France

[roitelet]

30th November - 14th December 2008

Max Temp 10C Min Temp -6C Rain 79mm

2007

Max Temp 12C Min Temp -9C Rain 93mm

I think that the temperature during the day last year was generally a bit higher than this but the night was much the same. A few warm nights followed by very cold ones. CK thinks that this year is wetter than last but as you can see it isn't, just a different distribution of the wetness.

Very little going on on the plot. Winter lettuce, 4 seasons are now under a fleece cloche and although not growing much are providing some salad from time to time. Mache continues to survive and there are a few Turnips still to be had. The Parsnips are, as always, good. Not as long as last year but that is no bad thing. Easier to get out of the ground. Leeks are looking good and the winter brassicas are fine. No huge cabbages, but a cooking for us and some for the animals. Spring cabbage are looking promising as is the PSB.

Rabbits are now in their new hutches (clapier). The wooden one would not have lasted much longer as they were eating it, these are concrete.

It seems as if I have palmed off 2 cocks to Nicos (by mistake) and I have 2 left and another that hasn't quite made up its mind yet

Can I wish all of you a Very Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year, and, if you have been, 'thank you for reading (or listening)'. Who said that and who is old enough to remember? Radio 4?

No prizes

[roitelet]

Sorry for the interuption in service.

You will have to have the weather info in one huge chunk later. Stuck in the UK with out an internet connection for the for seeable future. Sadly to say my Mother died in early January but we shouldn't feel sad as she was 93 and was tired and had enough. She is in a better place now.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Good to see you, Roitlet - my thoughts are with you.

[TonyF]

OK, as many of you will have seen on the Uk news, the weather down here at the weekend was a bit OTT. Gales, winds up to 150 kph, horizontal cold rain, power out in some places for 4/5 days, no phones, no water.

Went to Perigueux today and it's glorious, was v cold this morning -2 when we left home, when we drove back it was 15/16 and set fair for the next few days.

Busy off doing business stuff tomorrow but hopefully will be dry enough to take my collapsed fruit tunnel apart Sunday and start rebuilding it Monday!

[Nicos]

Boy was it windy last night

The roof was creaking all night with the gusts of wind...we even parked the cars away from the trees!

Settled now- but I'd love to know how fast those gusts were!

[Jardiniere]

i'm not saying anything about weather - dont want to tempt fate

[Rodley]

I returned to the UK on Wednesday for 2 weeks and am only just now catching up with the forum after being off the phone/broadband for 2 weeks following the tempete at the end of January. We had a fairly bad time here in 47. We were off the electricity for 8 days and were obviously worried about the freezers and our tropical fish. We managed to borrow a generator after 3 days and buy one on day 8! Trees were down everywhere. We lost 3 large conifers and will have to take down another 3 or 4. However, we managed but the number of trees blown followed a corridor that went very close to us and it was very worrying watching a large oak tree in our woodland rocking at its base! That area of woodland is normally very dry, but on the Friday and Saturday of the tempete, we had a large flood there with water pouring out of the raised bank in to the fosse by the side of the road.
On the good side the weather is beginning to warm up and our overwinter cauliflowers are heading up nicely and we are beginning to use them now.

[Nicos]

Yikes Rodley!
Glad you're OK!

Today was a mini heat wave...I nearly took off my fleece!!!!!

Sunshine and no wind all day- even managed to eat lunch outside!
Perfect day for the little chicks to explore outside together too! Lovely!

[TonyF]

Well, here today has been lovely, very cold tho. Sunny and so clear and this evening, driving back fro Sarlat after the pictures, a gloriously mackeral red sky.

Don't mind the cold, have a fruit tunnel to dismantle that was damaged in the tempete, time to tidy up the pots and root trainers, start clearing the decks for the spring, may even do a bit of tree pruning if the weather holds good for the next few days.

And on the market this morning managed to buy some of the fingerless mittens that I've been looking for so my hands don't get too cold.

[TonyF]

Weather today has been brilliant. Still cold but this morning when I opened up, was +3.

Spent the morning cutting down the pampas grass (about 1.5m diameter) and the adjacent elephant grass (about the same) with a chain saw, well wrapped up and got so hot, by mid-day was lovely and sunny.

I even managed to get about 12 good sized roots out of the pampas which we'll replant or use for swaps.

And this afternoon, was planning a new venture for the research business

[TonyF]

Another glorious day down here in the SW today, we got out again and did a lot more pruning, moved a rose arch which was in the wrong place etc etc.

And the meteo for the next two days is glorious, Sunday sunny with cloud. So Perigueux tomorrow for a lawnmower, to same me strimming the whole place and a Karcher power spray for the terrace.

Ain't it glorious when the weather is like this?

[Nicos]

looks like it's headed North Tony!!...woke up to brilliant sunshineIt's already warmish and no breeze!...I do hope it stays like this for the weekend!!!

[TonyF]

Two days of gardening shopping in this glorious weather and still managed to get some gardening in.

We always seem to be on the edge of the weather fronts, our local chums tell us it's because we're in the valley of the Dpordogne where it meets the Vesere. Today has been good, meteo for the next couple of days looks good too.

And all the bricos and garden centres have their offers on this week so investing some of our hard won pension in new kit, tubs and plants.

And this afternoon, disassembled the fruit tunnel that was blown down (finally), stacked the wood, not damaged and have worked out how to rebuild more securely.

Downside is that we hit a duck this afternoon coming back from Sarlat, just landed in the road in front of us and whack, dead duck but it's broken the front grille on the car!

[Rodley]

Hope you've got some good duck recipes!

[TonyF]

Glorious day here and all really set fair for tomorrow, think it's time to move the cold frames into the middle of the potager and get some of the seeds in.

We're off to Bordeaux at the weekend so no gardening but will make up for it with kulcha. Tho we are staying very close to the botanical gardens