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Thursday, 15 December 2011
Our first dusting of snow
We had a dusting of snow in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The sun came out in the morning and as we were short of fresh vegetables we decided an afternoon trip down to the plot was required. The plot although not far away seemed a little more snowy than the garden.
Looking in some directions it was difficult to even tell there was any snow and in the sunshine it looked a beautiful day. It was just a bit chilly on the fingers picking vegetables.
On the shadier side of the plots the remnants of the snow still lingered on as the temperature hovered just above freezing. Not much else could be done on the plot in this state so after harvesting our vegetables we headed back home for a hot drink. Details of our December harvesting record can be found here.
Friday, 16 December 2011
Dull, cold and dry
Friday was cold, not that the temperature fell below freezing, rather it remained only just above freezing all day. This produced the coldest average daily temperature this winter of 2.1°C. The forecast is for a cold few days before becoming milder next week.
Yesterday we harvested one of the cabbages that had been planted out back in May as a “pigeon tester” to see if mixing up different varieties of brassicas would confuse the local wood pigeons.
Planted out 31st May 2011
They weren’t to be outwitted so easily and by the beginning of July it looked like the plants would be completed devastated by the pigeons.
Lots pf pigeon damage - photo taken on the 3 rd July 2011
It was a trial after all and we found that both green and red kale had been left untouched. Maybe they were full up on cabbage and cauliflowers. We decided to leave the plants and see what would happen.
Making a recovery - photo taken on the 22 nd July 2011
By the end of July the pigeons seemed to be leaving our cabbages alone. Who knows perhaps they had found tastier peckings elsewhere but it looked as though our cabbages were on the road to recover.
Harvested on 15th December 2011
This was one of those pigeon ravaged cabbages which survived and was harvested on our last visit to the plot. It produced a good sized head weighing in at 2.8kg so I don’t think that early pigeon damage reduced the size of the final head. It might be that late cabbage plants can survive the damage caused by pigeons and go on to produce a good crop. I must admit that the plants looked in a pathetic condition at one time and I could easily have been tempted to pull them up. I think I’ll carry on netting the vast majority of our brassicas. Even if netting looks a little untidy, brassica plants mostly devoured by pigeons look even worse.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Sunny spells, cold and dry
Saturday did at least have some sunny spells but it didn’t stop it from been another bitterly cold day with the temperature barely rising above freezing.
Last Saturday I posted some video of the Welsh Highland Railway taken when we visited Caernarfon. This runs between Caernarfon and Porthmadog. The Ffestiniog Railway another narrow gauge railway runs from Porthmadog to Blaenau Ffestiniog. This video, of one of their trains arriving at Blaenau Ffestiniog, was taken back in September when we were on holiday in North Wales.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Mini cold spell continues
The rather cold spell of weather continued on Sunday producing a new coldest day of winter with an average daily temperature of 1.6°C. It was certainly cold enough for the frost to remain on the lawn all day.
Lawn frosted in the middle of the afternoon
The colder weather is starting to bring birds back into the garden in search of food. A flock of starlings has discovered our supply of food and are making short work of fat balls and buggy nibbles.
Whilst we used to get lots of starlings a few years ago they've been much rarer in recent years. This cheeky chappy is filling up on buggy nibbles.
Monday, 19 December 2011
A little rain
Monday turned out to be dull with some light rain at times. It wasn't as cold as the last few days but miserable nevertheless.
At one stage it looked like December was going to be our first month since February with above average rainfall but this is not looking so certain now.
Earlier in the month we were well up on expected rainfall but we have now fallen back to almost exactly average rainfall for December. The forecast is for weather systems to come in from the Atlantic for the remainder of the month so there’s a chance yet that we’ll exceed the month’s average rainfall.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Milder
The forecast for Tuesday was that it would be the best day of the week, milder with some good sunny periods. Well the milder part was correct but the sun didn’t bother to make an appearance and it remained cloudy all day. Shouldn’t complain too much though as the weather’s good for December and last year this week produced a run of night time temperatures well below freezing.
Along with the return of a small flock of starlings, our long tailed tits have made some fleeting appearances this week. Not that they stay in our garden long, behaving in their usual frantic manner flitting from peanuts to fat cake. It’s a tricky decision wether to watch them flit about for a few moments or make a dash for the camera and miss them altogether as they’ve disappeared by the time the camera’s retrieved. I made a dash for the camera today and got this snap seconds before they did their disappearing trick.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Double figures - in December!
The forecast was right and as the shortest day arrived the temperature managed double figures. It was windy though and the wind took the edge of the temperature and it didn’t feel that mild to me in the afternoon as I replenished and cleaned out our bird feeders.
It was a dull day with some light drizzle at times through the day.
We’re now past winter’s first milestone, the hours of daylight will now start to lengthen, but with January and February to come I bet the worst of winter has still to arrive.
