Thinking of building an Ark

Wow we have had so much wind and rain here recently! We are both rather exhausted as the violent weather kept us awake over the last few nights, with worry about what was happening outside and due to the sheer noise and buffeting.

We have been fortunate enough to escape major damage here; a few trees have come down in the wood (only small dead ones) and there has been a small water leak in the loft around the chimney stack due to a combination of the severity of the rain and the wind direction; not serious and did not damage anything and can be easily fixed BUT it needs the wind and rain to stop before Compostman can go up on the roof to fix it. Apart from that we have not lost anything as we had tied/nailed down or put away pretty well everything which might fly away or get damaged.

Our lane floods at the far end where it joins the main road and so was impassable for a few hours, several times in the last few days. Near to us there has been major flooding, not just impassable roads but houses with their ground floors under several feet of water, so sad for all the people concerned.

The land is sodden, far too wet to do anything on or with it - and we have standing water on the grass, the soil, the flower beds are under water in places and there is even water standing on the surface of the raised beds - that is how waterlogged the soil is.

Compostgirl returned to School today and so Compostman and I have been catching up lots of indoor jobs  - but to be honest mainly we have been snoozing in front of the fire as we are sleep deprived. Maybe we are turning into Bears and are hibernating!

I hope you are all safe and not flooded ( if in the UK) or frozen (if in the US of A)

Please stay safe and warm during this extreme weather.

xxx

A very rainy day

Today started out warm and dry, so I settled down to do some much needed potting up of herbaceous perennials at my outside potting bench


I managed to do quite a lot of work and had done 20 or so rooted cuttings into pots, when I realised it was getting very dark.

and then I heard a rumble of thunder, and then another.  At this point I decided to get all my stuff off the bench and into the dry. I loaded up the wheelbarrow and two trips saw all the assorted potting paraphernalia into the polytunnel.

 At that point I thought I would go inside and have a drink,


but then the rain started to fall. Epic quantities of water fell from the sky.

 



  And I was trapped in the polytunnel, with no coat, so I decided to stay where I was,


I thought I would have a good look round at all the plants, seedlings, cuttings and check on everything to see how it was faring.

My turmeric has finally sprouted! I planted a bit of rhizome back in Feb, and it has finally grown :-)


 And the Lemongrass has all grown - so I now have far too many plants for me to use - will have to add "lemongrass" to the list of herbs for sale!

 

My temporary prison - not that I minded as I love being in my polytunnel.


Aubergines nearly ready to harvest




Still poring with rain after 30 mins and it was lunchtime so I made a dash for the house - I got very wet!

But I could see the ground soaking up the much needed water like a sponge and all the vegetables immediately perked up and grew a few inches, so I didn't mind in the least getting a bit wet :-)

All gone...

The snow, that is! It had mostly gone yesterday evening

And we woke up to green grass and a bright blue sky this morning, and virtually no snow..

We had a brief few hours of beautiful sunshine, here    ...but now it is raining and hailing and gloomy and dull.

I was meant to be driving to Ryton to volunteer at Garden Organic's Potato Day but decided it would be a bit risky with the dodgy weather forecast. Shame, as I love doing my Master Composter/Master Gardener duties and I love visiting Ryton. Still there will be many more chances to go during the coming year.

Looking out  over the garden it is good to see the snowdrops flowering and the daffodils showing through as green spikes. I am a bit concerned about possible flooding though, as the ground is already covered with standing water in places from the snow melt. Hopefully the rain will not last!

Have done my Big Garden Birdwatch for 2013 - must file it at the RSPB website. I will post about the results tomorrow.

One bonus to the rain - I looked out of the study window by my desk at the most beautinful rainbow. The end of the rainbow is apparently just across the road from me...wonder if I can find a crock of gold?

Thunderbolts and lightning, very very ...not frightening but very wet!

We had a HUGE thunderstorm earlier this morning here, with torrential rain. I realised something was up when at 9.30 am it got darker and darker and I had to turn on the electric overhead light to see.

The came the thunder - huge, rolling, blasts of thunder. Then came some lightning and THEN came the rain. Lots of rain. Torrents of rain. Buckets full of the wet stuff.

After watching the spectacle for a bit from the safety of the house, we realised that the front drive was rapidly flooding. It is not meant to do that. There is a drainage channel up the verge on the road side which takes away any water shed by the road in extreme rainfall. But it was obviously blocked up. This happens over the course of time as cars and lorries drive over the verge and fill in the channel with mud.

So Compostman wet suited up and went out to clear the ditch, and I did likewise and went to check on other bits around the house and garage. 

I found that, oh dear, the polytunnel was flooded  :-(  with a small stream flowing through the door and out the back. So I got some bags of growing medium form the store pile around the corner at the back of the garage and carried them one by oneto use as sandbags in front of the polytunnel door. This diverted the flow of water.

  
Then Compostman came along and got busy with a spade digging an emergency drainage channels, to take away the surplus water into the drainage ditch at the bottom of the hedge

This is the polytunnel after the worst of the water had subsided. Good job I grow in large pots in the polytunnel - if I grew in the ground it would have all washed away, such was the flowthrough of water!

 All of the garden was absolutely sodden, like this.

  
Cassi Cat, as always, came out to supervise us while we dug and heaved stuff about. She does not seem to mind getting wet at all. Must be the Burmese blood!

All the water has all sunk away into the ground, now and the sun is shining. Strange weather or what?

More rain

Yet more rain, here :-( It is seriously wet here, now :-( Beyond just "topping up the water butts" or " wetting the soil" wet.

This is torrential. Downpours. Sodden. Drenching. The ground underfoot is not just damp but squelching underfoot, and if I walk the same path over the lawn more than once or twice the ground oozes and the grass turns into a muddy track.

I left a wheelbarrow, with a bit of compost in, outside the poly tunnel - I WAS going to use the compost in the bottom of some pepper pots...but after yesterday and today the wheelbarrow is full of water :-( and the compost is all floating on the surface.

I left some deep gravel trays outside meaning to scrub them - they WERE empty but are now full of water.
I guess that makes them easier to scrub?

In the veg plot all is NOT well. The spuds are still OK at the moment, even though we are already into Smith periods for early Blight ! The onions and parsnips are doing well but beans are struggling and I have not yet managed to plant out more pea plants or the leek plants as do not relish doing so in torrential rain, and the ground is so sodden I do not want to squish it! Courgette and pumpkin plants are battered beyond redemption - and as for the spinach and salad plants outside - oh dear they have just been pounded into the soil and oblivion :-(

Good job we have the poly tunnel to protect some crops for us to eat! So I have been working inside there, 

trying to pot on some of the plants which really should be outside by now. If I can get them into larger pots I may still be able to harvest from them. But the kales and other brassicas and the rest of the pumpkin plants will just have to wait - it is just to wild and wet for them to go outside just yet.

 

And harvesting the crops. Lots of salad leaves, cucumbers, courgettes - the outside plants still only have about 4 leaves on, so it is a good job I have two plants producing inside the polytunnel!

When (!) we get the new paddock area I think I will install another poly tunnel - a flat sided modern one to maximise space, and will then grow direct into the ground as it will be good soil over there rather than sub soil as in the existing poly tunnel. So I could grow all sorts of extra stuff direct into the soil :-)

I am very fortunate to have such a lovely polytunnel - it means I can at least carry on gardening and growing something, even if it IS pouring with rain outside.

Cold nights

Was worried to see on the Max/Min thermometer  it was only 2.3 C in our garden in the middle of Fri night.

Last night it was 1.9 C !  1.9 C !  At 3 am last night! ...It .was very cold and I was worrying about my plants ( veg and polytunnel) and couldn't sleep.These sorts of temperatures are NOT what you expect in June, here.

I had covered up as much as possible with horticultural fleece, but I don't have enough to cover it all up! Fortunately everything looked ok, this morning 

Today it is raining! Hurrah! we have had so little rain and my garden is looking very parched. the veg patch now looks green and lush. 

I have spent the afternoon potting on various veg plants AND potting up scented pelagonium rooted cuttings. Mmm they smell wonderful! And also more cuttings of the African Violet my late MiL gave me, when Compostman and I got married. It's still going strong, after 26 years... a bit like Compostman and I :-)

I love scented perlagoniums. I have a small collection and always want more. Sadly, the large outdoor ones didn't make it through the harsh winter, despite being wrapped up in the polytunnel :- 

 

 

Friday news (chick and otherwise)

I KNOW there are people out there waiting to know what is happening...

so this morning we all rushed through breakfast etc and dashed out in the POURING rain, to see what had happened, and we now have SIX chicks :-))))

and one egg which has pipped but was not peeping when I listened...... :-(

so it may not hatch....but then again, it might!

It is raining really heavily here today, the ground is saturated and standing water pools are forming on the lawn.

I am in the study working on my Forest School coursework and finalising the planning and documenting for my sessions with the children this term, Compostman is blanching and freezing Purple French Beans.

I may have to go and move the chickens to less soggy ground or I may just put down more wood chippings underfoot in the run. Either way I am going to get soaked! Babs and Goldie are still on medication and are isolated, Babs is looking good now, no coughing or sneezing at all! I DO wish the two of them would go in their shelter out of the rain, though!

Also had the delightful (not!) chore this morning of re-washing a load of nearly dry stuff left in the washing basket overnight, as SOMEONE pee'd on it......

AND it WASN'T me!! ;-))

Clearing out the Polytunnel, Jam making and other domestic things.

We have had a terrible crop of top fruit this year. Most of the plum trees had virtually no fruit; the one tree which ALWAYS has a good crop (the Blaisdon) the fruit was rotting on the trees before it was ripe. due to the continuous rain we had in August. Compostman managed to pick about 10 lbs of fruit, normally we pick nearer a couple of hundred!

So having picked the fruit ealier in the week, last night Compostman made some Blaisdon Red Plum jam .

It is very tasty!

As we have had such a dreadful fruit harvest this year, these jars of Jam will be a most welcome addition to the Jam and Chutney Store.









While Compostman was making jam ( note the late hour on the clock face!) I was washing and slicing in half 4 Kg of cherry tomatos, picked yesterday from the polytunnel.





I have cleared nearly all the toms out of there now, just a few left at the top of the plants to ripen. I always feel that THIS IS IT, the end of Summer and the start of Autumn.



I have HAD to clear the tunnel out because the mild damp weather has bought on an earlier(for us) start of Botrytis and other mould growth in the PT and I do NOT want the ripening stuff to go mouldy!

So...a nearly empty PT...

always makes me feel sad, somehow.....

Picking the last of the tomatos

I picked the last of the tomatoes , because there is Botrytis in the Polytunnel and I don't want my precious crops to go mouldy! Its has been SO wet and the moulds have come a good few weeks earlier than normal. BUT its good that I got all my stuff in early , too so they were ripe early!

IF I had put in the toms in the Polytunnel at my usual time I think I would have had an absolutely crap harvest!

but instead I have got THIS sort of show!


Produce today.
Peppers 1 Kg
Tomatoes 4 Kg
Cherry Tomatoes 4 Kg
Aubergines 1 Kg
Cucumbers 2 Kg
A HUGE bunch of Oregano and Basil.
Climbing Purple beans 4 Kg
Courgettes 6 Kg