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Thursday 22 November 2012
Great Escape
The weather throughout Britain was atrocious on Thursday but fortunately we missed the worst of it. We only had a small amount of rain and it was windy but nothing too exceptional.
Our rainfall for the day was 3.4mm bringing our total for the month up to 44.6mm around the expected amount for November. It wasn’t the windiest day of the month here either with the highest gust speed recorded as 21mph compared with 24mph on the 07 November.
The forecast is for more gales and rain over the weekend. I wonder if we can be lucky for a second time?
Friday 23 November 2012
Sunny then Frosty
Friday was a pleasant mild sunny day without any rain or strong winds but the penalty
was the coldest night of autumn so far with the thermometer down to -
It’s the first time our bird bath has iced over trapping in some of the leaves that fell in the strong winds. I might just have to tip in some warm water and remove the leaves.
The forecast is for more wind and rain tonight and into Sunday so it’s only a short cold snap.
Saturday 24 November 2012
Wet
A few days ago November was looking like being a relatively dry month but the last few days has changed all that. After a cold Saturday morning and afternoon the rain started to fall steadily from early evening and went on well into the early hours of Sunday morning.
The total rainfall from 11:00 Saturday to 11:00 Sunday was 24.6mm which would rank as the 6th wettest day had in not straddled over 2 days. I image any further allotmenting apart from visits to harvest a few winter vegetables will be off the agenda for a few weeks.
It does look at the minute like the weather will be turning much colder and dryer from the middle of next week.
Sunday 25 November 2012
Better than Expected
After the overnight rain it turned out dry through the daytime on Sunday. We didn’t get as much rain as the forecast had suggested. It was blustery all day with a temperature of 8.4°C which is about what we can expect for late November.
Through the afternoon we had some sunny spells but the rain returned around 21:00 with light rain falling into the early hours of Monday morning. Another 6.0mm to add to this month’ growing total which has now amounted to 78.0mm.
The forecasts now seem rather certain of a colder spell of weather towards the end of the week but there seems to be a great deal of uncertainty as to whether or not the cold spell will continue for some days or be replaced by a return to milder more unsettled weather.
Monday 26 November 2012
Crocked?
Hopefully after more rain through Monday and into the early hours of Tuesday morning we are now moving into drier colder weather for a time.
We certainly haven’t had the amounts of rain talked about on the news programmes and where all the flooding has occurred. We’ve had 59.6mm of rain from last Wednesday to 10:00 Tuesday morning. Our average rainfall for November is around 64mm so we’ve had a month’s rainfall in the last week. Up to last Wednesday November had been a little on the dry side.
We must have either failed to put enough crocks in one of our tubs of bulbs or the drainage has simply become blocked but the week’s rain has converted it into a mini pond.
I don’t suppose it will be doing the bulbs any good so I might have to investigate and see if I can unblock the drainage holes.
Tuesday 27 November 2012
Dry at Least
After rain in the early hours of Tuesday morning the rest of the day was dry. It remained cloudy all day and always threatened more rain but we missed any that fell.
The wind on Wednesday morning is blowing generally from a northerly direction so the milder Atlantic weather is probably on hold for a while.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Investment Protection
Wednesday wasn’t too bad a day. It was dry, cloudy and cold with the temperature only making it up to 5.8°C.
We’d run out of fresh vegetables at home so a trip down to the plot was required. With freezing temperatures predicted for the weekend I couldn’t put off giving our carrots a bit of cold weather protection. We’ve gone to a fair amount of effort to produce this year’s crop so loosing what we have left to frost damage would be very disappointing. I stopped of at the local farm on my way to the plot to pick up a couple of bales of straw.
The carrot tops haven’t been knocked back by any of the cold weather to date so I’m assuming the carrots underneath are fine. Before covering them with straw I though it would make sense to dig a few roots.
The ground was wet and claggy but after a wash under the tap these Early Nantes looked in pretty good condition and certainly proved that it was certainly worthwhile providing them with a little protection to make them last as long as possible.
Hopefully with almost a bale of straw spread around the roots they’ll manage to get through all that winter has to offer keeping us supplied with fresh carrots into the new year. I did have a little straw left and this went round a few Boltardy beetroots that are still in the ground.
Next spring the straw will either be dug in or used on the compost heap.
Thursday 29 November 2012
Cracking Day
Thursday was a lovely early winter’s day with plenty of sunshine even if it was a little on the cold side.
We had a trip to our local RSPB reserve at Fairburn Ings. The frosty weather had lingered into the afternoon in the sheltered spots where the sun hadn’t managed to penetrate.
There’s still plenty of evidence of all the recent rainfall around especially in the fields. This is a picture of a farmer’s field near Fairburn and not a picture of an Ing although it could easily be mistaken for one.
The area around the RSPB reserve is low lying and is prone to flooding and the road leading to and from the reserve was still partially flooded.
On the way back home from the reserve the sunset was spectacular.
Whilst we were at the reserve we also had a little time to photograph some birds.
Friday 30 November 2012
Sown a Little Late -
Friday was another sunny and cold day. The early morning temperature was down to
-
After my visit to the plot this week I’m beginning to think I sowed some of my winter brassicas a little late. Now I’m pleased with the way they’ve grown, much better than last year’s bought in plants which produced very little to eat, but I reckon my cabbages should now have large hearts ready for winter harvesting.
Unless my labelling has gone to pot which is not entirely unknown this variety is Alaska. The picture is a little misleading as the cabbage heart is not as big as it looks. It certainly should provide a meal for two but I think sown a few weeks earlier it would have produced a much bigger heart.
Much the same can be said of this January King cabbage. However as we didn’t actually get any winter cabbages from our bought in plants the winter before I’m considering these a success. Just a little tinkering with the sowing dates for next year, will, I hope produce some bigger hearts.
Checking back January King were sown on 21 June 2012 and Alaska one week later eventually planted into the plot on 3 August 2012. Next year I might go for sowing the seeds at the beginning of June rather than the end of the month.