Thought i'd start this thread for comments, observations, rants etc about the weather.
I'll start off with mine.
I appreciate many folks out there are still suffering the after effects of the summers wet weather, and as a gardener I am in some ways glad of the recent dry weather, giving a chance to sort out the garden. BUT, I garden on a slope, and my soil dries out quickly after a wet spell. Now after a month of virtualy no rainfall the top few inches of soil are very dry. This could not he happening at a worst time. I, like many gardeners have lots of planting and moving to do this autumn, and this is hampered by both dry soil and dry weather, adding to the watering already required.
So whilst i dont really like rain or working in it, it would be nice to have a few days of nice steady rain to help my garden out, and make this particular gardeners life a bit easier!
It's been really dry here in Durham since about June when everywhere had all of the flooding. I'm releived to say that we didn't get any flooding where we are, but it's rather hilly.
my soil is sandy and doesn't hold much moisture, so during the rains things were fine, but now that it has barely wettened since june things are looking less positive. we did have a splash of rain yesterday, and it's spitting on now but nothing more than that.
thank goodness for waterbutts!
Looking forward to a bit of rain this week - want to start digging the other half of my plot and the ground is a tad concrete like at the mo!
But have also just bought a new tent and want to go try that out too.
:) oh thanks for starting this, thought it was just me praying for rain, ;D
like most folk lost everything in the floods, except my miracle in the blight house toms and my runner beans,
my plot gradually dried out,but now its just pain ridiculous ::)
all our plots are cracking, and are as hard as concrete, but on the plus side my strawberries, rasps etc are loving it and its if the season has started again, picking punnets of them, / shades x
I'm willing it to rain today as I have just applied my autumn lawn feed. If no substantial rain falls I have to get the sprinkler out tomorrow. The clouds are very dark, but nothings happening yet.
Might have to go and do a rain dance. ;D
Lauren ;)
Well it is raining in Wilmslow - just like yesterday!
Maybe you could all move your gardens to the Manchester area ....
yes my ground is like concrete in fact i managed to break a spade on sunday :'(
we then had a light shower in the evening :) tuesday morning brought the first frost of the year :o and today it is very damp and overcast, the wind is drying out the ground as soon as it is wetted. what i would like of course is a darned good rainstorm followed by a few days of dry so i can get some digging done
i,ll continue dreaming on i suppose
marg
You're in good company theothermarge, I broke my fork the other day! Having finished finally cutting back, I now can't dig a d**n thing, 1 day of rain has made no difference whatsoever! I'm definitely a summer girl, but now I really need some decent rain please (but not the kind that causes problems for others obviously)! ;D
It has been threatening rain on and off today in East Sussex, wish it would, my garden is dry as a dry thing!
But also has to be said, tis blooming cold out there, my heating is about to be turned on. :'( :'(
hello......ive just got allotment so ill be watching the weather more carefully now!! dont have a hosepipe there to water my veg like i do at home ..its a lovely place to be in warwickshire countryside..i can hear the buzzards calling and see them gliding above me bliss!!! then i have to come home to the sounds of wheres my shirt etc tut never mind .....i will be asking lots of questions ..hopefully they will make sense..
I've been waiting to see if my new water butt 'wiring' works, as I had to somehow get a 2" shed downpipe down to 1/2" tubing. All patented diverter kits are for much larger downpipe diameters and are expensive...
In the end I used waterproof and UV-proof glue and a 2.1" circle of plastic with a 1/2" hole in it, glueing the tubing to the hole first then the whole lot into the pipe's top, but I want to know if it works without having to use a hosepipe, as I need it full of nice soft rainwater rather than hard tapwater!
moonbells
Hiya, Twggy, welcome to the site
the weather today has been mostly dull, overcast with bits of rain here and there, warmish though :)
Yep, defo autumn!
Digging my new bed was relitively easy at last, well, untill it poured down on me.
Me thinx that I really do need a shed - not for me, I don't mind a bit of wet - but the bike was sat on the edge of the plot getting a good soaking and giving me nasty looks :(
Hi Twiggy and welcome, you will be watching the weather, checking out skips and council dumps, watching the trees for falling leaves, it all adds up to the crazy world of allotmen teering, your friends will think your stark raving mad and after a couple of months on this site you will be. PS. two very brief showers in September makes a very hard working soil, bring on the rain. :P :P :P ;D ;D ;D
hi twiggy we have got buzzards soaring above our site as well 4 at the last count
and i know what you mean by "wheres me shirt" i think the only reason i have a mobile phone is for the OH to ask me where things are
oh yes weatherit is still raining here and i,v put the heating on
marg
Well, the rain didn't come today and I had to water the veg. Forecast is for rain during the night and off and on tomorrow.
It's getting nippier too. Gone are the bare arms and just a t shirt. Out come all the sweaters, socks and long trousers :(
Lauren :)
well so much for the rain dance Lauren ;D
could you try harder tomorrow please? / shades x
remember what happened last time someone did a rain dance, or was it the song about umberellas ;D
It was Grandma that did the last rain dance, but think she only did a local one in Sussex :-D
All the rain we have had so far has been of nuisance value only. Seems to want to spit on me right in a middle of doing a key task in the garden. Typical.
After a lovely (if nippy) day yesterday, it couldnt have been more different today, Overcast, miserable cold and surprisingly windy, but of course whilst it threatened several times to chuck it down very little rain was produced.
Seems like we never get rain when its needed these days. Dry spring (rain needed),wet summer (not needed) Dry September (rain needed). Even when there is rain forecast, if the garden needs rain it somehow manages to bypass our part of the world. >:( ::) :o
Thanks for springing to my defence, Ninnyscrops! It was me - and it was specifically for the Sussex dustbowl - but I've been feeling SO guilty ever since, with what happened in other parts of the country.
Hardly dare say that it hasn't rained here (well, not properly) since heaven knows when. Soil's rock-hard, cracking, pale grey and completely undiggable - but I promise I won't be rain-dancing again! ;)
What was the raindance you did last time Grandma? I am wondering if i could try it out.
On the other hand i am sure most folks wont mind if you did it again yourself, although perhaps if you adjusted it a bit so we dont get quite so much rain next time!
just do it on one leg ;D
Which one?
The one with water on the knee of course ;D
Desert conditions again here in Wakering, my lawn's cracking up a treat. ::)
Even digging up the last of my spuds under mulch-the ground seems to be drying out, but at least it's a tad warmer than Tuesday.
your rain dancing has worked folks,here in liverpool it has been absolutely tipping it down since 5 this morning,its really dark and most trees are looking pretty autumnal x
Must have used the wrong leg :-[ Send some down here, please, Elvis! :)
Just going to lottie to plant more brassicas,
and fill the water butts again ::)
maybe we need a joint A4A rain dance :-\ ;D/ shades x
not up here, thanks..we've got enough, the lake at the plot is just starting to show ;D
I'll have to do the anti-rain dance :o
:)well, filled the water butts, borrowed someones hose , watered a few things before they died,
and then it rained ;D
its nice and sunny again now though/ shades x
We had that "weed rain" yesterday - you know the type - just fine enough to set those weed seeds on the surface into action! Grandma, do you think you could manage a "tap" dance down here please ;)
One downpour during the night this week, but that soon dried out. ;D ;D ;D
Not a drop down here yet further north they got a deluge. We need it, the midlands probably dont (as much). Looks like someone up there did a bit of a rain dance but it only worked on a local level.
I did one of my rain dances too yesterday - topped up my near empty water butts for the second time in a month. I often find as soon as I do that it rains a few days later and the rainwater gets wasted because there is no room for it!
I could try one or both of my other quite sucessfull rain dances. One is running the 'leaky hose' irrigation system on the veg plot, the other is to get the hose out and give all my pots a good soaking. Either have equal suceess. I remmeber back in May I had just got the irrigation system set up when the first of the summer rains arrived. It also usualy rains soon after doing a 'big water' of the pots with th hose (usualy just do what needs waterig with a can).
On the subject of watering, how many of you with containers at home (and on the plot too I guess) have been keeping up with the watering? I have to confess i have been a bit lazy and not done it as often as i should have. I think this cool cloudy weather lurs you into a false sense of security with watering, but as I realised yesterday, with no rain the pots are still drying out, albeit more slowly now than when it was sunnier and warmer.
Quote from: cornykev on September 21, 2007, 22:02:40
One downpour during the night this week, but that soon dried out. ;D ;D ;D
Thats the trouble, with the soil so dry and all the wind we've been getting what rain does fal isnt going to do much good for long.
mm we have had some rain ,fine stuff and it has made a bit of difference at least I can get the fork in the ground but under the surface it is very dry so left it in massive lumps in case we get enough to break it down ???
marg
avatar was suppose to be moving got it wrong somewhere
Could be because it's not a cream coloured lab theothermarge ;D
I DID IT!
I did one of my raindances last night (ran veg patch irrigation system for a few hours), and now its RAINING. A nice steady rain too.
Does though mean i am now stuck indoors, rather than getting on with things in the garden, but hey for once i dont mind that much. it at least means i can get on with a few things out there this week.
it is p**ing down here that should break the lumps up and i have just finished relining my pond :D got very dirty and smelly :-[ i just hope my frogs will forgive me and come back GA have to join you in that rain dance
marg
Might have over done it :o. Looking out the window it looks horrible. Very murky and miserable.
Still it should do the gardens some good as its not too heavy. :D
Wot? Nuffink, nuffink, nuffink here as usual. ::)
oh boy has it rained here :o/ shades x
Sunday was a lovely sunny day, this morning its absolutely caned it down, typical the only day I walked the nine year old to school, died off a bit now but still spitting quite heavy. :( ;D ;D ;D
Aha! Glorious rain at last this a.m. Had to postpone dog walk, but glorious now, off to plot this afternoon.
Two thirds of my tomatoes in the garden have blown over - so rather a hectic start to the day. Hate to think what's happened up at the allotment....
Heavy rain mid morning now rather a lovely but windy day.
someone's done too much rain dancing in the north west, it's been tipping it down all night and this morning, I swear it's got sleet in, it's so cold
we've now got our lake back, it's been dry for about 6 weeks this year :)
hope you folks who had all the water are ok :)
It's one of those odd weird weather days. Bright sunshine and pouring with rain at the same time. Very odd. Plus it's quite windy here too. ::)
Lauren :)
Deffo think I might have overdone the raindance. I chucked it down last night (kept me awake fro some time), and the wind has absolutely blown a hoolie at the same time.
Today has been better allthough still very windy with the occasional shower (just had one now).
Still I did just about manage to dig and prepare my new strawberry bed, so have at least acheived SOMETHING in the garden today.
well, it persisted down all night and this morning..nicer this afternoon and very cold for tonight, been to cover the sweet potatoes and squash, just in case ;D
:)
we have had the blue sky,sun out, pour with rain, all at the same time ,sort of weather ::)/ shades x
Same here, washing all wet again ::) but a happy garden and plot. The Hydrangea on the north facing side is looking decidedly perky now, and of course that side is usually damp come what may.
i managed to dig my strawberry bed today inbetween storms glad there were no twisters here anybody on here been in one
marg
Heavy downpour yesterday morning as all the children were going to school, then sun for the rest of the day. Today it started out well, but rained later this afternoon and it is cold. Worried about heavy winds though as the quince tree is really,really laden and would hate it to be blown down. [looking for quince recipes, other than jelly and jam]
Hi ALL, here is the flood risk help line phone number as they say we are about to get some very heavy rainfall, it's 0845 9881188.
May you and yours and what you grow live long and happy. John.J.R.P.
V.windy and rain here allnight and this morning stopped about 12 o clock. :( :( :'( :'( ;D ;D ;D
Still piddling down here-it has been all day long. Enough now :(
Stopped raining now but not seen flooding on the road home from the office as bad for many years!
The rain and heavy winds have been hitting her for the last hour my garden is currently got standing water on it.
This UK weather is very strange! Yesterday we had rain and winds of biblical proportions and today we have clear blue skies and bright sunshine!
Sorry SavageBlue its not so strange as here in Lincolnshire we have had heavy rain again all morning.
Sunshine and bright blue skies here as well - but very squelshy underfoot.
We are starting to get worried here in Hull now about the chance of flooding again, the villages adjacent to us have severe warnings, our school head had to leave today to see what was happening. The builders were there putting in new doors from the last floods(she is still not able to live in here house) they have sandbagged her, the water in her garden which is on a slight slope is about half way up to the house and the ditches etc around her property are almost level with the ground. If the rain stops she may be OK but if it continues she will probably be flooded again. It seems to be about a 50/50 chance at the moment.
XX Jeannine
what a sad state of affairs, will keep everything crossed :-\
Oh, Jeanine, I can't begin to imagine what you are all going through in Hull hoping it won't hapen all over again.
I am sure we will all be willing it to stop raining so the water can start to go down.
Eak, not good! Forcast for us is heavy rain now till sunday :( So i am sure that its going to continue to give people a few sleepless nights.
Sorry to hear about your school head Providing all is ok, suggest that she has a look at what amendments the builders can do to help prevent this affecting her as much next time such as non return valves and mabe look at putting up removable flood gates (http://www.floodcontrol.co.uk/flood-gate.htm). Any risk to the school??
Hows everyone? Still Dry??
There are some localised flooding here in cambridgeshire, nothing near me luckly but i do worry about some of you guys out here. Not sure what the weather is up to but the wind just kicked up here to almost gale force, the sky has gone black and you can see the clouds moving across the dark sky very quickly. In fact if i was out in it i think it might even be scary !
It's been dry here all day today but was still pretty windy until a couple of hours ago. Feels really mild - have spent the day in a t-shirt (indoors I might add, lol) Not looking good for the next couple of days though.
Took me an hour and a half for what is usually about 40 mins to get to work in York yesterday due to flooding.Bit of a pain but just glad it's not my house!
Dry the last two days in Notts,so off down the plot to move some poo.
Keeping my fingers crossed it'll stay dry the rest of this week in Dartford so I can get to the lottie over the weekend. Mmmmmm got poo to move too!
Twinkletoes
Meant to be sunny and dry here for the next few days. ??? ??? :-\ :-\ ;D ;D ;D
Tshirt weather here, It looks and feels like the start of spring, Daffs in bud , camelias blooming, even a few rhodies showing a bit of colour. Hebes never stopped anyway, the ceanothus has a blue shadow but it could stay in half bud for months.
Better start looking for my shorts.
our hebe's still flowering here in the 'sunny' north west as well..wouldn't you know it, couldn't get there today and it's been lovely all day..never mind, weekend jobs, the lads are getting a small digger so I'm referee to stop them fighting over who's gonna use it ;D
Ahhh :o the thought of Aces legs. :-[ :'( :-* ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: cornykev on January 24, 2008, 20:09:47
Ahhh :o the thought of Aces legs. :-[ :'( :-* ;D ;D ;D
I'd Rather not. :o :o :o
Its been one hell of a day here, I expect some more of you have had the same. Blizzard conditions for a wee while, then sun, then gales again and so on. I believe there was some very high winds during the night as well. I didn't hear them but folk who can hear better did ;D ;D. Think we have to expect more of the same tomorrow. Roll on spring.
we have had the high winds, heavy rain & hail then about 2pm it all stopped. Been out and filled up the freezer and got milk etc in just in time for the high winds to pop up again. Its 4 degrees outside but feels much much colder.
Same here Very high winds and absolutely cat an dogged it down until about 1 ish. :'( :'( :( :( :( ;D ;D ;D
Bright sunshine, clear skies today. Bloody freeeeeeeezing though.
Been one hell of a morning with blizzards blowing since 9. Its eased off a bit now but believe this weather is now moving south, so watch out the Midlands and Lincolnshire.
:-\l