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Welcome back to our weekly follow us! If you missed the last twenty-four weeks, the links to them are above - and as usual - the key is at the bottom: scroll down now!
The week has divided neatly into two clear parts - with dry, sunny weather (above average temperatures) for first half, giving way to wet cloudy weather (below average temperatures) for the second half. This demonstrates yet again that there is no middle ground where the weather is concerned!
Weather conditions during the first half of the week had daytime temperatures ranging between 200C to 240C – at or above the historical average of 200C. Night-time temperature were more variable at 60C to 130C, but generally just below the historical average of 120C. Temperatures dropped substantially between Tuesday and Wednesday to 160C and continued to decline to 120C over the course of the remainder of the week. Night-time temperatures were 50C to 80C during this period. Rainfall occurred as showers during the latter part of the week and totalled 15mm. On the bright side, wind was not a feature of the weather and remained gentle throughout!
First thing’s first – and with an underwhelming start - the Lamb’s lettuce and Land Cress in Planter One are yet to germinate!
In better news, the Spring Onion ‘White Lisbon Winter Hardy’ has replaced the quartet of herbs in Planter 2 – which we’ve finally removed. The remainder of the herbs have been put to good use with the green coriander seed fermented in a brine and the dill flowers added to the pickling liquor for cucumbers, which is a Sarah Raven recipe (Sarah Raven’s Garden Cookbook, 2007, Bloomsbury, London, page 197)! As the name indicates, this variety is capable of over-wintering, subject to being well established before the onset of frosts. The first frost in a typical year at Spring Cottage occurs in the second week of October. However, as average daily temperature remains above 140C until the end of the October, the conditions should be favourable (although ideally, we’d have still made the change a couple of weeks earlier!) Spring Onion ‘White Lisbon Winter Hardy’ will stand over the winter, but should grow rapidly when daily temperatures return to double digits in late February / March.
Mustard ‘Red Frills’ / Mustard ‘Golden Streaks’, Mustard ‘Red Giant’, Mustard ‘Mizuna’ in Planter 3 have continued to grow extremely strongly, most noticeably during the first half of the week - and will require a second thinning next week. The plants remain free of flea beetle damage.
Finally, harvesting of Kale ‘Emerald Ice’ and Kale ‘Nero di Toscana’ (Cavolo Nero) in Planter 4 has continued - with the selective removal of mid-sized leaves, mostly from the lower portion of stems, to maintain distance between the rows of plants. New growth has not suffered flea beetle damage.
Awaiting germination.
Awaiting germination.