At last some rain.

Weather in Warrington
Thursday 15° 9° 3.2 mm	Friday 15° 9° 0 mm	Saturday 19° 8° 0 mm	Sunday 14° 7° 0.1 mm

I never thought I would look forward to a damp day but today's showers have been just right. After over a week of scorching weather, today has been overcast, humid and damp. Shame that it was also the day that the Olympic torch came through Warrington, ha ha.

I only needed to water the poly tunnel tomatoes, and they weren't desperately dry at that. I quick check around shows that everything is coming along nicely, including fresh weeds. The very first courgettes are starting to form, and I can see some tiny round squashes coming - the mystery ones.

Not so pleasant is some sort of infestation on the Quince tree leaves. They are obviously grubs in the warty bubbles coming up on some of the leaves. Also these leaves are going yellow again, so I'll have to try up up the mineral levels and see if that help.

Last of the hot days

Weather in Warrington
Tuesday 20° 9° 0 mm	Wednesday 21° 9° 1.2 mm	Thursday 15° 5° 0.5 mm	Friday 14° 3° 0 mm

Well the forcast says we shall return to seasonal temperatures from tomorrow. It has been lovely but of course the gardens could not have sustained it for much longer. I've been to the allotment at the edge of dark tonight for a couple of hours just to get all the water I need for the soaker hoses and to fill the tanks in the poly tunnel. I must remember to spray myself with bug repellent next time as the Mosquitos were eating me. The hot weather has made such a difference to all the plants and weeds too. The spot arround the raspberries is almost out of control with ground elder and nettles but a few days weeding should get it under control again. It's quite a damp and shaded spot, especially this year, so the flag iris are flowering this year. Some of the strawberries had got an enormous crop in the making. I hope we get the sun later to ripen them.

Hot weather continues....

Weather in Warrington
Friday 23° 11° 0 mm	Saturday 23° 10° 0 mm	Sunday 24° 9° 0 mm	Monday 21° 10° 0.3 mm

Marvelous gardening weather and everything is growing at a phenomenal rate, catching up with the weeks of cold. Every day I notice a difference and I'm able to gather a few lettuce leaves and coriander. So nice is the heatwave that I don't even mind weeding.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Weather in Warrington
Wednesday 23° 8° 0 mm	Thursday 25° 9° 0 mm	Friday 21° 8° 0 mm	Saturday 21° 7° 0 mm

Wow! hot sunny gorgeous weather at last. It's been like jumping directly from winter into summer, and spring didn't come, apart from a little while in March. It's been getting to 40 C in the tunnel so I've dropped the side vent today to help. I'll have to do a lot more watering than I'd intended to. I think I can risk putting out the tender plants now too as the forcast seems good for the next couple of weeks, and by then we should be frost free in June.

I saw the baby Blackbirds fly off yesterday, at least I can now tidy the shed. I've sorted the patio area and moved the cold frame to allow a bit more planting area at the top of the allotment. Perhaps for a couple of roses or maybe I should re-position the new peonies as I don't think they will survive for long by the rhubarb.

This sun should help with the weeding so I'll get stuck in for a few day.

Saturday in mid May

Weather in Warrington
Saturday 14° 4° 0 mm	Sunday 15° 3° 0 mm	Monday 19° 4° 0 mm	Tuesday 21° 8° 0 mm

Rain has held off most of today. There's certainly no need for a hosepipe ban hereabouts.

I've been in the polytunnel this morning and planted up a selection of tomatoes into the bottomless buckets that David has lent me. A few squash and courgettes have gone into the ground under Terry's cold frame and I'm hardening off the corn in there too. Just need a final spot to plant them this year.
I planted the French Beans into the remainder of the bean drill. Looking back it's taken them a month to come up and I've given up on one batch. The problem is I didn't mark them so I don't know if it's the green or white one that have grown. I'll sow a few more and hopefully get a crop of both later.
Terry asked if I have some photos of the allotment at the same time last year to compare with this year. I've just had a look and I'm amazed at the difference. Everything seems about a month behind this year, beans, potatoes and herbs. But the fruit especially the strawberries are much better on.

Mid May 2011

Mid May 2012 

Mid May with potatoes just coming up

Mid May 2012

Mid May 2012

Mid May 2011

Mid May 2011 potatoes behind rhubarb.

Thursday in a good week.

Weather in Warrington
Thursday 13° 4° 1.5 mm	Friday 14° 7° 0.4 mm	Saturday 15° 5° 1.1 mm	Sunday 14° 3° 1.2 mm

It has actually felt like quite a nice week weather wise. Only a little warmer but the sun has been out quite a lot and made it feel like spring is finally here. Plenty of rain too but mostly overnight, so the hedgerows are really greening up.

I've moved quite a lot of stuff to David's Poly-tunnel and the difference it has made to them is quite outstanding! Finally the corn is growing and the squash and tomatoes are show the first flower buds.  

I'm still uncertain about planting out yet as we could still get frosts but decided to try the hot bed idea to add some heat to the soil I intend to put the courgettes into. Terry dug a long pit and we put in 3 bags of fresh manure. I don't think it was enough, but anyhow, I got him to make a temporary cold frame from some pallets and  covered by a large window which had been left by a previous tenant. In a day or so I've move some squash into it and then when I feel that they can cope on their own I'll harden them off and move it. If this works I'll make a couple more and get early sowing of salad crops next year.

Today I've made a bean trench. Terry dug another trench next to the spuds and I've filled the bottom with shredded cardboard and paper. Then on top I've added a 50l bag of farmyard manure. This is supposed to keep a reservoir of moisture at the root of  the beans. I've sown Highgrove Dwarf Beans at one end and I'll fill the row with some Lidl ones that I have coming on in pots. They have taken an unbelievably long time to come up. I almost through them out but just yesterday one tray all came up, and the other tray seems to be bubbling up too. Some are green and the others white. 

At a certain point the hired help down tools and demand coffee and biscuits.

The Blackbird continues to carry worms to her fledglings in the allotment shed. She seems quite determined to feed them even when we are around. Hope to get a photo soon but I can't quite reach!

Tuesday

14° 5°

We had had a couple of night frosts which has nipped my potatoes quite badly, fingers crossed that they can recover OK. Everything in the poly tunnel is coming along splendidly, especially the Quince tree. The tomatoes and squashes will be ready to go into their final pots soon, but the ones destined to go outside will need hardening off in a months time. 
I keep complaining that the cold spell is holding back my plants but its not having the same effect on the weeds which are romping away. The ground elder is back with a vengeance this year but I'll keep hoeing and mulching it as I did last year.



I've taken a chance on some late sewn tomato seeds to try Russian Black Truffle as recommended by Raymond Blanc. They've not made an appearance yet but I've plenty of seeds left to try next year.

I've seen so many references to Poblano Peppers on TV today I'm now desperate to try to grow some. Too late for seeds so I may give in and buy a couple of plug plants from Ebay. Do I spend too much money on gardening? .