Kitchen Garden Forum

After my griping last week about not having had any rain, well, we at last had 11mm yesterday, not enough to get to the potato roots perhaps, but it'll keep the other young plants going and will help to fill the peas and broad beans. On Saturday my OH and I spent two hours watering everything so, hopefully, our combined efforts will keep things damp for a bit.

Just out of interest, I looked at my weather records which I have kept for almost 30 years and find that there does seem to be a trend to drier springs, at least in our area:

Rainfall 1 January to 13 June:
2000 549mm
2007 454mm
2008 654mm
2009 282mm
2010 289mm

11mm is better than nothing - which is what we've had here for weeks now! The river is reduced to a trickle and you can easily walk right across the river bed in "normal" shoes, which I don't recall happening for many years....and it's only June

So sorry to hear that, Galatea, I do sympathise. It's horrid to see everything at a standstill or, worse, withering. We are part of "northwest England and southwest Scotland" which, according to the radio news today, will get hosepipe banns soon, because the reservoirs are emptying at such a rate.

(I think many people think of Yorkshire being in the northwest, but we here are much nearer to the Irish Sea coast and the Lake District than we are to the North Sea - before the local authority re-organisation in 1974, Yorkshire went almost coast to coast. That's just for clarification).

I hope you get lots of gentle rain soon!

Thunderstorms now forecast for this Sunday down here - keeping fingers and toes crossed for some rain to come with them!

From the monthly forecast it looks as though we should be prepared for very little/no rain

Summary
Hotting up. Still dry.
We've been on the wrong side of the ridge of high pressure so it's been cool and dry. We are about to switch into warming up mode where sunshine and heat predominate. Good news if you're growing only cactii.
Monday 21 June 2010 to Sunday 27 June 2010
The smell of summer
We start the week with the Summer Solstice and fittingly, day by day, the sun will lift temperatures incrementally. In England and Wales, this will be under mostly cloud-free skies. In Scotland and Northern Ireland more cloud is likely with a few showers, especially on Wednesday. The weekend could bring us 29 degrees C.
Monday 28 June 2010 to Sunday 4 July 2010
A hot start still with a southern bias
A hot start to the week will continue in England, Wales and often Scotland and Northern Ireland. Atlantic fronts are still likely to attempt entry into the northwest of the UK but will lose most of their rain before they reach land. Nevertheless sometimes cloudy and breezy weather will affect the northwest.
Monday 5 July 2010 to Sunday 18 July 2010
Even more of the same...
Except that this time the Atlantic fronts are held even further at bay: Scotland and Northern Ireland should enjoy more of the sunny and warmer weather. Some showers are still possible which may be thundery. Temperatures, of course, look likely to remain above normal.
Next week
Given the nature of weather patterns recently, the idea of dry weather continuing is valid. Thundery plumes or Atlantic front breakthroughs are both possible temporary ends to this summery spell but neither is strongly indicated.

Thank you, Alan. I think we can say good buy then to a good harvest this year, particularly if we can't water.

Hi Monika,
Do you mean that people think you are in the northeast?
JB.

What really annoyed me on Thursday was a very slight and I mean very slight fall of rain. With all the vehicles absolutely full of dust this rain was sufficient just to solidify the dust.
Just at present the soil is moist about an inch under the surface. This was mainly due to the continuous light showers we had last week. Not an awful lot of rain fell but it was in a fashion that seems to suit plants better.
I have runner beans that were planted out only 18 days and they are at the top of the poles with the onset of blossom appearing. Very rapid growth in my experience an in fact I think the quickest growth I can ever remember. In this time we have experienced night temperatures unusually low at this time of the year and the lowest was 3.5C.
In this time F1 Claret Broccoli has more than double their size which to my way of thinking is too rapid so perhaps sown a tad early for the year.
Maris Bard just at the right size at present and they were planted in three phases in order to eke them out at the right size. The third phase is six weeks after the first and will probably left to mature. This weather seems to have favoured the Maris Bard because there is an abundance of those of edible size and very few tiddlers.
The first of the Broad Beans, which are spring sown Masterpiece Green Long Pod, will be ready to pick probably by next weekend. These too have matured very rapidly.
JB.

Yes, Johnboy, what a stupid mistake; I meant to say that people usually assume Yorkshire to be all in the northEAST, of course!

It thundered here half an hour ago, but hasn't rained, maybe it's our turn next week.

Fingers crossed, Monika, those Atlantic fronts look as though they might just push further in than thought - cross us and reach you.

After all the It will, It won't, It might - it has - rained

Heavy enough for me to get through two soaked jackets putting the birds to bed.

Hi Monika, it is suprising how localised the rain has been, we are about 15 miles from you and have had no rain for weeks. Untill last night when we had a heavy rainfall. It is still looking like it might rain again today. I have just watched the weather forecast for the North West which promises rain on Wednesday and Thursday, we will have to wait and see.

weve had a sprinkling overnight , the first noticible rain for weeks, the ground is rock hard, starting to crack, last week or so the grass on the lawn has scrunched underfoot.. broadbean yields are well down , climbing beans dont look too happy but the courgettes seem to be thriving.

Hello, Alan, Catherine and Richard,

We too had some rain last night (5mm to be precise) which has wetted the surface and made things look and smell very nice this morning, but by this afternoon it's all bone dry again. I noticed today that the broad bean tops are all flagging badly - I assume there isn't enough water in the ground to get the moisture right up into the tops. But, as there are no flowers right in the top, it probably won't do too much harm to the plants.

Also, heavy rain forecast for Thursday. I hope it materialises!

A brief shower here this morning. We were so delighted to see some rain that we sat outside under the gazebo and ate our breakfast whilst enjoying the sound of it pattering down on the canvas overhead. Sadly it did little more than wet the ground. We could all do with a long overnight soaking. That would also help bring the night-time temperature down. Does anybody else have trouble sleeping on these hot sticky nights?