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Weather conditions have been variable this week, with conditions unsettled during the early part, and becoming more settled during the latter part, with a pronounced spike in temperatures to well above the seasonal average for late July.
Daytime temperatures were 18-23oC, slightly below the historical average of 23oC, until Friday when they climbed to 26oC. Night time temperatures have also been close to the historical average of 14oC on most nights, with a low of 8oC. Rainfall occurred on two days with light showers on Saturday and Monday, but totalled less than 3mm. Winds have been gentle.
The newly published weather data for July indicates that temperatures for the month were similar to the historical average. The maximum daytime temperature was 30.8oC and the minimum was 17.1oC; this gives an average of 24.7oC, which is a couple of degrees above the historical average for July (23oC). Night-time temperatures displayed a similar range, with a maximum of 16.1oC and a minimum of 6.4oC; this produced an average of 12.1oC, close to the historical average of 14oC. Rainfall totalled 14.1mm which is just 19% of the historical average for July (76 mm). Rainfall occurred on 7 days which is also less than the historical average.
The pea ‘Half pint’ (syn. ‘Tom-Thumb’) sown in Planter 1 have now been thinned to leave just 5 plants in Rows 1 and 3, and 4 plants in the centre row; this allows plants to be staggered across the rows providing a little more space. Larger seedlings which emerged from seeds sown at shallower depth were retained. These are in excellent condition and are free of any leaf scorch or wind burn. The plant training system has been installed to support plants along the rows but will be augmented by the ‘corner to corner’ training for tendrils to hook onto. It is important to get this in place early to prevent plants collapsing under self-weight when laden with peas, and to make the spotting and harvesting of peas easy. There is nothing worse than removing plants after harvesting to find larger numbers of pods you missed earlier!
The quartet of herb root-trainers out-planted in Planter 2 have continued to grow well. Dill ‘Dukat’ has been selectively harvested to encourage ‘low’ down growth but requires constant attention and still remains the tallest of the four herbs. Parsley ‘Afrodite’ and Coriander ‘Confetti’ are close to the point at which they can be selectively harvested. The foliage of these three herbs is in excellent condition. Basil ‘British’ remains the weakest of the four herbs and is just about managing to hold its own. New growth is more promising, darker and unblemished but is slow to emerge fully. Early growth remains chlorotic and retains evidence of damage by downy mildew and flea beetle attack. We remain to be convinced that ‘British’ basil is a big leap forward in growing basil outdoors! In contrast, we have ‘Lemon’ basil and Red ‘Rubin’ basil in the greenhouse and - while it was probably unwise to devote a whole planter to this - the production is fantastic, although on the downside pesto is no longer being met with delight it once was as a meal option! Despite this, we are building a tidy store for winter when its novelty will again be appreciated…
Hearting Lettuce ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Amaze’ in Planter 3 remain in very good condition with excellent colour; growth rates of both remain slow, and steadfastly refuse to ‘kick’ into a higher gear. They will not be ready for harvesting in two weeks and will probably require 12 weeks rather than 10, before being ready. The difference between plants which emerged from the first and second round of sowing remain. The Chard ‘Bright Lights’ continues to grow well and the condition of leaves remains excellent. No further plants have bolted. The ‘Bright Lights’ are providing some shade to the ‘Amaze’ and this may be proving beneficial in reducing bleaching as even the outer leaves of the plants are maintaining a dark red colour.
A selection of kales have now been sown in Planter 4. These have been sown ostensibly as a baby leaf summer crop, which should be available for harvesting after 8 weeks at the end of September; that being said, it may be possible to retain a small number of plants for over-wintering which can be harvested ‘as and when’ during the winter months, and again in the spring. The varieties selected to try were Kale ‘Emerald Ice’, Nero di Toscana (Cavolo Nero) and Kale ‘Midnight Sun’. The first and last are new introductions we haven’t tried before. Giving them a go as a row of baby leaf provides a good way of learning about their needs.