England - Midlands 2007

[Madasafish]

Sold my wellies and bought waders...

[trousers]

working in bromsgrove for the next three weeks and amazingly had only one five minute downpour,hope it stays that way!!!!

[Hazel at the Hill]

hmph - we had heavy showers all afternoon and evening - got bloody wet at the Hill digging a few spuds for tea. Mind you, they tasted good.

[pigletwillie]

Cloudy, cold and quite windy.

[Madasafish]

Hmm we had flooding locally Monday.. the drains in road were blocked and water ran down road and some into our yard and out the other side into the field (we are halfway up a hill with ground sloping away so the only flooding we have is front path under .5 metres of water..)

Tomatoes slowly coming. One pepper slowly coming.
Strawberries mash : what the mice have not eaten that is!

Raspberries brilliant. Last year's heat and dry spell (we had cracks 1 metre long 10 cms wide and 25cm deep) did no end of harm to new canes.. stunted growth - so I ended up transplanting surplus ones and adding wood ash in autumn. These are growing like crazy with very thick and vigorous stalks.

The fruit is loverrrly .. big juicy berries - which I pick between donwpours.

Himalayan poppy flowered - but its was NOT Himalayan.. Shame.. I like the colour. Bought more seeds to try again..

Beans - french and runner - strating to flower. Blueberries with fruit - not ripening - lack of sun?
Weeds doing well in strawberry bed.

Quails started laying, one escaped (flew out of pen when I opened it and got lost . Found later run over by car:-(
Another quail injured by bigger male in fight and died :-(

Making new quail pens.. (too wet to garden thoroughly).

Sunflowers growing - about 0.6metres tall but beset by slugs and snails - eating the tops! - so more slug pellets which I don't like to use.

[Plotlady]

I took over my plot ( an overgrown bomb site of 200sq mts) last October After many back braking weeks it was finally cleared. The shed put up (very important for those hard earned cuppas) greenhouse erected and 10 ton of horse manure spead. I eagerly awaited the first signs of spring. Sure enough, the cold weather finished and the sun came out,Yippee! Every evening straight home from work and into the jeans, out there digging. Hard work but I loved it. I planted seeds in the greenhouse, potatoes and onion sets, on the plot. I was on a roll. Every weekend was spoken for and I couldn't have been happier. Pretty soon there wasn't a slip of ground not planted up. Then the rain started. To begin with I welcomed it. This was doing far more good than my watering with the hose. Now, with the ground being heavy, so much is lost. Cabbages are being consumed by the slugs as are the lettuces and other brassicas. The peas have rotted and the onions are beginning to.Puddles are all around the plot and the ground is too wet to stand on and weed, so the thistles, docks, and dandilions are growing at an alarming rate. As I look at all the mess I could cry. To cap it all the council have nailed a notice to the gate to say that the 'leisure garden allotment judging' is next week!

[jacob marley]

Well we have had 2 nice days sunshine and all now we have just payed for it thunder lightning hail heavy rain the lawn has gone white what next i wonder roll on winter it might dry up then jacob

[Madasafish]

Dry today. I weeded... picked more rasps.. Looked at the strawberry bed - a disaster - and gave up. Watched Federer instead.

[seasprout]

Hail Mary..

At 6.15pm today it was hot and sunny, at 6.20 pm we started a thunder storm, exactly an hour later we have devastation, I have a rain gage in my garden so I can tell you we had 1.2 inches of rain. It started as hail and progressed into deluge. MY neighbour has had the side of his house blasted by hail so much the paint covering his coping has almost all gone.

I had to rush out with a brush in an attempt to sweep flood waters away from the back door. I am very damp now and we won.

I got quite scary for a while.

[jacob marley]

Well it is back to normal rain most of day i think i must have run over a Robinjacob

[NSB]

Skinny vests and hot flushes in surrey

[jacob marley]

must congratulate who sorted todays weather out it has been a boster now going for two in a row

[seasprout]

So dull and cloudy today I have had to have lights on to be able to read. Cool and gloomy...Is it really July..

[bubblewrap]

So dull and cloudy today I have had to have lights on to be able to read. Cool and gloomy...Is it really July..

And RAIN!!

[Madasafish]

warm and sunny this am. picking more rasps: which have done very well. (about the only thiing that has).
I may have a record crop.. but as I'm still picking.. (jam making has started:-)