Bloody, Bloody, Weather

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Don't know what it's like your end, but this is the coldest, wettest, May I have seen in 10 years here. I can get nothing done - I've got loads of stuff ready to go into the ground but we're getting night time temperatures of 7°C and the rain just doesn't stop. If I were to walk on the veg garden it would become a quagmire. I am seriously browned off.

I'm going to try whistling a happy tune. Anyone got any other ideas?

[oldjerry]

Did think of moving to Italy......then again perhaps not.

It's no consolation ,but this has been as crap a spring as I can ever remember.In all honesty,if it wasn't for the fact that joblessness,and illness has us staring penury straight in the face,I wouldn't bother trying to plant anything.

[becks77]

Yeah, same here not quite as wet as it has been. Have put seeds in anyway, but in the raised beds fingers crossed :)

[Pumkinpie]

Grey overcast feels like going to pour . Hopefully the rest of the week might be better . I have a whole stack of brassicas to put in in fact I potted some of them up yesterday just in case I couldn't get because of the weather. Bigger ones should have a better chance of surviving .
Apparently the weathers like this because of where the gulf steam is.

[boboff]

We are really quite dry, but cold. Ground is cracking and very dry to a depth.

Everything is very late, but at least the fruits seem to be setting in an abundance as a long winter and no late frosts.

I prefer this to Wet.

[diggernotdreamer]

It has been cold here for ages, February and March fairly dry but April and May have been wet and cold. We have a huge crisis here in Ireland, there is no fodder left for the animals to eat, because of the wet last year a lot of farmers couldn't get into the fields to make silage. Hay is being brought in from the uk and now France as uk supplies are very low. The knacker man has more dead animals than he can cope with, I have seen some very poor looking animals around. There is little or no growth on the fields so there is not even any grass to turn them onto.

I am so thankful for my polytunnels, without them we would have hardly any crops, I have my wee salad business and I have worked out I get 20 euro a kilo for lettuce leaves, which ain't bad because I get at least 6 cuts per plant on a pick and come again basis. This is of course going to have a huge knock on effect with global food markets, we ishers have to consider ourselves lucky that at least we have some degree of co-sufficiency, we can overcome certain problems, I am glad I put down fabric and woodchip paths in my vegetable garden or I would not be able to go outside at all, it's wall to wall mud here. What Boboff says is true, the fruits are going really well, bumper amounts of apple and plum blossom, loads of currants too by the looks of things, oh and the primroses are having their best ever season still flowering their socks off and loving the cooler conditions.

[Odsox]

Pretty much the same here, although like Boboff it's not been too wet just lately.
The daytime temperatures have been passably OKish, it's the overnight temperatures that have/are giving me problems. We are getting night time temperature similar to what we normally get in January, around 6 to 8 degrees.
All the regular northern European veggies like cabbages, peas, onions and potatoes are doing OK, but semi-tropical veggies; squash, cucumbers, aubergines, melons and tomatoes are just about at a stand still.
I am seriously thinking of fitting up some sort of heating in my big greenhouse for next year.

[123sologne]

Well at least we are doing as well as each other... I seeded straight in the ground, some cucumbers, melons, watermelons (ha,ha,ha, I hear some say), aubergines and courgettes, end of April and at this point still nothing has shown! I know I will have to start again as soon as the weather warms up, but based on what I hear, I probably need to wait for another 2 weeks I think we will have to find a way to build a green house for the future

[Thomzo]

Come to Swindon. We had a lovely weekend! It was wet again this morning but the sun is shining as I type this. The primroses were, indeed, amazing this year and the fruit trees are now stunning with their blossom.

The gooseberry bush went from being completely bare to having fruit set in a fortnight

Sorry if that sounds like I'm rubbing it in, I'm just trying to spread a little ray of sunshine.

Zoe

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Certainly fruit seems to be doing fairly well, but I reckon we're at least three weeks, maybe a month, behind on where we would normally expect to be. This time last year we were eating our early cherries (I wish I knew what variety it is - it is the earliest cherry of any around here) but they're not even really swelling yet. All the "exotics" (toms, watermelons & cucumbers I've got in) have just stopped. On the other hand, stuff isn't actually dying, so maybe it'll all come good. I notice some plants look like they're suffering from mineral deficiencies because they're so cold they're not picking stuff up from the soil properly.

The greenhouse / polytunnel project has assumed a new level of priority. I am saving hard.

[niknik]

pretty dire here too, bucketing down as I type!
we have had some good hot days, but not for at least a week!
the only up side, is I wont have to go and water everything for a while!

[contadina]

We've enjoyed a perfect spring, so far, down here in southern Italy. A gradual increase of temperatures (mid-to-upper 20s mostly) and, more importantly, occasional showers. I've already got fruit on my courgettes and cucumbers, flowers on my tomatoes, aubergines and french beans and I'm picking a couple of lettuce a week. I'm already picking cherries (nearly finished) and capers and nespole (Japanese plums) should be ready in about a week's time. I'm dreading the day when the showers stop and the temps soar though. One year it increased by 17° over the course of a day in May, which is pretty hard to acclimatise to.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

pretty dire here too, bucketing down as I type!
we have had some good hot days, but not for at least a week!
the only up side, is I wont have to go and water everything for a while!

True - we shouldn't have any water problems this year. Even the most dogmatic local maize barons haven't dusted off their irrigation systems and started wasting groundwater yet. Actually, one did, but I think he got laughed at and stopped the water canon halfway down the first field.

[clare]

I know what you mean,here in Norfolk it is cold and drab.It is spitting with rain and I was going to mow the grass.I have just flea treated the dog and now its raining I can't walk him so I have the woodburner lit with a soup bubbling on the top.I too have stuff ready to plant out,I have hardened them off but like you won't risk it until it is slightly warmer at night if ever.I did a school fayre on saturday (a regular one for me) with my crafts and only made £25 very disappointing I usually take at least £80 in the 3 hours its on and I blame the weather it was grey and drab.I think people are more cautious with cash too but everyone looked so miserable.Even the school book stall ended up gving away books as no one was buying them and they didn't want to take them home again!!I got 6 paperbacks and my little girl got 3 books to read and a buzz the wire game (like at the fayre) she was chuffed as I told her she could only have 50p to go on the bouncy castle and she spent her £1 that the grandparents gave her on sweets and the lucky dip.I ususally go without the children if possible so I keep all the profits but Hubby was working and a days pay is a days pay.By contrast on Sunday it was really warm and sunny and we went to the north norfolk coast and actually sat on the beach with ice creams(fully clothed) there wasn't a cloud in the sky but by the time we returned the 45 miles home 4 hours later it was grey and drab!!!
It's so adverse it is a worry.......
Clare

[safronsue]

fabulous here in Greece. sorry to gloat. it's the only thing we've got going for us really.
Jon, could you rig up some plastic covering just to keep the rain off and to warm up the soil? surely things will start improving soon.