Allotments 4 All

Is this already giving you cause for concern as regards you garden or allotment? It is with me.

OK we all know about the problems in the south east of England, but the problem is not just confined to that part of the country. I live in Dorset, usualy quite a wet county (our rainfall is usualy fairly high), and yet we seem to have missed most of the rain the country has received.

In the garden the soil is still quite damp underneath the surface but the surface is (between what showers we do get) drying out and getting quite dusty in places. With warmer weather coming and in the absence of substantial rain the soil will get dryer and dryer, long before summer arrives (predicted to be a hot dry one!). As a gardener i am already having to water plants (all be it new, transplanted and ones in pots). I try to stick to watering with saved rainwater where i can but again with insufficent rain fall to replenish the 'butts I will soon have to revert to mains tapwater, which of course id needed for so many other things.

What gets me at the moment are the weather forecasts when they think rain is on the way I (mis)quote

The Forecast (the weathermans fantasy):
"we are expecting a frontal system to move across england and wales, bringing much needed rain to all parts...."

Translation (the reality):
"We are expecting a frontal system to move across england and wales, bringing rain to the north and west, petering out as it moves south and east with little if any rain for the south and southeast of england..."

Sorry if this sounds like a sarcstic moan but its just somethig i need to get 'off my chest' as it were. I hope you understand this.

I agree. I'm actually hoping for rain at the mo. We were forecast to have some yesterday, but it never came (I was really disaapointed). There's a lot up there in the sky, but it doesn't seem to be coming down.

I planted a few new plants yesterday - dug down six or nine inches and the soil was bone dry and solid. I want it to rain so I can mulch. I need to mulch because the ground needs more stuff to hold the water, but I need water first. Oh it's so frustrating.

My shed is full of 4pt milk bottles full of water (that I collect while waiting for the hot water), but I don't want to water the whole garden with that yet.

sun in morning, drizzle/rain in afternoons & evenings.  The plot's keeping damp (for now) but not much is growing as there's no time to get down there during the week.

Hot summer, eh? Maybe I should have stocked up on seeds from hot, arid countries.  The sweetcorn should do well.

I've buried 2L pop bottles at 600mm (2ft) intervals along the bean rows and plan to do the same at strategic points on other crops. Logic being that the plants will be forced to grow deep roots to search out water as well as my being able to provide sump for them - provided water is available!

You can have some of our rain if you want some. It has been raining constantly for two days in east Shropshire. :(

The garden I worked in this morning was like a swamp, squeltchy under foot!  We had a couple of long heavy downpours so the allotment should ready will and able tomorrow!  ;D

soil is bone dry, right down to a spade depth.  luckily we had a minor shower today, possibly moistened the first 1mm of soil  ???...

I dream of rain (but not during the day, this weekend!)
mat

Its raining again here today, that's why I'm playing on the computer and thinking about cleaning the insides of the windows. 

Vistited hiddenhousebulbs website which was interesting, may leave details around the house in the hope that it is spotted as suitable place to buy birthday presents.

Well, after a fab day on the plot today, I could do with a good steady drizzle now over night, just to settle in my seedlings and freshly sowed seeds.  The surface of the soil was dry, like dust, which I was suprised about as we did have a lot of rain yesterday, but as I scratched the surface the soil was very damp.

I have a brook at the bottom of my garden - sounds idyllic but it tends to flood at the slightest provocation. Used to love the sound of heavy rain at night, now I lie awake wondering how high the water will be by morning! This country's water collection methods are a mystery to me - can somebody explain why we get snow, rain, hail and floods every year, yet the water companies can't save enough of it to meet our needs? Is it really only due to dishwashers, washing machines and power showers (not to mention car washes and municipal flower beds)? Seems hard to believe...

Not only that, but also upland drainage and the concreting over of so much land, which mean that water runs off a lot faster. On top of that, they've straightened and canalised so many river courses, so water runs down them faster. The upshot is, more floods, and more droughts when the water's all dosappeared into the sea. That's quite apart from a steady increase in the quantity of water we use.

I've got a stream that floods as well, at the bottom of the plot. Since me plot slopes away from it (it's an old mill leat, not the natural course), I used to find the plot under a lake of stagnant water for days on end, till I put a load of work into my flood defences a few years ago.

We have a stream...well ditch really, at the bottom of our plot.  It is a natural spring which runs from the common down across the road, across our allotments and down through the farms.  Thankfully it never floods, even after loads of rain...our problem is opposite!  It will be dry in May and not run again until November!

Dont get me started on ways in which more rainwater can be saved or i'll be here all night!

Lets just say i dont think its up to scratch. We can start by building a water national grid and pump the surplus from to north to the dry south. That would help a bit i Think.