spotted.
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