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A Gardener’s Weather Diary - August week 3
Monday, 15 August 2011
Potato harvest comparison
There was lots more sunshine today but it was a bit breezy. Although the morning felt a little cool it warmed up in the afternoon sunshine but it wasn't by any means a blazing hot summers day. By late evening we had a little light rain.
Our potato crop has been the surprise of the year. It's been so dry that I hardly dared anticipate any crop at all other than a few tiny potatoes. This was backed up by the rather pathetic looking haulms that the crop produced.
|
Potato Variety |
Harvest 2010 (kg) |
Harvest 2011 (kg) |
Comments |
|
Charlotte |
|
27.2 |
Not grown in 2010 |
|
International Kidney |
11.5 |
14.5 |
|
|
Juliette |
11.7 |
|
Not grown in 2011 |
|
Lady Christl |
14.8 |
12.5 |
|
|
Maris Bard |
8.8 |
9.8 |
|
|
Nadine |
13.7 |
11.3 |
|
|
Nicola |
45.2 |
|
2011 crop still to be lifted |
|
Red Duke of York |
11.6 |
11.5 |
|
|
Ulster Chieftan |
3.6 |
|
Not grown in 2011 |
|
Winston |
|
29.9 |
Not grown in 2010 |
|
Totals |
120.9 |
116.7 |
|
This is as good as the potato tops looked this year. The haulms didn't really grow much more and certainly didn't take over the grass paths which they normally do.
However the crop underneath, which after all is what matters, has been excellent and a big surprise. The table below shows the weight of crops harvested in 2010 and this year.
I've only Nicola left to lift of this year's crop. Most crops have matched last year's despite the extremely dry conditions. They haven't been directly watered although they have received some water as a bonus when the sprinkler reached more than the intended crop.
Our potato of the year would have to go to Winston. It produced an excellent tasty crop of early potatoes in sacks and an excellent crop from the tubers planted normally. A must grow potato for next year.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Onion concerns
A second summery day in a row with the temperature approaching the mid twenties and plenty of sunshine.
We suddenly have a concern about our onions. They have produced an excellent crop this year and are drying off well, still left in the ground, and it’s been so dry for months drying them off hasn't been top of our agenda.
Then we thought what if the forecast for the week is correct this time and we get three days of rain this week it would be such a shame for our onions to get a soaking.
It’s a bit of a problem deciding where to put them to keep dry. The greenhouse is full with tomato plants but we decided some onions could be brought under the cover of the greenhouse and left on the greenhouse path.
The produce of one of our onion beds is now stored in the greenhouse protected from any rain which is forecast for the week. These onions are Hitech, Hyred and Marshalls Fen Early. They weighed in at a healthy 77.0kg. It’s about half our crop! Lots of onion soup this winter.
Potatoes - Winston
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Harvesting continues
It wasn't too bad a day with just a few sunny intervals. We had a little more light rain which fell mostly in the early hours of the morning. It was a dull morning with the sun not making much of an appearance until mid morning. The temperature just made it over the 20°C mark.
The weather is just about right for digging up potatoes. There was plenty of cloud about in the afternoon. I’ve almost finished lifting my potatoes now which is some sort of record for the middle of August. Normally the tops are still growing and I think it’s a shame to lift them whilst there’s a chance the potatoes are still putting on weight.
Nicola are the last of the crop to be lifted. After the potatoes are lifted the soil remains in large clods, which despite some hefty fork work, doesn't want to break up. I’ll have to leave the soil and let the winter rain and frost do the hard work.
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
An afternoon walk
Wednesday turned out nice with plenty of hazy rather than brilliant sunshine and the temperature once again just making it to a little over 20°C. This seems to be as good as we can expect this summer.
We had an afternoon trip to Taylors Clematis Nursery near Doncaster to collect a newly arrived acquisition to add to our growing collection. As we are also doggy sitting for a few days we visited Anglers Country Park and had a pleasant afternoon stroll around the lake.
Anglers Country Park
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Edinburgh v Ossett
It was a cool start to today but it did eventually manage to warm up by late morning to give a sunny afternoon. Once again there was plenty of rain about with flash flooding reported in the south of the UK. It remained dry here until late in the evening when we had our usual sprinkling of rain amounting to 1.2mm.
Any regular readers will know that our main problem this year in both garden and plot is lack of rain. Following on from a dry March each subsequent month has resulted in below average rainfall. We are still waiting for a really wet day or days to get the ground into a suitable state for digging.
Courtesy of Mal who gave me a link to Edinburgh Botanic Gardens weather information I've produced a comparison of July’s weather for Edinburgh and Ossett. The first chart shows wet days together with maximum and minimum temperatures for July. I think we’ve had slightly better temperatures which is to be expected as we’re about 170 miles south of Edinburgh.
Click on either picture to see a full size image.
Edinburgh wins comfortably in the rainfall stakes with 448.1mm compared with our 218.0mm between January and July this year. We’ve definitely had a difficult growing year due to the lack of rain, I suspect Edinburgh could have managed with a little less.
We have no rain forecast now until next Tuesday so that should give me time to finish lifting my remaining potato crop. It also means our winter crops will need more watering.
Friday, 19 August 2011
A Record
Our decent spell of weather continued today. Not what you would call real summer weather but good for working on the plot.
I’ve certainly completed a first this year in having dug up all my potato crop in August. It’s always been towards the end of September or even the beginning of October by the time they’re usually lifted. This year has been exception. No rain, they haven’t been watered, virtually no tops, no blight, no slug damage yet an excellent crop of potatoes. Gardening always throws up some surprises. So our completed harvest looks like this.
|
Potato Variety |
Harvest 2010 (kg) |
Harvest 2011 (kg) |
Comments |
|
Charlotte |
|
27.2 |
Not grown in 2010 |
|
International Kidney |
11.5 |
14.5 |
|
|
Juliette |
11.7 |
|
Not grown in 2011 |
|
Lady Christl |
14.8 |
12.5 |
|
|
Maris Bard |
8.8 |
9.8 |
|
|
Nadine |
13.7 |
11.3 |
|
|
Nicola |
45.2 |
42.4 |
|
|
Red Duke of York |
11.6 |
11.5 |
|
|
Ulster Chieftan |
3.6 |
|
Not grown in 2011 |
|
Winston |
|
29.9 |
Not grown in 2011 |
|
Totals |
120.9 |
159.1 |
|
At the moment it looks like our runner beans are going to save the day for stocking up the freezer for winter vegetables. Our peas failed to produce any freezable quantities and our sweet corn is struggling too. We are only picking small quantities of french beans so it’s good news that the runner’s are starting to produce plenty of beans.
Runner Beans Painted Lady
Saturday, 20 August 2011
Felt like summer
Generally a milder day today making it feel a little more summery. It threatened some rate in the late afternoon as more cloudy conditions arrived but as usual it remained dry here.
We’ve been here before but the forecast for next week suggests we aught to get some rain.
It wouldn’t be the first time a forecast like this has left us without rain by the time we get to Friday. On the plot I’m going to clear away our old pea haulms so that any rain that does fall will not be wasted on dried up plants and will fall directly on the soil. I hope this bed can then be dug ready for planting winter onions and Sweet Williams for next spring.
Potato Update
I've added the weight of seed potatoes purchased to the table which shows why some crops have produced larger harvests.
