Tuesday, 04 September 2018
End of a Hot Summer
September heralds the start of meteorological autumn and brings to an end a very hot and dry summer in our part of the world. The heat hasn't been the main problem for us, rather the lack of rainfall, as this summer finishes up as the hottest and driest I've recorded.
Some beds on the allotment have been unusable through summer as the hot, dry weather continued to bake our clay soil. The rainfall figures for this summer speak for themselves.
Summer Rainfall Totals 2010-2018
Our total summer rainfall has amounted to what we might expect in any one of the three summer months. No wonder we've had lots of watering to do at the allotment. Of course summer 2018 might be at the bottom of the rainfall table but the positions are reversed for the temperature table.
Summer Temperatures 2010-2018
Little did we know that as the lovely summer weather began in June it would last through into August although August didn't match the standards set by June and July.
RHS Harlow Carr in June 2018
As I've already mentioned August was the poorest of the summer months and didn't manage to top my table of August temperatures coming second to August 2013.
Only a few days into autumn and those hot summer days have disappeared but we're still waiting for some "proper rain".
Until that rain arrives our soil will continue to more resemble concrete that soil. Autumn digging is on hold as all we can do is clear the ground of its summer crops and wait for the rain to arrive. No doubt that once it starts it won't know when to stop. Hard to believe that in April we were waiting for the ground to dry out so that we could start sowing and planting spring crops.