Kitchen Garden Forum

Well, another Bank Holiday rolls round - and the funny weather with it!
We seem to have escaped the worst cold overnight, though it has just dropped to 0C with the dawn. I imagine it must have been a lot colder further away from the sea.
Tomatoes seem warm enough under who knows how many layers of fleece and bubblewrap.
And it looks like a sunny day to come - rain reserved for Monday just in time to dampen our local agricultural show

Below zero from 2:00 to 6:30 with a minimum of -2.3 - measured 13' up in the air. Not been to uncover everything yet - and it all to do again tonight if the snow doesn't get them instead.

Today:
A cold, frosty start to the day. Generally sunny and dry in the morning. Some sunny spells continuing this afternoon, but generally cloudier with scattered showers developing, these possibly wintry on high ground. Feeling chilly in spite of the sunshine. Maximum Temperature 11 °C.
Tonight:
Showers mostly dying out, although some possibly lingering over Cheshire at first, with further showers possible over Cumbria later on. Otherwise generally clear and cold with a frost developing. Minimum Temperature -2 °C.

My theory on this years weather was well and truly shattered by todays news of a exceptionally wet summer! I tried to rationalise that by having this wet & cold start it would be a long hot summer, unlike the last couple of years where we had a very warm, dry start and then an average summer. Even added more water collection butts and some more drippa things.

Mind knowing the met record for long range forecasting could still be right!
(Sorry if this is bad news to others but also trying to rationalise not going on hols this year - if you can't go to the Med bring it to you kinda logic)

Westi

After a cloudy, sunless, but rain free day it is now raining again here.

It's happened again. Every year I decide to be rational but every year it happens again. What is it? Today I have sowed what I call 60 pots of Triffids in the propagator. What am I going to do with 15 Courgettes (7 varieties), 3 Pumpkins (all Becky), 15 Squashes (5 varieties), 26 Gourds (5 different lots) and a Cucumber (El Toro)?

Looking a bit more like late spring this morning - temperature 5C and only been down to 3C. Another sunny day in prospect

Geoff wrote: What am I going to do with 15 Courgettes (7 varieties), 3 Pumpkins (all Becky), 15 Squashes (5 varieties), 26 Gourds (5 different lots) and a Cucumber (El Toro)?

Geoff, I am too much of a gentleman to comment

We had two nights of frost, too, and the tips of the potatoes in bags, covered up with double fleece, were caught by the frost. There we are ...

At least, today the strong NE wind has abated and it felt almost warm in the sunshine. Planted the last lot of potatoes on the allotment (Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Shona) today and left the beetroot and celeriac seedlings outside for the day, but they are all safely tucked up in the greenhouse again tonight.

A frost here this morning, but it doesn't seem to have caught anything, luckily, as i didn't cover anything over the allotment last night.

At least we are starting off bright at the present, so off to work this morning to try and do the last of the lawns i cut.
Managed to get all of the others done, by working Saturday and yesterday.

But more rain this week will make it a struggle again.

Morning OH

Just the opposite here - mild start and just starting chucking it down, but rest of the week forecast fine though cool and cloudy. Hope it fairs up for you to do some work. I have a field to cut if it dries up after today.

Predicted -2 for last night so double covered the Potatoes and fleeced the cold greenhouse stuff and what did we get, +2.9. Bright start today but Alan's blowing his rain up our way. Cut all my grass yesterday after going to the plant fair at Harlow Carr. Got a few nice plants but the garden was disappointing; must have been colder than us, well behind with quite a bit of frost damage.

Just got done as Alans rain arrived.

Mowed the path, endured the rain that came and went throughout. My shallots seem to be growing away.

After two nights of frost (the potatoes in pots suffered slight frost damage in spite of being covered with double fleece!), the wind has turned to E/SE now and it feels a bit more spring-like, in fact, Saturday, Sunday and this morning were pleasant enough on the allotment to WORK in short sleeves. And no rain so far, which we could do with. Everybody is writing about the "wettest April and start of May for years", but we have not had that at all and we could do with it. It's jolly cold, though, with hardly any days over 10 degrees since the warm fortnight in March.

Just had a Ringmaster email come through from Beds and Herts police.
They are after any infomation regarding to the poisoning of two Red Kites.
The birds were illegally poisoned using carrion laced with a highly toxic banned pesticide.

There certainly are some cruel people about.

I hope they are propped up and shooted.