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A Gardener’s Weather Diary - June week 3
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Out of the blue
Tuesday was a warm and sunny summer day with just some wispy clouds in an otherwise clear blue sky. The temperature reached 23.4°C the highest since the 3rd June. It’s a day out of the blue as the forecast is for duller, cooler and more showery weather to arrive for the rest of the week and into the week end.
The plot is at last starting to fill up. Some areas are beginning to take on the bountiful look of that short season of plenty. It seems that the worst of our drought might well be over as more showers and rain are forecast in the next few days which will benefit our crops and save on watering.
Other parts of the plot are still in drought mode. Despite the recent rain the soil is still very dry and recently planted crops like these sweet peas and squashes are still struggling to find moisture rather than putting on a growth spurt which is expected in June with warm days and daylight of almost 17 hours a day.
Thursday, 16 June 2011
More rain
Wednesday was mostly cloudy and mild. The sun made a few brief appearances throughout the day. Early evening we had a couple of heavy showers giving us another 3mm of rainfall. More rain is forecast for Friday so perhaps our rainfall is starting to return to a more normal pattern.
My tomato plant growing in an air pot is doing well. It’s clearly too early to draw any conclusions as the plant still has to form enough roots to fill the plot. The plant does need more water as some water escapes from the holes in the pot when watering. Hopefully standing the pot in a tray will help to keep the soil moist.
I can see that I need to remove a few side shoots before they get too large.
The tomato variety is Blondkopfchen.
Friday, 17 June 2011
A settled pattern emerges
Thursday continued in the rather settled spell of weather. A mixture of sunshine and cloud with the persistent threat of showers.
It was noticeable on the plot that where the soil was turned over it was damp underneath at least giving the impression that the recent rain is having some effect.
A drop more rain and the weather turning a little warmer and the summer crops will start to grow much better. It's certainly an unusual growing year.
Saturday, 18 June 2011
What a disappointment
Friday was going to be the day our drought problems were put to rest. The rain would start around lunch time and continue all day and into Saturday morning. After some sunny spells in the morning it clouded over we waited for it to start raining. And we waited…. The link on the main 18:00 BBC news to the weather man was “when is it going to stop raining”. Problem was it hadn’t started here. The wait went on and on and the rain just never arrived. All we had to show for what the forecast reckoned would be a rainy day was 0.2mm which fell around 22:00.
I’d hoped that our watering down on the plot would be over and that we would be able to get some planting done without having to first fill planting holes with water. That doesn’t look as though it will be the case.
We did manage some rain in the early hours of Saturday morning amounting to 2.4mm. As you can see from the picture this doesn’t even manage to dampen around the plants leaving a dry shadow to one side of even a small plant.
Sunday, 19 June 2011
A fruity dilemma
Saturday turned out quite pleasant after a rather cloudy morning and we even had some warm brief spells of sunshine in the afternoon.
Last weeks effort to protect our new strawberry patch from the blackbirds has already paid off. As soon as the fruits had started to turn the slightest bit red our resident blackbird(s) thought that they were worth sampling. To avoid too much damage we were forced into picking the berries before they had taken on their fully ripe flavour. Now with the protection in place we were able to pick our first fully ripe fruit and it tasted superb a reminder of why it’s worth putting in the effort.
Our rhubarb is giving me some concern. It’s been neglected in the dry weather and has suffered as a consequence. I’ve never thought of having to water mature rhubarb roots but this year has been exceptionally dry. I’m hoping that when the rain comes and the ground is given a good soaking the rhubarb will recover.
Monday, 20 June 2011
The longest day approaches
Sunday was dull in the morning and early afternoon with some sunshine late on.
As we approach the 21st of the month our daylight hours reach their maximum length and the sun its peak intensity. The graph to the right shows how much energy we have received from the sun over the last year rather than the number of hours of sunshine.
Our early cabbages have spent the last few months under butterfly netting in an attempt to protect them from cabbage white butterflies and its caterpillars. It’s by no means a fool proof method as these Primo cabbages are still showing caterpillar damage and will need a close inspection to remove the offenders before any more damage is done.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Summer for the day
Monday was a pleasant summer day with the temperature just nudging into the low 20 degrees Celsius. Of course we had the obligatory shower to try to convince us that the ground is moist enough but it’s not working. In the last 13 days I’ve recorded rainfall on 11 of those days but the ground is still bone dry.
On the plot we did some more planting out. These winter squash plants were planted using our now standard method of first filling the planting hole with water. The previously planted sweet corn and courgettes were given a welcome drink of water too.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Summer Solstice
Tuesday saw the Summer Solstice come and go but we are still waiting for summer to start. Following a summer’s day yesterday it was back to much more normal cloudy weather today with some mandatory showers come drizzle continuing our pattern of non existent rainfall. Despite rainfall on most days this month June looks like it will be another month with low rainfall making it four in a row.
On the plot we should soon have some broad beans and peas ready for picking. The broad beans are likely to be ready first followed by our peas which are now in flower and forming pods.
