April heatwave - personal bests?

[Grandma]

Runner beans are my favourite green veg and in 45 years of growing, the earliest I have ever been able to pick a good couple of pounds was June 22nd 1976. Thanks to the April heatwave I think I'm going to beat that this year!

Anyone else looking forward to personal bests? 

[Grandma]

[BarriedaleNick]

Well my mini bell peppers have a small fruit on them which is a bit odd in April so looking forward to an early crop!

[goodlife]

Well I'm looking forward for buckets load of glut.. ;D Some years now my aim is been to grow little bit everything with multiple sowings just to avoid glut situation.. ::)..but..now when I'm starting 'master' that..I feel like 'its not been good year'.. ::) I've always had plenty to eat and to give away too..its just my greedy mind I can't get to settle for smaller quantities.
So to give my mind a rest..I'm going for personal best for glut ;D ;D..tons and tons of everything..filling compost bins with uneaten food after neighbours have had their share and cannot cope with free produce neither ;D ;D
That should settle my greedy brain.. ;) Let's hope the weather will be gentle with us..no great extremes and success should not be far away.

[hawnet]

Should we worry about about a late frost though??

[BarriedaleNick]

Always worry about a late frost but it is quite rare to get one in May (depending where you are)
Of course I said that last year and planted all my toms and courgettes and went on hols for a week. Came back to shrivelled black stumps - we had a sharp frost for one night and it killed everything tender.
I use http://weatherspark.com these days as it gives you forecasts and shows historical trends and data...

[saddad]

Should we worry about about a late frost though??

YES... a late frost is most likely in "good weather" periods... as cloud cover at night keeps the temperature up, clear skies mean a large drop in temperature...  :-X

[Bugloss2009]

yes i'm convinced we're going to have frost

[Morris]

I haven't even sown my runner beans yet! Probs will do so this weekend, or maybe next. Ditto climbing french beans, winter squash and sweetcorn.

The tomatoes in the greenhouse are absolutely racing away, though, so I am hoping for some early fruit.

I did do an early sowing of dwarf french beans a couple of weeks ago that have grown on quickly in the greenhouse with the warm nights. I am considering planting them out madly early this weekend with a tunnel cloche at the ready.  I don't mind the risk for them as the maincrop climbers will  be coming along safely later.

Who knows what the weather is going to do this year??  Monsoon? June hail storm? It's impossible to know and I tend to err on the side of being cautious. I'd rather wait than lose my crop and have to wait for resowings to catch up. Also, early ones tend to run out of steam too soon in the autumn for me; I can usually count on runners etc into mid-October if it is a mild autumn.