Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: allaboutliverpool on July 12, 2007, 06:44:01
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I keep a careful record of weather conditions in my garden, and as I am only 500 yards from my allotment assume that the rainfall is the same.
Rain has fallen on 29 of the last 30 days , the 26th June being the last dry day.
My raised beds have meant that my crops have not suffered as much as my neighbours but blight and splits affecting the potatoes has reduced the yield by half.
All other crops have survived but dispite the good start are slow to mature due to lack of sunshine, celeriac being an exception.
Wind damage has also been a problem with leaves ripped off courgettes and runner beans, and sweet corn at 45 degrees to the vertical.
While there has been mention of higher prices in the shops for vegetables, I think that the full effect has not been appreciated. I was born in Hull and spent my early years summer holidays on a farm that I remember flooding in about 1955, presumably it is again under water.
So allotmenteers, do not despair, you will be the envy of your friends when the prices bite. If you have lost crops or have spare ground, there is still time to plant cabbage, French beans, carrots and salad crops etc.
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_homepage
P.S. I am now in my apartment in the South of France sitting on my sunny balcony, temp 22 degrees at 7:40 am, having arrived yesterday with a case full of runner beans, courgettes, peas etc.
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Keep your fingers crossed that it does not rain this sunday, St Swithins day. Or we will have another 40 days of it.
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I didn't realise that some places still were under constant rain; it's been nice here in Durham for a few days and I assumed that everyone was the same (I don't watch weather reports).
I bet you're glad to have got away to France though just for some respite!
When on earth is St. Swithens day!!??
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Well, we seem to be out of the arc in Hull, my gardening journal confirmed we had had 40 days of staright rain up till the day before yesterday and none since.
I dae not even cotemplate St Swithans Day.
XXX Jeannine
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St Swithin's Day if it doth rain
We'll all get water on the brain
St Swithin's Day if it be dry
A hosepipe ban will soon be nigh
::)
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Yes, but when is it?? ???
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July 15th
Have a look on
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/stswithun.html
for a light-hearted explanation.
By the way 'forty days' I understand, is an old biblical term that means 'a long time' and not forty days literally.
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For the first time since this weather started my soil had nearly dried out enough to cultivate. So yesterday I spent a couple of hours handweeding and hoeing as best I could, starting to tidy up. At the end of that session I thoght " another three or four hours and I shall be back to normal".
It is now raining in torrents again today, my land will be unworkable and parts of it will be flooded again :'(.
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Just got wet through feeding chucks rabbits etc .So it aint summer here yet .. :)
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According to both Metcheck and the BBC it's sunny here at the moment, with very little cloud and no prospect of rain until the evening.
Actually, it's raining again - which is why I'm sitting here typing this instead of weeding the garden, which is what I was intending to do!
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You can almost guarantee rain for next week - I'm off work! Lance
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Courgettes 3.98 a kilo in Sainsburys (about 1.90 a pound?) Talk about extracting the michael - mine are producing like crazy. Light rain forecast for Derby today, currently hammering down, which is why I'm stuck in sat here instead of making money hedgecutting ::)
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Bloke at work forcast 24 sunny 8) er in doors forcast rain :'( what happened slight drizzle very cloudy, windy with a little sun now 8). ;D ;D ;D
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Hi everyone, not been on for a long time and need to catch up a bit and so does my lottie!
I have 2 spare patches, each about 15' x 8' still under their winter covers, and want to put something in for the coming winter. Any ideas? :-*
Also, I noticed the Doc says at the beginning that we can still start French beans. I don't know about everyone else but I've had a disasterous show from mine so far. They seemed to 'stop' last month and are stuck in some kind of limbo! Not dead but no new growth. :-\
If I start some new ones, should I get them going in the greeenhouse or straight out in the soil?
Donna
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Would you believe it is really chucking it down in Hull again, aren't we done yet!!!
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French bean, beetroot, spring cabbage, turnips and salads all have a fighting chance.
If your local garden centre has a few other brassicas left, ie Broccoli, cauliflower, purple sprouting brocolli, calabrese etc thet will all grow and produce. Salad stuff, including radishes, lettuce, pak choi, carrots have all got time.
Get digging.
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_Myths.html (New page today)
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continuous rain all day in Chester. The BBC weather forecast for tomorrow has mysteriously changed from a round yellow thing to a cloud
think i'll leave it til next year to take up naturism. If I got me bits out now i'd probably get botrytis
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Picturing you frolicing in the nuddy in and out of the beans and it is torrential outside my window.
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last year I offered to do a naked Red Indian Rain Dance round the sweetcorn to make it rain, only I couldn't decide where to stick the feathers
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Everyone is taking the Mickey, not just Sainsbury's.
Today in Nice the price of courgettes was up to 4.5 Euros a Kg (£3.20).The ones below were the cheapest, in the local market, and as you can see looked a bit shabby. Last year at this time they were 1.99 Euros/Kg.
(Apart from weather details I keep prices on a spreadsheet, how Nerdish can you get?).
They are a local variety called Longue de Nice which I have growing at home in Liverpool.
All the prices are high in Nice so I presume that is a Europewide phenomenon.
(http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allcourgettes_longuedenice_coursselaya_070713.jpg)
To see the Liverpool Longue de Nice see:-
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_courgettes.html
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Only one stall selling aubergines in the market this week, when there are usually half a dozen. Everything's pricy.
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Been raining here since 5:50am and falling steadily ever since.
Too wet and miserable for anything to do with gardening :(
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I have had to employ an elaborate structure of tarpaulins and bread trays to try and dry my overwintering onoions that I harvested on the only dry 24 hours last week.
As I have said before 8 weeks of Rhiannon at No1 with the Umbrella song is not helping............although I am thinking of downloading it just so I can use it next time we have a drought ;D ;D ;D ;D
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We have been very fortunate, yesterday overcast, sun decided to peep after tea. Today overcast again but only a few spots of rain, managed to do lots of weeding this afternoon and have just finished watering tubs and baskets.
Lorna
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Thanks Liverpool, I really will try and pull my finger out this weekend..... and get down the garden centre too! ;)
I've got to ask, does anyone know if spring cabbage the same thing as spring greens? :-\
If it is, what is it called in the seed packet as I have never seen either spring cabbage or spring greens to grow and love the latter! ;D
Weather here 'Dahn Souf' is dry (2 days now!) but cloudy. Hot sun yesterday and today at teatime though, a glimpse at what we're missing! ;)
Donna
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Mantovano Spring cabbage is the only one I have
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Thanks Jeannine. While you're out there and, going off the subject a little bit, did your 'mystery beans' come to anything?
I had no luck at all. I have 6 seeds left but they have split open because I left them on a shelf in the greenhouse and they got damp with all the wet air around. :-[
Also, only had luck with 2 of the U.S.A lima beans growing to plants, the rest all rotted off over 3 separate sowings. These are unfortunately 2 of the plants that are in suspended animation at the moment! :'(
Nice to be on here chatting again ;D
Donna xx
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Yes thanks will have a go at planting again. It is ridiculous though and just a tad weary. But.....Dont the trees look green and how can we cheer ourselves up!!!! :-*
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It`s going to stop raining some time next year, thinks we should start growing rice ;D
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machman, check out the real seed catalogue (as kindly mentioned by someone on an other thread earlier) - they have lots of stuff you can start off now, for harvest autumn, winter or next spring. Should give you a few ideas at any rate. Is there anything you're specifically after?
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Machman, I had very poor germination with my mtstery beans but I di get 21 plants doing well, then the floods got them with evrything else.I ididn't plant my Lima beans I planted the Greek ones instead and the germination was 100% but the floods got them too
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Matchman,
Spring greens are immature spring cabbage that is cut in early April before it has formed a heart, also if you cut a spring cabbage heart off and leave the stump in it will sprout fresh spring greens.
Further to my Myths thread, it is said you should cut a cross into the stump, dividing it into 4, to get the greens to grow. You don't!
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments1_Myths.html
6:15am here in Nice with the sun warming the air to 21 degrees on my balcony. The air is teeming with swallows. I am amazed just how many insects there must be.
(http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/alllemons_balcony.jpg)
I notice that another 1cm of rain fell on my plot yesterday!
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Right, spring cabbage it is then! ;D
Sorry to hear about how much you lost to the floods Jeannine. We saw on the news how much damage was done but they only show houses and businesses, I didn't quite realise it would have affected the allotments too! :-\
Hope you can get something going for the rest of the year. All my best,
Donna xx :)
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Hi All
Had 23hrs of rain yesterday in Crewe plot water logged again.
Gordon
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Hot, sunny and windy here yesterday afternoon. Had to get the hose out for the runner beans. Watered with a heavy heart - thinking of the rain still falling on already-waterlogged areas.
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Look what is moving northwards!
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/index.html
Best of wishes from Nice
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Yesterday was nice here in Enfield a bit windy but nice and Sunny 8) spent the afternoon cutting down a tree in the garden. ;D ;D ;D
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Very overcast again, hope it keeps fine enough to let me cut the lawn :)
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Yesterday(Sat) was a real nice day .Today lights on in house at 11am. its like evening and it is pouring it down again ..
The rivers are going to be up again and more floods if this keeps on .
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Still chucking it down in Hull
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Been to the lottie to dig up spuds and some beetroot, ground was dry on top, as I was finishing I could hear the thunder rolling, come home and it poured down for about half hour, puddles everywhere but its warm and humid now. ::) :-\ ;D ;D ;D
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dobies have a catalogue of late veg plants and seeds. going to order seeds they are postage free just call me cheapskate had a dry day at wisley last Saturday and a lovely dry day in penbrokshire wales yesterday should have been weeding ah well
marg
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its 23 degrees in the house, i had to close all the windows as there are thunder bugs all over the place and i hate them.
The sky is gray and winds are up and i am hoping the rain will come soon, as i have not been to water my plot.
My parents said a massive thunder storm hit about 6am this morning in kent and i have had a migrane all day so i am sure that its on its way here.
The forcast has it raining here all next week as well
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just hit post and the rain has started not quite stair rods but well see hot it develops.
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why aren't any of the stupid cricket matches on The Archers rained off? Love rat Brian had an afternoon picnic with little Rory today
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It's been throwing it down in Birmingham.
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One big downpour and a few showers here, I was watching the athletics on tele in Sheffield and its absolutely catting and dogging it down there. :( ;D ;D ;D
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Nothing here yet but imagine it will be here soon - very grey - been grey all day.
http://www.worldweather.com/
Just scanned down the front page of the site above... and its freaky... floods and drought all over the world.
If this is global warming then I'm worried - very worried!
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Its been banging it down most of the day/week/month/ forever here but I have my free Prince CD to chear me up.
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I was talking to someone yesterday and in Hull it has rained everyday but two for the last six weeks. (supposedly). Yesterday was one of those whilst I was at the football, but guess what, when I got up at eight to go to the plot to sort it out what it was doing in sunny Hull?
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Had a big dowpour around dawn this morning with a couple of rolls of thunder, hot and humid all day. Rain is forecast here in this part of Essex overnight and tomorrow. I am planning my first full day at the allotment tomorrow since the op so I don't mind the rain tonight, but would appreciate a fine day tomorrow please.
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the rain ended after 15 min which took the storm bugs out but its very hot now and mossies are out :(
Its due to rain all next week :-(
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Well it was summer yesterday, yippee, apparently thats it though...... rain again tomorrow.
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Rained all day again in Shropshire, though Saturday was a nice day. Rain forcast for most of the week here.
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forecast looks like rain for at least the next 2 weeks... so much for summer eh! I think we had it in April to be honest. THOUGH a friend told me new york is over 90 degrees... and apparentely we follow their weather so when they get heavy snow we do and the theory is they have a heat wave... so will we! fingers crossed.
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Sunny in Manchester, woohoo! Must be a joke of some sort, played because I am at work. :(
Still, take the good weather where we can!
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Went to the the plot this afternoon just to water the GH & stuff under glass. Ended up spending two hours watering everything as it was so dry!!!
And it rained this morning!?!
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Dry coudy and very humid today, pulled up a few beetroots on the lottie, the ground is dry and cracking in places, watered courgettes and pumkins. ;D ;D ;D
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Rained a little in the wee hours, but the allotment was dry by the time I got there, and no rain all day. Very very humid though.
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Rained tonight in Derby.. Metcheck says it will all week, Nematodes in the Fridge tomorrow night out.. if that doesn't stop it raining nothing will!
;D