Friday and Saturday 21/22 March 2014
Topping and Tailing
Friday and Saturday were two ‘not bad’ March days. Cool with some sunny periods and scattered showers mixed in and night time temperatures down to round about frosty levels.
As this is a gardening and weather blog topping and tailing might conjure up visions of a very early crop of gooseberries. In fact this was topping and tailing of a very different sort, the sort done with steam locomotives. We’d booked a trip by charter train making a journey along the picturesque Esk Valley on the northern borders of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. The train began its journey in Carnforth heading via Skipton to Leeds where we joined the train then onto York, Middlesborough, Battersby and finally Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast.
The railway term topping and tailing refers to the need to have a steam locomotive at the front and rear of the train with each one facing in opposite directions. Much of the line from Middlesborough through the Esk Valley is single track with trains only able to pass at some stations.
There were plenty of onlookers watching and photographing what could be one of the last steam hauled journeys along this beautiful stretch of line as improvements to the normal service train network may leave no suitable space on the line for special charter trains. That would be a great pity. I noticed that our charter train was fully booked weeks ago. It certainly meant a busy day for the train staff as along with another one hundred or so others we’d decided to book a full meals’ service on the journey which comprised of breakfast, lunch and evening meal.
Between us we managed around 250 photographs so there’s plenty of editing and deleting to do. The two steam locomotives working the train were 61994, The Great Marquess which hauled the train from York to Battersby and 61264 which was attached to the rear of the train at Darlington and was in charge of the train from Batttersby to Whitby.
Sunday 23 March 2014
Hail and the Year’s Coldest Temperature
For the most part Sunday was a lovely sunny day but the easterly breeze meant it felt pretty cold especially when the showers arrived some with hail mixed in for good measure.
Then with clear sky's overnight into Monday morning we had our coldest temperature of the year -
Our brassica plug plants have arrived from Marshalls. These have been potted on to grow on in the greenhouse and cold frame for a while before they are planted out on the plot. I still can’t say I’m over impressed by the quality of the plants but I’m hoping with a bit of luck we’ll get some early cauliflowers, cabbages and calabrese.
These are our 16 calabrese “Marathon” plants potted up in the greenhouse where they will remain to establish some new roots before moving to the cold frame to harden off. I use the term harden off as it the standard jargon in any gardening magazine explaining how plants need to acclimatise to cooler outdoor conditions when moved out of the greenhouse. The temperature fell to -
Monday 24 March 2014
A First Look under the Fabric
After a cold and frosty start Monday was a beautiful sunny day. We didn’t manage to resist the temptation to visit the plot in the afternoon.
Any regular followers will know that from the beginning of last year’s growing season we have been making maximum use of weed control fabric and that we’ve been very pleased with the results.
This is how our bed of brassicas on plot 42 looked after planting up last year. To be honest apart from harvesting some cabbages and cauliflowers this bed has had very little attention since. The weed control fabric did its job. The grass paths do creep into the beds but that’s to be expected.
This is how the bed looked on Monday afternoon after being left all winter without any attention. I was hoping that the bed wasn’t going to need digging but when I actually saw the state it was in I wasn’t too sure I was going to be that lucky. The canes, supports and netting were removed first. Then the tops cut off the cabbages and added to the compost heap. The brassica roots were put in a bucket to go in the council green recycling bin at home. Interestingly the roots didn’t appear to have any signs of club root so I can only conclude that some parts of the plot are affected by this and not others. I’ll need to keep a note of the affected beds and make sure no brassicas are planted in them.
Once the fabric was removed and the grass path roughly edged the soil didn’t look too bad. It certainly hadn’t been battered into a hard solid surface by winter rains as normally happens. I gave the soil a sprinkling of fish, blood and bone and lightly forked it into the top few inches of soil.
The final result looked pretty good. I’ve never been able to use a bed for a second year without digging it over in spring. The beds on this plot are part of a four year rotation. The weed control fabric on the bed on the left of the photo was lifted and placed over this bed. This will be used for peas this year and of course the fabric already has the correct cuts in it as it comes from last year’s pea growing bed.
The bed’s now ready for two rows of peas to be sown probably towards the end of April. This year we’re only sowing peas directly rather than in pots and transplanting. All I need to do now is wake my strimmer from its winter slumbers and cut the grass which is growing rather too quickly for my liking.
Having cleared another bed of its cover that too looked as though it would be fine without been dug over. If the other three beds are as easy to prepare as this one I’ll be very pleased.
Tuesday 25 March 2014
Brightest to Dullest
Monday was the sunniest day of the month and Tuesday turned out to be the dullest. Tuesday was dull all day with light rain or drizzle for most of the day but only amounting to 1.6mm of measurable rainfall.
Last year this week was cold and snowy with temperatures through the day just about staying above freezing so even Tuesday’s maximum temperature of 7.8°C was a big improvement on last year.
On our visit to the plot on Monday we noticed that the blossom on our Oullins Gage plum tree was starting to open. We were both a little surprised as after last year’s bumper harvest we didn’t expect many flowers this year but that doesn’t look to be the case. Looking back at last year’s bitterly cold spring the first photos of our Oullins gage coming into flower were taken on 23 April.
Oullins Gage 24 March 2014
Oullins Gage 23 April 2013
Of course there’s a long way to go yet before we before that bumper crop materialises.
Wednesday 26 March 2014
Cutting Garden
Wednesday was a better day than forecast. We had a few sunny spells and the rain held off until late in the afternoon.
After our last visit to the plot I’d decided that the grass paths could do with a strim. They’d already got a bit too long and untidy to cut with the mower. My only intention was to do a tidying up job and to get the grass in a state so that it could be mowed properly at its next cutting.
The biggest challenge was to get the grass cut before the rain arrived. The grass was still a little damp so any rain would make strimming an even messier job. I normally finish up covered in strimmed grass even on a good day.
I do need to take a bit of care when strimming as it only takes one careless swish of the strimmer and wild flowers growing amongst the grass can be cut down in their prime.
When the strimming was finished I cut a few daffodils to take home and a few wallflowers just as a tester to see how they perform as a cut flower. By the time I was locking the allotment gate the first few spots of rain started to fall.
Thursday 27 March 2014
Sowing Broad Beans
Thursday wasn’t a particularly brilliant day. The sun did make a few weak attempts to break through the cloud but it would be fair to say it failed. It was a cold day with the temperature managing just 8°C. It rained a bit now and again through the day. March’s weather has deteriorated after a promising start with the coldest and wettest conditions reserved for the end of the month. It seems a bit of a stuttering start to spring, as though it doesn’t quite want to commit.
In a sunny moment I decided to get started sowing a few seeds. I always start our earliest broad beans Witkiem Manita off in pots in the greenhouse to germinate and grow on before they eventually get planted on the plot when large enough. I thought the little bit of sunshine might have warmed inside the greenhouse but I was wrong as, even in the greenhouse, the temperature didn’t get above 12°C .
I managed to sow one set of 15 modules and decided I’d wait for a slightly warmer day to sow another tray. It’s about time I sowed some leeks too so I’ll probably try to get those done at the same time. A few days aren’t going to make a great deal of difference to when we have some lovely tender green beans ready to harvest
Friday 28 March 2014
Poor Growing Weather
Friday saw the spell of cold and dull weather continuing after some overnight rain.
Last autumn we decided it was time to tidy up our old blackberry cane which must have been growing in the current spot for around the last 20 years.
So what looked like this at the beginning of November……
…....looked like this by the end of the month.
I dug as much of the old spreading blackberry roots and wick grass out as I could manage but left the main root system in the ground in one position to regrow. We didn’t want to get rid of the blackberry altogether just do a major tidying up operation.
Since then the bed has been covered with weed control fabric with a hole cut in it around the old blackberry root allowing it some light. As I suspected the blackberry is as tough as old boots and despite all the hacking about it received last autumn with spade, fork and axe it’s decided now is the time for it to make a reappearance.
The first tiny shoots are starting to grow from the old stump left in the ground. I obviously didn’t get all the wick grass out of the root as that’s starting to grow too. I’ll have to see if I can get some more grass out before the shoots develop their vicious thorns. I’m not expecting any blackberries this year but I am hoping that we (by ‘we’ I mean Sue), can keep this beast under a bit better control.
Saturday 29 March 2014
Double Hobby Day
Saturday just about lived up to the hype the forecasters had given it. It was certainly milder than the last few days as the temperature managed 13.9°C but any sunshine was at a premium.
We set out late morning to watch 60007 Sir Nigel Gresley steaming down the East Coast Main Line with the Cathedrals Express from London Kings Cross to York.
It was our first photographic challenge of the day. The train was approaching out of a sort of mist or hazy sunshine it was difficult to decide which but it made for tricky photography. Unlike our railtour last week this train was on time with just a few miles left to go to York.
After seeing Sir Nigel with the Cathedrals Express we headed for Potteric Carr for an afternoon at the Nature Reserve. This is where we had our second photographic challenge of the day. We’ve seen a few flashes of orange and blue as a kingfisher has flown by us when we’ve visited reserves in the past but until today never had change to photograph one. Today we were lucky enough to see not one but two kingfishers perched by a possible nesting site and they were happy to pose for pictures for as long as we wanted.
The only problem was that they were about a mile away or that’s what it seemed like. They’d found a nest site well away from the paths around the reserve on a small island in the middle of a lake. Hence our second photographic challenge of the day. We spent a while with cameras clicking and video whirring away trying to capture some good shots. There’s now the long job of sorting out the best pictures and editing our video. More will follow I’m sure.
Sunday & Monday 30/31 March 2014
Decent End to the Month
Sunday and Monday brought the month to an end with a bit of a theme of rather dull, misty murky mornings brightening up to give a much better afternoon with some hazy sunshine and pleasantly mild with the temperature managing the mid teens.
Plum -
March has been a little bit milder than we might expect especially during the day but noticeably that’s not true of the night time temperatures throughout the month. We’ve had 4 nights below freezing in March that’s as many as in January. So far this year our average night time temperatures for January 3.1°C, February 3.5°C and March 3.5°C have been remarkably consistent with January milder than we might expect and March a little colder than we might expect.
Potteric Carr (30 March 2014)
Rainfall for the month has been a little below average at 33.4mm or about 80% of our expected total for March. This month hasn’t been the wettest, driest, warmest, or coldest March of the last 4 years but it has been the windiest following on from a windy December and February some quieter weather would be much appreciated.
Let’s hope that April brings us some warm weather as it’s a busy time for the gardener. We might see the thermometer hit 20°C for the first time this year but it’s not a forgone conclusion. The last four Aprils have either been very dry or very wet ranging from 2.4mm in 2011 to 120mm in 2012 with nothing much in between.
Plot tulips coming into flower (31 March 2014)