Monday 17 May 2010

More sunny spells

Note for Sunday 16th
The improvement in the weather continued today. Plants in the greenhouse needed a good watering today as temperatures soared into the high 20’s°C after what seems like days in the high teens. I’ve been careful with watering with night time temperatures in the greenhouse as low as 4°C. I’ve moved plants into the cold frame to harden off as it’s the done thing. I’m going to risk planting out my lettuce this week.
From 02 Weather 2010
I’m hoping temperatures outside won’t fall to 4°C now we’re in the second half of May. It’s not too late to have snow though! The times reports blizzards on 17th May 1955. Click here for more.
From 02 Weather 2010

Note for Saturday 15th
Sunny spells
Today started of sunny but soon the clouds rolled up and stayed until the middle of the afternoon when they broke up and left us with a sunny end to the day.

On the plot our kiwi has been hit by the frost earlier in the week, just when we were looking forward  to lots of flowers and hopefully the prospect of a kiwi or two. A few clusters of leaves and buds look to have survived intact so hope of a fruit still remains. A fig tree on the plot was just coming into leaf has suffered from frost damage too. It really is a slow and difficult start to the growing season.
From 02 Weather 2010
On the plot I dug part of the ground where our dahlias will be planted and the ground is now quite dry. We only had 50% of our expected rainfall in April and so far no measurable rain at all in May.
Note for Friday 14th
A bit of warmth
It was dull and cloudy all day today but despite the lack of sun it wasn’t as cold as of late.
Our tree fern is now growing rapidly. It does get a regular watering to help it through the current dry spell.
From 02 Weather 2010

Note for Thursday 13th
Frosty records!
It was frosty early morning again today. Some parts of Yorkshire recording their lowest May temperatures for 40 years. Click here for more information. It’s unlikely to be colder than 1996 and that doesn’t seem so long ago but that year May was one of the coldest on records ranking 8th coldest since 1772 based on Central England Temperatures. The forecast is for the weather to warm up and to be back to normal next week so fingers crossed we’re not going to set any records this May.
As gardening is on hold for a few days as we await the temperature to warm up we had a day out visiting Rievaulx Terrace and Temples owned by the National Trust.
From 02 Weather 2010

Note for Wednesday 12th
Continuing cold
Wednesday was slightly milder but still not what is expected for almost the middle of May. Once again the day started with brilliant sunshine and an almost cloudless sky but it wasn’t long before cloud built up to spoil the sunshine.

The unseasonably cold weather has been reported in several newspapers. Click here to read article from The Times online. It seems it should be milder by the middle of next week.
Whilst our potatoes have suffered from frost this week our cauliflowers look really well and about ready to cauliflower.
From 02 Weather 2010
Note for Tuesday 11th
Frost Damage
The bright sunny morning became much cloudier by lunch time but we still had some more good sunny periods in the afternoon. During the early evening we had some light rain but still not enough to be recorded on the rain gauge.
A visit to the plot showed the damage from the over night frost. Young potato shoots which had emerged despite my best efforts to keep soil pull over them were badly frosted. The max/min thermometer on the plot had gone down to minus 3°C.
From 02 Weather 2010
The potato with no signs of frost damage is a “volunteer” growing in the next bed to my main crop potatoes. How does the frost choose which plants to attack?

Note for Tuesday 11th (Morning)
Overnight the outside temperature was down to 0.8°C but plants in the cold greenhouse look to have survived. The low in the greenhouse was 4.9°C. At least today has started beautifully sunny rather than the dull grey cloud of yesterday.

Note for Monday 10th
Getting colder
It’s getting on towards the middle of May and it should be getting warmer not colder. That’s not the case however as today our maximum temperature under dark grey skies was just 9.6°C. Throughout the day we had spells of light rain but not enough for the rain gauge to measure.
On the plot the permanent fruit bushes and trees are looking well but I am delaying the sowing of main crop vegetables such as French and runner beans for a few more days. I’m just hoping tender courgette, melon and tomato plants survive any frosty nights in my cold greenhouse.
From 02 Weather 2010

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