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Sunday, 08 January 2012
Forcing Rhubarb
Once again Sunday wasn’t too bad a day remaining cloudy and mild.
As you might be aware we live just a few miles outside the famous Rhubarb Triangle in Yorkshire. It’s this time of year when the forcing of rhubarb gets into full swing but this year there’s a problem. It’s been too mild for the rhubarb roots which need a frost for successful forcing and we just haven’t had any.
The good news for them is at least they have some rhubarb roots left. After last year’s very dry summer I reckon I’ve lost most of my rhubarb. There were some signs when we visited the plot last week that one root has survived and had some healthy looking buds forming.
There should be four very large clumps of rhubarb in this bed but so far only two are showing any signs of growth. It looks like this clump will need some weeding and feeding to bring it into full production in a few months time.
I have never actually tried forcing rhubarb as normally it’s a pretty early crop and we have some still stored in our freezer so for me it doesn’t really seem worth the effort.
Monday, 09 January 2012
Strawberry cuttings
Monday continued the spell of mild weather. It was dull all day but apart from some light drizzle it remained dry for most of the day.
Sue took some strawberry cuttings from our new plants in the autumn and we wondered how they were getting on. They’ve been left in the cold frame behind the greenhouse and plants left there to over winter can get a little bit neglected. After all our recent rain I at least expected them to be waterlogged.
Surprisingly the plants don’t look too bad. There’s a few brown leaves but that’s to be expected. Most of the plants are still alive with some green leaves. I’m almost tempted to clean away the dead leaves to tidy the plants up and then let them spend the rest of the winter in the greenhouse where they will get a little more TLC than left where they are.
Sue tidied up our strawberry bed on the plot last month clearing away the last of the straw and mulch before giving the soil a gentle hoe just to break up the soil surface to stop it forming a crusty layer.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Record January
Tuesday saw another mild and dry day with some decent sunny spells.
I know it’s early in the month and I don’t want to put the mockers on this mild weather but we seem to be heading towards one of the warmest Januarys on record. I’ve reproduced my figures in the chart below.
The top green line is the warmest on record set in 1916 and the purple line is January 2012 and is, at the minute, heading towards the record green line. Now I’ve seen rumours that through the weekend and into the beginning of next week it will be cooler with overnight frosts so this month’s average temperatures may take a bit of a nose dive. The source of my rumour also has some much colder weather for us starting around the 22nd January - possibly the coldest of the winter so far. Watch this space.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Mildest day but gales return
Wednesday became our mildest day of the month with an average temperature of 10.1°C. I made a trip down the plot, badly timed as it started to drizzle as soon as I arrived.
By late evening and into the early hours of Thursday morning gale force winds were back with us again.
I’d gone down to the plot to erect some posts to provide some support for our raspberry canes. I wasn’t going to let the drizzle put me off. This should have been done last spring but the ground was so hard and dry it was impossible to hammer any posts in without splitting them. After some wet winter days that’s not the case any more. Anyone following Sue’s garlic postings will know that they appear to be trying to grow in mud. I thought it would be a good opportunity to get the posts in whilst the ground is soft.
The posts went in a treat so now all that’s left to do is put up some wires and tie in this years raspberry canes.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Colder days on the way
The overnight gales died down quickly through the morning to give us another mild day with some sunny spells. Once again we survived the gales without any damage. The wind did manage to overturn our old garden seat which I found rather amazing as it’s pretty sturdy.
Since December we’ve had an amazing spell of windy weather. My weather Station has been operating since October 2009. Up to the beginning of last December I’d recorded just one gale force wind gust above 30mph although at 36mph it remains our strongest gust.
However December and January to date have produced 6 days with wind gust speeds above 30mph. January alone has already provided 4 such days.
The forecast is for some much calmer weather stretching into next week with colder daytime temperatures and overnight frosts. A few days without gale force winds will be a pleasant change.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Swapped wind for frost
Friday saw a change in the weather. The wind disappeared, replaced by colder sunnier weather. There was more rubbish to collect from the garden after the latest gale. The most testing was to remove a plastic carrier bag tangled in the branches of the crab apple tree.
With the help of the long handled pruners I managed to un-hook and manoeuvre the bag out of the tree. We had a couple of plastic milk cartons to remove from another part of the garden and to my surprise a complete bank statement, name, address and account number all detailed should the statement fall into the wrong hands. I’m amazed how careless some people are with such information.
By late evening the temperature was already down below minus 2.0°C making it our first serious frost of the winter and our coldest day of winter.
I suspect it will be a short lived record as Saturday morning is clear and frosty with a temperature of minus 4.4°C around dawn.
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Brrrrr!
Well it had to happen didn’t it - a cold snap. We’ve done well up to now but Saturday was certainly cold, easily turning out to be the coldest day of winter so far. The days average temperature was minus 1.2°C, with an early morning low of minus 4.4°C, the first time we’ve managed a minus average daily temperature since the famously cold December of 2010.
The sun did make an appearance for much of the day but any shady spots remained white and frozen all day.