Kitchen Garden Forum

We had to put our butternuts, pumpkins and courgettes to bed last night, and again tonight. Today my OH has started to plant my sunflowers all 45 plus of them. I know, I know I got carried away but I like sunflowers I just forgot how many I had already planted. My OH is not impressed. I dare not tell you how many marigolds I have sown.....

Dear Catherine, the grass had definately got the white tell tale signs of a slight frost this morning.

Regarding your Sunflowers and Marigolds, Catherine, just remind your O.H what a sight to behold they will be when in full flower.

Hi Catherine. Pleeease post a picture of your sunflowers and marigolds when they flower!!! Cheers.

Why does it happen every time you think things have warmed up and put all the tender plants out the weather takes a turn for the worse?

I've just had to dash inside as we're having a hail storm here now.

Hi Elaine, will do, planted but I am sure we will lose some with the wind. I have had to cover my butternuts with cloches because we have a very exposed site and everything is getting bashed to death. We had to put up a wind break round the broad beans which are at the moment really doing well, but the blessed wind is blowing off all the flowers.

It is a very drying East wind blasting across the plot

We were supposed to have rain today but so far nothing has come of it.

Plumpudding we look to the East from our plot in the very distance and the sky is very very black so that must be what it was. It gets so depressing when you spend ages nurturing the plants only to get them blasted to death with either rain or wind or in your case hail stones.

We just escaped the frost, Catherine, but we are desperate for rain! We had a bit on Friday night/Saturday morning, but only a sprinkling and since then, nothing, in spite of a forecast for rain. Instead, the easterly wind and sunshine is drying everything out. It seems to happen every year: in early summer it rains north, south, east and west of us but not here! So, lots of watering tonight, but you can't really water potatoes when you have to carry a watering can down a steep slope for about 50 yards, can you?