Friday, 16 November 2018
Winter Digging Finished
I’m not sure why this year has been any different but for the first time in quite a few years we’ve actually managed to get all our winter digging done.
The weather has been very good this year but I can’t convince myself that that’s why we’ve accomplished all the digging we had planned to do. Certainly, the dry spell of weather has helped and it’s noticeable now that even though we haven’t had a great deal of rain the grass at the plot remains wet all day long. I think we've got the digging done just in time before any proper wintry weather sets in. The well trodden path to the shed had become muddy and slippery and required a covering of wood chippings to make the path less hazardous.
Lots of our beds are been left with the intention that winter rain and frost will break down the soil. The long hot dry summer has left its mark on many of our beds resulting in the soil becoming hard and compacted.
We're pleased with the progress we've made getting all our beds dug over this year. Hopefully this will give us a flying start next spring, unless of course we have another cold and wet spring, like this year, in which case we've learnt that it much better to wait for conditions to improve rather than sow or plant into ground that is cold and wet.
We do have some other jobs we would like to get done over winter. Our raspberries need to be re-staked, the greenhouse glass needs a good wash, our old cold frame has to be cleared and renovated and we have one bed on plot 30 that is waiting to be cleared of weeds before it can be dug over. I’d like to coppice one of our hazel bushes for bean and pea sticks too. I’m sure they’ll be other jobs that will crop up over the course of winter.
Wednesday, 21 November 2018
Winter’s Arrived
The weather models and forecasters were correct and this week has seen an end to our lovely autumn weather. Last week temperatures were a little above normal reaching a rather heady 13.5°C (56.3°F) whereas this week they are definitely below and there’s a bitingly cold east wind blowing with daytime temperatures struggling to reach 10°C or 50.0°F.
Temperature & Rainfall Records 14-21 November 2018
Tuesday was the poorest day so far this month with plenty of showers, a daytime high temperature of just 5.9° (42.6°) and not even any brighter spells between the showers.
It’s a good job we got our winter digging done as this week has also seen an end to our dry spell. Having got ourselves up to date at the allotment, digging wise that is, we had a day train chasing on Saturday and visited the Great Central Railway on Sunday where they were holding their final gala of the year before the "Santa" specials begin.
Our train chasing on Saturday was to see 6233 Duchess of Sutherland now running in her old London Midland & Scottish livery of Crimson Lake. She was heading the first Yuletide Express of the season from London to York.
6233 Duchess of Sutherland at Colton Junction
The "Last Hurrah" of the season gala held by the Great Central Railway saw the final gala appearance of 70013 Oliver Cromwell.
70013 Oliver Cromwell departs Quorn & Woodhouse station with a passenger train to Leicester North
It's now in need of a major overall as its 10 year boiler certificate has expired, or will have by the end of this year. I wouldn't want to be footing the bill for the overall, and I'm not sure the National Railway Museum who I believe owns the locomotive have the money readily available either, so it might be some time before this locomotive makes a gala appearance again.
With the possibility of some cold weather over the next few days I decided on Monday that it was time to move our dahlia tubers out of the greenhouse and into the garage.
They’ve been left in the greenhouse for a couple of weeks and have dried out nicely. My plan is to store them in paper potato sacks alongside our potatoes kept in the garage for winter storage. I tried this last year and it worked very well so I’m giving it another go this year.