France

[Rodley]

Yesterday, 28 first thing in morning and 37 in afternoon. Thunderstorm overhead late afternoon but no rain! Today 27 in morning and currently (at noon) just over 35. Transplanted roses just surviving. I think it's been too hot for lettuce germination as those I planted last week haven't shown yet.

[TonyF]

Same here Rodley, all the signs of a storm last evening, even heard the thunder way off north tho but no rain.

I managed to get out for an hour this morning but earlyish and have set up the watering system for the kiwis and vines but the water situation is getting desperate and if they declare a canicule, I'll have to reset (easily done tho) the timer switches to the middle of the night.

Still, was pruning back some wild clematis and realised that a tree on the front top terrace outside the house is also a cherry plum and is also laden with lovely sweet almost purple cherry plums - so picked a few and got them preserved in alcohol along with the much lighter pink fruits I picked a couple of nights ago

[roitelet]

Made 32C here yesterday and that was quite hot enough!!!!!!! Showers and localised thunder storms forcast later today and rain by Sunday, hope they are right.

[Rodley]

The rain/storm on Friday did wonders for the plants. Seeds planted a fortnight ago have decided it's OK for them to pop their heads above soil level! Watering by hose doesn't do the same job as rain. Hope we get a bit more rain (overnight) to keep the veggies going well. Sweetcorn tassles have appeared this week, but there seems to be fewer cobs per plant this year despite the plants having grown better this year.

[roitelet]

Cooled down here only 24C yesterday and very pleasant it was too. Rain seems very slow coming, nothing for the last 9 days and some of the plants are suffering from sunburn. Finally got the grass cut and today may even ger the strimmer out and finish that which I started before the temperatures rocketed. Tour de France starts today so the gardening will have to be fitted in round that!!

[TonyF]

Lots of rain on Thursday, nothing yesterday despite Fr3 forecasting storms all over this area, got very hot again, well over 30.

Was out watering this morning nice and early and in the past half hour it's clouded over and started raining, sky looks grey and overcast so perhaps some more sustained rain on the way. Excellent!!

Good thing is starting to harvest with a vengence, lots of soft fruit and those plum cherry things all swimming round in 40% alcohol

Edit: I think the head of Meteo Fr is a muppet, think we need the good old UK Met Office doing our previsions, could be worse than the French

[roitelet]

French Met Office still forecasting showers and then local thunderstorms. At the moment the sun is shining and the sky is blue but the wind has moved into the west.

We shall have to wait and see!!!!

[roitelet]

Waiting was worth it 13mm so far but could do with a whole lot more! I'm never satisifed!!!

Things are looking a whole lot better for the cooler temperatures and the moisture. Did a bit if transplanting just before the rain.

Went to the local market yesterday and bought 10 cabbage plants and got 15, and 10 Quail to add to the menagerie and got 11! Can't be bad.

[TonyF]

No rain for weeks, no water in the recuperateur and this week, two horrendous storms, last night's was another stunner after temperatures of 35 on the shady bit of the terrace, fireworks in the sky, no electricity for a while, no satellite signal, all the usual stuff.

But it topped the recuperateur right up, need to pump some water up to the back butts today to make room for more water close to the house.

And the garden has survived intact by the look of things, no need to water for a couple of days unless it gets really hot again.

[Nicos]

Glad you finally got your rain Tony!

Yesterday evening we had very heavy rain and strong winds for about 1/2 hr - with thunder and lightening. Happened from no-where ( SW actually) and left us with blue skies.
Cool , breezy and damp this morning.

Feel sorry for all the farmers who'd cut their fields- they worked until the storm to collect their wonderfully dry hay and straw

[bobleponge]

Nicos
Thanks for your welcome back, very kind.
Have we not had too much rain over the last 7 weeks?
I appear to have bottom end rot in some of my toms, which I'm led to believe is a sure sign of lack of water. Shall be watering furiously for the next few days.

[Jardiniere]

haven't been on for a while as i have my 5 year old granddaughter staying and that has been very time consuming......it has been so hot here and we have not had any significant rain for a long while (cant remember exactly) altho there has been an occasional shower...
my beans are all dried up and finished ...the courgettes have just produced loads more than anyone can eat (so whats new?) and some of my toms have end rot....
i have no flowers left ...the nasturtiums have withered and stopped flowering
and all my brassicas have what looks like a combination of flea beetle damage and drought damage ...........
there are so many tourists here there is no peace on the plot cos of the boats goiung through and people picnicing etc etc
on the whole i prefer spring, autumn and winter but mustnt grumble ...the temperature on our window ledge reached 50 this afternoon............

[Jardiniere]

cooler today mid twenties ...it rained in cahors this am but not here in the village ....we were the hottest place in france according to the lcoal paper one day this week (wednesday i think)
the garden is like a desert (or a dessert - courgette crumble i think)

[TonyF]

Hi folks

I've not been on too often lately, too busy just getting on with the garden and life.

It's been stormy down here for the past two weeks or so, which means loads of water - SORRY FOLKS -, water butts are full again and the watering system is working just fine.

But the guy who I share the allotment with keeps 'forgetting' to water the allotment so things there are looking a bit off, tho the rain has really helped and lots of stuff is coming on ok/better than ok, but lots of seeds haven't germinated cos they're baked into the soil.

But lots of picking of stuff, fruit trees doing really well.

Chins up there you Brits, don't let the lack of a drop of water let the side down.

[TonyF]

And now another HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUge storm, watering everything and topping up the water butts.