Wet summer dribs and drabs

[Geoff]

We went to Kendal this afternoon and caught one of the downpours, road to river in an instant. I don't know how accurate the readings are on this site http://www.wunderground.com/wundermap/ but if they are any good they show how local the storms were. No readings in East Lincolnshire, you'll have to set up one of these weather stations Clive.

[Clive.]

Hello Geoff,
I have had a very quick look at the link. I see that there is a listing for Spilsby...that's home...
I wonder if the weather station could actually be 2 doors south of us here as a while back I spotted the addition of a smart wind recording gear to the garage roof. I have now seen that there is a rainfall listing for yesterday at 27.7 if I have read the site right. ? Our old fashioned rain gauge at home here had 33mm in it.

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstat ... 12&month=6

Clive

[snooky]

It is absolutely tipping it down at the moment and,perched high on a chimney stack, a male Blackbird is singing away like billy-oh!!

[Westi]

Pants weather continues down here - chilly as well as wet. Must be having a big effect on the insects - and dread to think of the knock on effect of this! I expect the supermarkets are already planning their 'imports' as there will be shortages of home grown and they won't be able to get their budget lines as I expect as what is UK grown will be at a premium!

Westi

[Geoff]

More like over-trousers here!

[Stephen]

Warm and wet here, so I sprayed the spuds against blight today. I have tried to avoid it but last year, when it was dryer, not only did we cut the tops as soon as we saw blight but the regrowth was struck too. This included the Sarpo Mira we were growing.

[Johnboy]

Hi Stephen,
The advice in the farming and horticultural press is the remove the haulm as soon as the potatoes are at the size you require for marketing due to the adverse rain conditions. Really large spuds are only fit for processing where the price falls off dramatically.
So far here none of the earlies lifted have been over large which is probably due to the earlier drought conditions.
My Sarpo Mira look to be a good crop with no signs of anything untoward.
Unlike you we have not had very much heat but plenty of rain and so far the potato crops around me look very healthy and normally there are a few crops around that look distinctly iffy at this time.
My highest night time temperature over the last three weeks is 11.2C and some considerably lower in the period with a minimum night temperature of 6.8C
JB.

[Geoff]

Don't know about dribs and drabs, just looked at my weeding bucket I'd left out and I reckon our two hour thunderstorm accumulated about 3". Glad we live on a hill, came pouring down the road opposite, flooded the drive we share with the neighbours, escaped across his patio, waterfall down some steps then a torrent between his raised beds (first time I've seen a good reason for raised beds!), across my orchard and away down the fields. Not seen anything on the news yet but the way our local stream is running I wouldn't like to be downstream.

[Redfox]

Well I don't know about any one else but I am thoroughly fed up with the rain, haven't seen the sun in 2 or 3 days now. Everytime i go to the allotmment i get soaked. about the only ones that are liking it are the ruddy slugs and snails, which we seem to have an abundance of . No sign of blight on the potatoes though, Had continuous rain today, ranging from light to very heavy with storms, going to brave the weather soon as I have to collect my grandson from school.

[peter]

Three thunderclaps just heralded a short burst of torrential rain, now followed by steady medium rain.

[Colin Miles]

Rather sad to see the notice on our new village allotments.

Open Day cancelled due to inclement weather.

Half the allotments are waterlogged and tonights rain won't help. Noticed one lot of Broad Beans totally chocalate spotted.

They had it very good to start with the dry spell. Now we will see who are the real gardeners what with the rain and the rabbits.

[vegpatchmum]

Seeings as we have now most definitely had our months supply of rain, please can we order some sunshine now

My little ones were very excited to have discovered that we were now a waterfront property, when we drew back the curtains this morning. The road had become a river and I had to feel sorry for the poor people in the houses at the bottom of our hill (we're about half way up or down it depending on where you're standing ).

For the first time since we uncovered it 5 years ago, the depth of water in our well has reached ground level - all the entirely non-submerged bricks you can see in these pictures are the above ground surround himself built, upon which we have an extremely heavy cover which, in turn, is home to the herb pots

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You can just about make out the darker, more orange/red bricks which make up the main body of the well.

VPM
x

[peter]

Fed up.

Took Friday off intending to plant out brassicas, rained.
Saturday was meant to be better weather, rained.
Today, it was raining when I woke, a friend said it woke het at 4am it was such intense rain.
Continued to rain on & off all day.

Cannot set foot on my clay as it wil smear making the damp worse.

Most gardening I've done this weekend?
Pick strawberries & scatter slug pellets.

[oldherbaceous]

I worked all of friday at the old rectory in constant heavy rain, to get the garden looking somewhere near respectable for the fete, only for the fete
to be in the villge hall instead.

The only good thing was, they made nearly as much money as normal.

Still got two big lawns to try and catch up with, but this week is looking just as bad.

A challenge indeed....

[Clive.]

It is indeed a challenge...and ref the lawns we had the grass box on the big mower for the first time in many a year. It was just so long in places to let the clippings fly like has been done in the main to very reasonable effect for 25 years or so. Actually we had a job to get the lush clippings to fly into the box...and Sam got to see the time it used to take to mow the lawns when boxing.!!

I went in, voluntarily, as are weekend things, yesterday and mowed the main and front lawns....it was just too long to leave it 'til Monday...I see I was captured on camera by those on the roof and appear on facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... nt_count=1
This morning we started with a brief spell of sunshine....I think we would have gone to our, very local, Spilsby Show but sadly after valiantly keeping this On all week as other events started to fall the committee had to cancel it at the last minute yesterday morning as we had had a very localised sharp 7.5mm top up to the already saturated ground here on Friday night at 10pm.

So I went in to work and cut off some blighted Potato tops , cut some Sweet Peas..the longest stemmed I have ever grown, own saved seed selection from last years collection. and have at long last got the first seven of the green cages posts knocked in... The plants sit by our back door at home here patiently waiting.... I took the Winter Pansies out of the wooden trough and in went the Fuchsias..they have waited a long time too this year...

Stuffed Chine for lunch then a trip out to Bills Cottage Nursery at Thoresthorpe http://www.cottagenurseries.net/index.html Mum is planting her little collection of purchases as I type and I have added 3 more Salvias to our collection. Microphylla Creme Caramel, an Involucrata type called Wendy's Wish and Salvia Purple Velvet. Also spotted a very dark red Argyranthemum.

We called at Alford Windmill tearoom on the way home and then took to some narrow Wolds roads in lieu of the A16...not that the A16 was at all busy....

It's been really good to have a ride out and about...

..and need some reasonable weather this week as the Ladies are due to visit....bringing Cake from MK...

Clive.