Don`t know about how things in your area are, but as I was potterin` about on the allotment this morning, i realise that I will be very lucky to get much crop if any before November!!
As you`ve probably seen on the weather charts, we (in the N.W) have got the Jet-stream sat right on top of us, we have strong cold winds, chilly nights, and your share of the rain!
The ground is cold an wet and things just aren`t thriving in this March like climate! Its June on Wednesday! three weeks an the nights are coming in again! and me bloomin peas are just coming through despite bean planted mid April!! Spring Onions?? my backside! they aren`t going to even bother i don`t think! and everything else is singin from the same seed catalogue i think, except of course for the weeds! Oh yes! you`ve guessed it, Winter or not, thier thrivin`going great guns! - next year i`m going to invest in edible weeds seeds and broadcast the lot! if I cant beat em I`ll join em! - ?Bah!
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We're the same as regards weather.. but I do grow things in greenhouse and transplant - eg runner beans - and they are where they normally are this time of year.. sulking waiting for warmth..
Like you we have great weeds.. anyone want creeping buttercup or moss or dandelions?
Weather forecast warmer the coming weekend.. I hope so.. bees are sulking with three virgin queens to mate.. been too cold...
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I have the opposite problem in the south east. Plenty of warmth but no rain for months. I am sick of the sight of watering cans. But the potatoes are doing OK, onions, beans, some of the garlic has white rot - never seen that before, but can happen in extremely dry and hot summers - it's definitely been dry. We're supposed to get useful rain this evening, I'll believe it when I see it.
There's also been strong winds. I've put up some windbreak netting, it's worth it's weight in gold. It takes all the energy out of the wind and really does a good job of protecting the crops behind it.. Our allotment is on a south facing hillside which is good but it's exposed to the prevailing winds.
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my strawberrys have been ready for 10 days now and the beans and broadbeans are way ahead of whey were last year. no rain in a month so hose pipe out most days. lettuce ready for picking this week and the sweetcorn plants are 5ft already.
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Did you dig in new compost? Thriving here in my little yard got carrots, melons,cucumber,rocket, strawberrys, lettuce.
Though the cheap plastic green house has done the trick to get the started.
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>>my strawberrys have been ready for 10 days now
As have my wild strawberries which are growing well with a liitle help from my hose.
They have an amazing flavour for such a tiny fruit. :-))
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Isn't there supposed to be a glut of English strawberries this year? Local greengrocers were charging around £1 a punnet a few weeks ago, but I notice they are creeping up to nearer £2 now.
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i have a big patch of wild strawberrys growing nearby and didnt like the taste even though they have been ready for a few weeks now. my own patch have a great flavour and i'll get at least 20lbs out of them
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>> Isn't there supposed to be a glut of English strawberries this year?
>> Local greengrocers were charging around £1 a punnet a few weeks ago, but I notice they are creeping up to nearer £2 now.
>>
Just a tad more expensive here:-
www.efoodies.co.uk/invt/wildstrawberrypuree/
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...Isn't there supposed to be a glut of English strawberries this year?...
Bought my first punnet of the year last weekend from Tesco for £1.99.
They were from Nottingham, the variety was not Elsanta, but one with two words.
Really impressed with the flavour - a lovely fresh, summer sweetness.
Hope the next punnet is as good.
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>>Bought my first punnet of the year last weekend from Tesco for £1.99.>>
Been buying large punnets of strawberries from Morrison's for weeks now at £1 a time, but the English ones came in about a fortnight ago at £1.80 for a similar size.
Instead of fresh cream, try an Amore yoghurt for a change as a topping - normally Amore are more than 60p a go and too expensive no matter how delicious they are, but Morrison's have them on offer at four for £1...:-)
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Stuartli said:
>> Instead of fresh cream, try an Amore yoghurt for a change as a topping -
Even better, in my opinion at least, try Total Greek yoghurt (not the pale imitations). Sublime, though not exactly all that healthy.
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>> Hope the next punnet is as good.
Shalln't be raand tomorrer, the donkey's pinched all the bleedin' strawberries...
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I have the opposite problem in the south east.
Same here in Norfolk. The light soil on my allotment is like dust. Not helped by the strong winds blowing for the last 10 days especially as plot is at the top of a south facing slope. Early potatoes are looking good because have been watering and onions are doing well but a lot of seeds have failed to germinate because of the drought. First year on the plot and suffering badly from weeds, especially bindweed which seems able to grow in dust!
Just look at rain radar maps on google earth and rain is tantalisingly close now and its pretty dark so just might get some rain.
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The southern part of the UK is only supposed to have had about 16 per cent of normal rainfall this year up to now (lot of unhappy farmers apparently) and up here in the NW there's not been all that much of the wet stuff.
As devonite states, it's been very cold and windy for a fortnight or more and reinforces the old saying "Ne'er cast a clout until May is out"...:-(
Ironically though it's not been cold enough for frost and I could have done the bedding plants and flower baskets much earlier than usual - normally left until at least the beginning of June.
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Cold and wet in the North, Arid in the South, must be a good patch somewhere in the middle then! - come on! own up, who`s got it?
>>5ft Sweetcorn??? - mine got away ok, to about 1ft, then got blattered and burnt by the gales, looks really sad now. Most of the Maize being grown by the farmers has fared no better either, and although most of this is grown for cattle fodder, you can bet the price will go sky-high in the shops due to "shortage and crop failure" ;-(
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>Just look at rain radar maps on google earth and rain is tantalisingly close now
It's been raining here in Hampshire for the last 3 hours. Light, steady drizzle that has time to soak in and not run straight off. Heading east at about 10mph.
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"Heading east at about 10mph."
Not a drop so far! Just checked the rainfall stats and only had 38mm since 1st March. That's a lot less than you would expect in North Africa!
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Just started raining in Norwich.
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Its about 4 hours worth, it left us 90 minutes ago.
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>> Its about 4 hours worth, it left us 90 minutes ago.
>>
It is obviously very patchy. I am just a few miles away and we got next to nothing at 16:00.
Did not even wet the ground under my small trees.
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Stopped about half an hour after it started. Just about wetted the paving slabs!. No more rain forecast for the next 5 days :-(
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dry here in chichester but may come this way later. need heavy rain for a day or two though to do any good
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5mms of rain this am.. just stopped...
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Mostly heavy drizzle all this afternoon in Reading; still going.
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Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
:)
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Apparently it was chucking it down during the Swansea v Reading promotion final at Wembley.
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Its drought in the southeast and east coast, and wet in the west/southwest/northwest.
If the romans could build aqueducts from the Alps to pressure the fountains in Rome and Hurculaneum, we should be able to distribute water around the UK.
Interconnect the rivers, most flow west to east or north to south,
Fortunately little flows South to North.
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This explains why we don't have a "water grid". makes a lot of sense.
www.water.org.uk/home/policy/positions/national-water-grid
Actually we seldom have a water supply shortage as such in Norfolk , just a rainfall shortage. Most of our water comes from aquifers rather than rivers and reservoirs. Can't remember the last hoseepipe ban.
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>> This explains why we don't have a "water grid". makes a lot of sense.
>>
>> www.water.org.uk/home/policy/positions/national-water-grid
Interesting piece. It reminds me of an article I read about transporting Hydrogen around the country to use as fuel for vehicles. At first it looks a good idea until you start to think about the problems of transporting and storing(under pressure) such a fuel.
Water is relatively cheap compared to oil as noted but no doubt it will rise in cost as populations and demand rises. It's an amazing waste to use treated water to flush toilets, but when the infrastructure was put in place, the last thing on their minds at the time was a shortage.
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>>
>> Fortunately little flows South to North.
>>
Even less if the Jocks get their independence...
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>> Apparently it was chucking it down during the Swansea v Reading promotion final at Wembley.
>> Most likely the Welsh brought it with 'em to make them feel at home!
And England won in Wales too!
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gardening woe! - madf
