according to uk guardian the weather is going to force people be better gardeners in my opinion. the weather has been kick in teath for farmers and will make good harvest require alot work. since the farmers are having it tough. so food price will be high again if weather is bad again.
don't waste time in garden.
uk-farmers-face-disaster/ a prefect storm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/16/uk-farmers-face-disaster
Gardeners are, by definition, optimists so, evn though last year's crops were poor owing to the rain and lack of light, I'll be giving it a go again this year but being more careful about seed sowing times and spacings and weeding so they get the best possible start and care to help them produce a crop. If nothing else, rows and blocks of veggies and salads are easier on teh eye and mind than just giving up and letting the weeds take over..
< Best Yoda voice>
A drive-by post this is ...
< /Yoda>
Always look on the bright side. My glass is half FULL :sunny: This is typical media doom and gloom to fill the pages. I am looking forward to what I think will be a good season just a little later getting going :toothy10:
Well, that link made for some depressing reading!! :BangHead:
Im sure that most of us will have learnt lessons from last year and I for one am adjusting my growing accordingly. I really feel for the farmers and to have whatever crops they managed to harvest be labelled as not being of 'sufficient quality' must bee a real kick in the teeth. At least they're trying! Whats the alternative? Give up agriculture and import everything we consume from abroad? Not an option. Any money donated by charity to the farmers welfare groups must surely be appreciated, but the figures involved are a drop in the ocean. What this country needs is a major overhaul of the farming industry and more investment - we could take al the money from those that dont work and give it to those that do!! :toothy10:
Of course that doesnt compensate for the weather but more investment could mean better land drainage, things grown under large glasshouses etc.
Anyways, fingers crossed for nicer weather to come!! :sunny: :sunny: :sunny:
When we had a lovely hot summer a few years ago I had a bumper
crop of butternuts. I've planted them every year since and have been
lucky to get one or two, and sometimes none, per plant. It still doesn't
stop me from being optimistic that this year will be perfect.
Another Glass Half Full person here! :toothy10:
OH YES IT WILL BE! :icon_cheers: Even in bad summer something will flourish and we just have to settle to that and be happy.
My biggest 'knock out' last year was the lack of tree fruits. I really don't mind that much of lack of veg if only my fruit intake is secured..my precious fruits...
If the I cannot grow all the veg..there is plenty of weeds that can be cooked if it all gets that desperate. But nothing compensate fruit and berries....other than expensive trip to supermarket.. :BangHead:
In this part of the country, it'll be a necessity :happy7:
But, we always get something and it always tastes better than shop bought
I guess us growers need to adapt. Change crops, change varieties or change conditions (e.g grow under cover etc).
The year you give up is the year the weather will be perfect.
I had a blowout year in 2012 with 1000 sq foot wasted on two pumpkin plants that produced only salad and no fruit.
I'm hoping for better weather this year but who knows if i'll try again in 2014 if the same happens again?
hi all! back online a bit!
the spring here is horrid! wet and cold, but my alliums are in, the early spuds too, and have sowd radish, mizuna, lettuce and spring turnips. They are hard to kill!!!!
Let's be optimistic in this world of pessimism!
Quote from: antipodes on March 19, 2013, 13:47:09
hi all! back online a bit!
the spring here is horrid! wet and cold, but my alliums are in, the early spuds too, and have sowd radish, mizuna, lettuce and spring turnips. They are hard to kill!!!!
Let's be optimistic in this world of pessimism!
:icon_cheers: :wave: :thumbsup: :toothy5:
This will be the best year yet.
Start of the best season ever :toothy10:
I planted accordingly last year and had a good harvest which we are still eating now. I do get piers corbyn`s weather forecast and we are likely in for the same for years to come, being at the start of a little ice age. Imo the fancy veg have to go and basics need to come back. My first early spuds are chitting and will be out and prepped for the freezer well before getting blighted or bogged down in water sodden ground. I am giving my veg more individual space and will feed them well, then they will come in and be preserved for winter as soon as they are ready. It won`t just be the weather but slugs will decimate crops more than last year. Local farmer had a disasterous sweetcorn crop and I see he has now ploughed and laid to grass, a canny move I believe. The fields behind me are normally a lush green by now, winter wheat but I cannot even see the green haze.
My hardening leeks just got well and truly battered by massive hailstones and I doubt they will recover, I will make another sowing of seeds that I have left from last year and then I will have to battle the moth and rust, Sigh, it just isn`t like it used to be
Yes it will! It always is and it always will be.
I am not a farmer and I love my plot for more reasons than what it produces in a given year. Sure it gets a bit depressing but there is always a chat and a laugh with my fellow growers and there are always new techniques to learn and new varieties to grow.
No-one knows what the weather has in store for us but I'm looking forward to a bumper year..
Quote from: Dandytown on March 19, 2013, 13:34:39
I guess us growers need to adapt. Change crops, change varieties or change conditions
I fully agree, this year I'm growing rice :icon_cheers:
(http://flatrock.org.nz/static/frontpage/large_pessimistic_viewpoint.jpg)
Well back to basics it is. Dig for victory etc... I intend to stubbornly continue my tradition of not buying food during Lent which roughly translates as 'hungry gap'. It must be stashed away from the previous harvest to see me through.. Lent will be later next year so I'd better hatch a cunning plan to have plenty despite the weather. Mind you this years winter/spring caulies are a bit behind so perhaps I need to up my soil fertility or try another type. Still have leeks, psb, kale and onions and I'm going to pick the first rhubarb tomorrow :blob7:woopie first 'fruit' of the season :wave:
Sat in the cabin yesterday five of us trying to keep warm and looking out over the North Sea, just looking at it reduced the temperature. Some one said "wonder when the house martins will arrive this year" "couple of month after the Penguins" was the reply.
Well I've still got a couple of shallots left from last year, the last potatoes went last week as did the last of the fresh tomatoes, but there are still any number of portions of frozen mash I made months ago along with a big pile of frozen PFA chips.... and broad, shelled french and green french beans, some peas, plenty of sweetcorn, chillis, frozen tomnatoes, peppers and I'll strip the brussels down this weekend cook and freeze off for bubble adn squeak... af which there is also a frozen pile from the autumn.... SO this year the only exotic I'm relying on outdoors is sweetcorn... there will be peppers and outdoor tomatoes, but I expect the bulk of them to be provided by the greenhouse (it's a biggie and I'm single).... I'll try to grow more peas and green beans, and if I can get slightly higher productivity out of the shelling french beans they should last me a year... cabbages, kohl rabi, onions... all should grow come what may, ditto salads, I tend to grow them in troughs... if the weather looks bad they go under cover, if it's good then on the patio...
Even if crops are rubbish this year, I am optimistic that we will enjoy spending time with our lottie community,enjoy spending creative time out doors with my beloved husband and generally love it...as long as we get a few peas and some rocket we will be happy,but Im sure we will get more,as others have said...better protection this year maybe and a bit more thought, hope everyone enjoys this growing season! :wave:
Quote from: davyw1 on March 19, 2013, 21:26:10
Sat in the cabin yesterday five of us trying to keep warm and looking out over the North Sea, just looking at it reduced the temperature. Some one said "wonder when the house martins will arrive this year" "couple of month after the Penguins" was the reply.
:toothy10: :toothy10: :toothy10:
(how long before someone reminds me we are in the wrong hemisphere!)
Well, the "value" of my harvest in 2012 was £688 and I'm determined to get over £1000 this year, so I hope it warms up soon!!
d**n the weather!
30 minutes ago when I sat down with a cup of tea at my computer it was a little drizzly outside.
I made some plans of what to plant where and decided I would go to the plot in a while and layout some of my beds etc and leaving soil work to a drier day.
Finnished my tea and there was about an inch of snow on everything.
Made another cuppa and now the snow has gone.
:BangHead:
Pescador, how do you work out your value? What you would pay to buy the equivalent, or do you count profit from selling surplus? I'm just interested, because I always think, well my asparagus alone saves me a huge amount, but if I didn't grow it then I wouldn't buy it, I'd buy dried herbs not fresh, and so on...but to answer the original poster, of course it will be worth it, anything is better than nothing when it comes to home grown food, never mind the bonus of connecting with the process and getting close to nature..
How do you put a price on the company at the lottie - plants, produce and advice given etc. Haven't been down for over a week and I am suffering withdrawal symptoms something terrible.
How do you put a price on waiting 35 years to get a garden big enough for a poly tunnel then having to wait 4 months for it to stop snowing and raining before you can built the bloody thing...
And it was still snowing this morning.
Manics,
super pictures. Do you like these big cloches? How are they working out? Have always shied away because they are so pricey. Love the fishbox starter garden - all looks so good.
Green Lily,
Rhubarb? Wow, you must live in the warmer parts. There is nothing yet on mine apart from pink buds that are at soil level.
I like the not buying anything in Lent. Must admit at the moment we are buying peppers and carrots and the odd cabbage. Brassica are looking very poorly and probably dead, because we were flooded for most of winter - still very squelchy now. Don't know how I am going to dig to get peas and early potatoes in. Still got fruit in the freezer and in kilner jars.
Plenty of stored crops - potatoes, onion, shallot, garlic, squash and lots in the freezer, including peas and beans. The greenhouse salading stuff has put on a tiny bit of growth and we can start harvesting, Babington Leeks, JAs, everlasting onions etc are doing their best and seem tolerant of swamp conditions as is the chard. The florence fennel has tiny new shoots coming too. Still have scorzonera in the ground, if they haven't rotted.
Will 2013 be worth it? Of course it will and is already - given the cost of supermarket salad packs. As usual I am going to grow a lot of different things in the hope that some of them will work out. We will eat well - just don't know what yet :tongue3:
There's plenty of time. I never put peas in the open ground before April, and they can be left till May or even June if necessary. Same goes for a lot of other stuff. There's not much which needs early planting.
The rhubarb is 'Goliath' and should have been split this year but it never went to sleep when it was cold enough . It has had a big plastic compost bin over it for 5+ weeks but it will be manjana cos I had some apple and apricot to finish today. I can take a picture on my phone but I haven't yet mastered how to post onto A4A. Trust me the temperature in north lincs is not warm today..... :sad3: : and the other rhubarbs aren't interested although I've partially covered another type with a clay pot. Still fruit of any sort is good. I like it cooked with dates.. :toothy10:
Manics,
super pictures. Do you like these big cloches? How are they working out? Have always shied away because they are so pricey. Love the fishbox starter garden - all looks so good.
The small ones I've just got from Aldi, 3 for 2.99.. they work qiote well but only inside. The big glass cut off demi johns that Ray made for me, I can put outside over things like squash etc :toothy10:
Wouldn't be the first time a wet year was followed by a cold spring. Might be followed by a nice summer, we shall see. Might not. So what? My 6" peas are battling the sleet and wind. Any survivors will have seed saved from them. No loss. I also have some rocket in the ground and it's got two more leaves than before it went in.
Biggest problem is the backlog of seedlings in the greenhouse and windowsills needing planted out but I'm not panicking, spring weather can turn on a die and the forecasters can only give you an estimate, usually the one that attracts them the least flak if they are wrong.
Such is life in the Horse Latitudes and why our traditional crops are able to bear a good deal of punishment. Pretty confident of good root veg, spuds, greens and salads. Windowsill cukes should be safe too. Bring it on! (Good crop of GH toms would be nice though, weather, pretty please?)
It is frustrating holding everything back though :BangHead: want to get going!!!
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on March 20, 2013, 19:43:55
There's plenty of time. I never put peas in the open ground before April, and they can be left till May or even June if necessary. Same goes for a lot of other stuff. There's not much which needs early planting.
Ah yes, but the problem with planting peas late is that they don't grow anywhere near as big and the harvest is much reduced and the later ones are (here at least) affected by pea weavils. Any peas harvested in June are free of 'added protein', July and later they get maggotty. And should we get something resembling a summer, then peas will generally perish late July. At least the early planted ones will have given a lot of pods before this happens. Perhaps I should add that most of my peas are tall growing heritage varieties, maybe there is no need to start early for shorter varieties, but the short varieties here are being decimated by mice and voles.
So come on weather - I need to prepare these beds for the peas!
Small I get a monetary value for my stuff by using the pick you own site prices (they do nearly everything} or supermarket on line prices. I always keep a spreadsheet of outgoing and incomings on the plot but as lou said, you cant put a price on the other stuff like friends fresh air exercise etc.
:drunken_smilie:well I intend to try and get something of a decent crop if my favorite veg only this year before the supermarkets bump up their costs. Watched news early this morning and is also the farmers with cattle and sheep suffering so shame I cant grow legs of lamb and pork on plot x
Quoteshame I cant grow legs of lamb and pork on plot
Lamb's lettuce? :tongue3:
I'm planning for a good year too. I have chillies and toms started on the window sills along with basil and summer savoury. I have started PSB early in the hopes of an autumn crop before the plants all get frozen to a mush and I have peas sown in a window box so I get early shooots for spring salads.
I'll be hoeing and sowing things like beetroot, spinach and salads when the soil warms up and I have red onion sets waiting to go once it warms up enough for them. Don't do spuds and can only get carrots to grow in pots for some reason.
Still need to get out and prune back the autumn raspberries and I think I'll make a new strawberry bed this year. Blackcurrants and blueberries are budding up and the rhubarb patch has fat shoots showing through the piles of compost mulch.
Even if it's not a bumper year we'll get something and it's better to be out there tending crops than vegetating indoors.
However dreaful it turns out to be I can at least continue to build raised beds which rise above the floods!
I am just quietly thinking about my seed forward planning now. Leek seedlings, accidentally left outside were flattened by tonnes of hail but I think at least 20 will keep going. Tomatoes and chillis are doing very well, in and out daily when possible. Lady christi quietly chitting, broad beans sitting quietly in root trainers outside. It will be all systems go soon, potatoes in as soon as weather turns better, also broad beans. In the meantime, seed sowing is on the back burner, while it is freezing cold, they always catch up quickly so best to go with the weather flow. Just basics, that can survive little ice age weather this year, old fashioned stuff that grandparents grew and stood the test of time
Do we have any choice? At least we are lucky, we can go to supermarket.
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on March 22, 2013, 18:56:04
However dreaful it turns out to be I can at least continue to build raised beds which rise above the floods!
You will need ark..not raise bed!
I hope not! Does anyone know whether gopher wood will grow in our climate?
Hi Small, sorry I haven't replied, I've been incommunicado for a few days.
To calculate the value of what I harvest I just use the local supermarket or market equivalent at the time.
Most of the surplus harvest go into freezer, chutney or relatives kitchens, virtually none sold, (Must stop giving to relatives, it's bad for the balance sheet!!)
With another family invasion (about 14) over Easter for a week, I am glad I have a freezer crammed with various fruits, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blackcurrants (plum failure, sadly) and apple puree for pies and crumbles and cakes. I have no idea exactly what their monetary value is, but judging by local farm shop prices - a lot.
On GQT Bob Flowerdew stated firmly that if you have limited time, fruit is the most valuable and worthwhile crop. Personally, I would add leeks, beans and peas, spinach beet and sorrel.......
The only vegetables I have to harvest now are leeks - creatures and frost have ruined the spinach beet and chicories, though I have belatedly covered them. I am optimistic that my pot of baby leeks, when it is warm enough to plant them out, will survive whatever the weather throws at them.
I have started off a lot of seeds in the house, but the window sills don't really have enough light for them, and it is discouraging to see them stretching out desperately towards what there is. (No greenhouse).
I have set up a bench outside for the hardier ones (broad beans etc) covered over with plastic sheeting against the cold, and they seem to be surviving.
To put our problems in context, my daughter in Germany has temperatures of minus 15 and deep snow, and no hot water because of frozen pipes. They should be part of the Easter invasion, but are worried about the journey through terrible weather, and about whether their teenage boys are capable of both looking after themselves, the dogs and the hens. Especially worried about the hens' drinking water constantly freezing.....and whether the boys will keep renewing it. Any good ideas about keeping the hens' water from freezing? I have already suggested floating a partly filled plastic bottle in their bowl.
Well last year was the worst year I have ever had on my plot and I have had a the plot for 20 years. But you just shrug your shoulders and get on with it.
Two things I will definitely say.
1) Don't believe the long range weather forecast. The meteorologists struggle to get it right in 5 days ahead let alone months.(That was from a professional meteorologist I met when I did a weather course!!)
2) Don't plant or sow things too early. You rarely lose by planting late - you often lose by planting early.
It's always worth it in my opinion. I always seem to have winners and losers with growing stuff every season. All my leafy crops were great last year. Even my sweetcorn was good!!
I planted lady christi potatoes today, they chitted slowly and sturdily and we saw the sun for a short time today. All got covered with crumby soil, then a bit more of the claggy stuff on top. Aquadulce have been outside in root trainers since january and have super root systems, they went out today too. I do think (piers corbyn fan) that we will get some blasts of warm air in april but not a lot, so I want to take advantage of every bit of sun.
I am sowing some seeds in modules tomorrow, just food basics though and ones that will survive a horrible summer. My plot is not that big so every bit of space has to count, we do manage to provide enough for the two of us all year round. The most I will deviate from old fashioned basics this year will be a few courgettes and a couple of squash plants. No point even trying carrots as they just don`t grow on the allotment.
Re the lady c potatoes, they get mature quickly and I can preserve any we don`t eat, they will be up and out well before the blight season, to be followed by hunter squash. Tomatoes, growing nicely indoors for now, are all the strong blight resistant varieties, which will be put under cover for growing. I am really expecting a very short summer, so am planning accordingly
brassica seeds sown yesterday and tomatoes and chillis are out hardening today, 11 degrees in the back and sunny. Little gem transplanted in planters and more seed sown. Got to go wth the flow
Strawberry 1, methinks your thermometer must be in direct sunlight to get that sort of reading!
I don't know where in Zummerzet you are, but the weather station in Wells is showing 3C.
But I know how you feel, I have a day off today and there are quite a few sunny periods, so I have given in to temptation and planted 120 onion sets in pots to go in the little plastic greenhouse and some chillies and toms on windowsills/propagator.
Current local temperature is 3.7c, but almost feels pleasant when the sun is out!!
I have no windowsill left...chillies, toms, aubs etc all jostling for space and the propagators are all full....I'm sticking some potatoes in bags this weekend and planning for a short but sweet season. Last year was pretty good for me, most things grew as long as I covered them from the flying rats!
we have a very special house, the back garden is 3 m below the surrounding orchard, so an incredible suntrap, warm when there is the least bit of sun