The weather and gardening

Graces7

Much depends on the facilities and setting.

Always a garden is limited by this.

The situation here..

We are high up and that reflects on the temperature. Also wind can be an issue so we have fitted a patch in where there is most shelter.

We have a new patch. As we moved just before the snow came.

Digging is not possible because of arthritis.

So we use no-dig methods.

No greenhouse etc. But wide windowledges.

Mostly food, but some flowers almost all from seed as cost is a great factor.

Our main patch now is on cardboard laid on grass. There is a field here where a donkey had grazed long, so we "tidied" up the droppings bag by bag and they are atop the cardboard. Excellent growing medium.

So far, the broad beans are out there, and a patch of peas, and onions are in now.

Second wave of peas in trays but outdoors .

We did it that way in case of late frosts, and it has been right this year.

The beans are looking very good; several inches high. They were started indoors in trays, as were the peas. It gave them a head start while the weather was so poor.
The trick is to harden them off as soon as possible else they go leggy.

Always working with the weather.

Some of the peas are an old heritage variety called Carlin; pretty pink and mauve flowers.

Also am trying dried peas from a packet.. they are sprouting. When we had a polytunnel dried beans of all kinds did well.

Watching always for frost and old sheets handy.

We brought some raggedy jack kale with us, another heritage variety from saved seed. That is being eaten now. It is totally winter hardy and lived on out there through this winter. Good to have it.

Planted in late spring direct it will be ready the same year or early the next. We used some last summer.

So will save seed from that. Curly kale is a reliable food crop and early to yield.

Also sowed sprouting broccoli and cabbage indoors, but the trays are out now.

Will be ready to plant out in a couple of weeks.

And will try some direct sowing soon.

Carrots and turnips sowed direct and showing green.

Some carrots in a large pot for early crops and cut and come again lettuce the same, started inside again.

Runner and French beans in trays indoors. They need shelter and am not sure if they will yield. Last summer we only had five pods bcause so little sun.

Just coming up; the house here has cool rooms.

Hoping so slot them in after the broad beans have cropped.

Sowing indoors lengthens the growing season. We were on an offshore Scottish island many years so learned to do this. Almost never sowed direct there.

I am planning to try some courgettes; but dubious without a greenhouse. We got as far as flowerbuds last summer. They are not a native crop.

It always pays to grow with the climate.

Potatoes are under black plastic; in a poor climate this can yield high crops.

Queens as we were given some seed.

And as we have a bag of roosters that are sprouting, am trying them in a part of the back field.

We aim for heavy crops of what will yield most in this climate.

Everything is late this year, but we are OK here because of the indoor start. Planning is everything. And we did that this year.

Over to you....

MayoForSam

Might be better suited to the gardening forum?

Of course the weather is key to successful gardening - the sheer lack of rain recently has put a real dampener on things combined with the cooler temperatures. I still haven't cut the lawn, a lot of moss about too.

My polytunnel nearly became a cropper due to a heavy hailstorm on Good Friday, completely collapsed due the weight of the hail but luckily the plastic didn't tear and I was able to repair it.

Late frosts will affect anything newly planted outdoors, the garden centres will do very well this year with all of the frost-burnt hedging that needs replacing. My grisselinia just about survived after I managed to put fleece over it in early January during the coldest part of the winter.

Graces7

MayoForSam wrote: »

Might be better suited to the gardening forum?

Of course the weather is key to successful gardening - the sheer lack of rain recently has put a real dampener on things combined with the cooler temperatures. I still haven't cut the lawn, a lot of moss about too.

My polytunnel nearly became a cropper due to a heavy hailstorm on Good Friday, completely collapsed due the weight of the hail but luckily the plastic didn't tear and I was able to repair it.

Late frosts will affect anything newly planted outdoors, the garden centres will do very well this year with all of the frost-burnt hedging that needs replacing. My grisselinia just about survived after I managed to put fleece over it in early January during the coldest part of the winter.

There were two requests made for this thread so I started it; not general gardening, but specifically weather oriented.

Fleece is great stuff, but plastic will do also.

Chicken Run

The cold winter has wiped out a lot of traditionally hardy stuff.
I garden at home (mostly veg) and am a gardener for a living too...am still looking at replacing loads of shrubs that were just decimated by the frosts.
Also stuff like large rosemary and sage plants and my beloved olive tree are having to be replaced now too.
So cold at times that even the polytunnel didn't protect some of my overwintering veg and it froze too. My stored onions and spuds in the shed also froze solid.
Bad year for throwing stuff away...
Still onwards and upwards...

Graces7

Chicken Run wrote: »

The cold winter has wiped out a lot of traditionally hardy stuff.
I garden at home (mostly veg) and am a gardener for a living too...am still looking at replacing loads of shrubs that were just decimated by the frosts.
Also stuff like large rosemary and sage plants and my beloved olive tree are having to be replaced now too.
So cold at times that even the polytunnel didn't protect some of my overwintering veg and it froze too. My stored onions and spuds in the shed also froze solid.
Bad year for throwing stuff away...
Still onwards and upwards...

Heartbreaking indeed.

I thought my lemon balm had died but it is coming up from the roots now. The kale is amazingly hardy.

I lost most of my perennials in the floods but the few I brought have survived; one lupin has.

How did strawberries fare? They are pretty tough

Sponge Bob

Graces7 wrote: »

The beans are looking very good; several inches high. They were started indoors in trays, as were the peas. It gave them a head start while the weather was so poor.
The trick is to harden them off as soon as possible else they go leggy.

Ah sure everybody is gardening now....even weather forum regulars.

Things to consider.

1. April is bad forwindburning exposed shoots and frost ( sometimes both) planting out before mid april is not a good idea for many varieties.
2. If an english packet of seeds says plant out mid april then allow another 2/3 weeks for western ireland ,be they veg or flowers.
3. May can bad for wind burning too. If you leave plants indoor too long they grow long and thin like Grace said ( leggy) and the wind will crucify them. Therefore you should consider getting them a bit of wind when possible and covering them the rest of the time. They grow sturdier.
4. Northerly and easterly winds are the worst, sw winds not too bad.
5. We will have all water meters next year, invest in rain runoff barrels to catch it when it falls and use it in the garden/car washing. Best do that this year coz next year they will be expensive.
6. Get yourself au fait with soil temperatures and growth rates. We have a short growing season here.
7. people near the sea should use free seaweed fertiliser but NOT the stuff thrown up at the high water but the live wrack and lower down. That has the goodness.
8.Inland you often find spare compost in mushroom farms that tehy want to get rid of ....and chicken manure is wonderful and lots of people are getting chickens.

Njoy before the shaggin midges appear mid may

Graces7

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Ah sure everybody is gardening now....even weather forum regulars.

Things to consider.

1. April is bad forwindburning exposed shoots and frost ( sometimes both) planting out before mid april is not a good idea for many varieties.
2. If an english packet of seeds says plant out mid april then allow another 2/3 weeks for western ireland ,be they veg or flowers.
3. May can bad for wind burning too. If you leave plants indoor too long they grow long and thin like Grace said ( leggy) and the wind will crucify them. Therefore you should consider getting them a bit of wind when possible and covering them the rest of the time. They grow sturdier.
4. Northerly and easterly winds are the worst, sw winds not too bad.
5. We will have all water meters next year, invest in rain runoff barrels to catch it when it falls and use it in the garden/car washing. Best do that this year coz next year they will be expensive.
6. Get yourself au fait with soil temperatures and growth rates. We have a short growing season here.
7. people near the sea should use free seaweed fertiliser but NOT the stuff thrown up at the high water but the live wrack and lower down. That has the goodness.
8.Inland you often find spare compost in mushroom farms that tehy want to get rid of ....and chicken manure is wonderful and lots of people are getting chickens.

Njoy before the shaggin midges appear mid may

We got midges already; and sheep ticks on the cats.

In this climate, hardening off properly is the key to good growing. Easier if you are in all day and can watch the weather. Slowly does it.

Mushroom compost is great and you get a second flush of them too. Still looking for a farm near here.

Best plant food of all is to steep nettles and other weeds in a bucket of water and leave a while. Away from the house as the smell is.... amazing. Dilute and feed.

Sheep dropping "tea" is excellent too. Plenty around in Ireland...

Sponge Bob

Graces7 wrote: »

Best plant food of all is to steep nettles and other weeds in a bucket of water and leave a while. Away from the house as the smell is.... amazing. Dilute and feed.

Forgot about nettle manure, here is a recipe

These are best as young stems

Same as seaweed. Here is a seaweed based plant hardener, start with this

When it gets damp and muggy from May onward you get insect problems in the lack of wind ....and midges:(

Planting Insect Repellent plants here and there is an idea , many herbs repel critters , see .

Also remember that crushing garlic into an atomiser spray and spraying at critters is an idea.

Snails are a hoor, be ready to slaughter them , see and if you get chickens or have an open composter make sure you have a wavin pipe Mink Trap The wavin pipe mink trap is a great rat trap too. Drown them inside the pipe if you catch a mink or rat and release if you catch a stoat or pine marten.

Graces7

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Forgot about nettle manure, here is a recipe



Same as seaweed. Here is a seaweed based plant hardener, start with this

When it gets damp and muggy from May onward you get insect problems in the lack of wind ....and midges:(

Planting Insect Repellent plants here and there is an idea , many herbs repel critters , see .

Also remember that crushing garlic into an atomiser spray and spraying at critters is an idea.

Snails are a hoor, be ready to slaughter them , see and if you get chickens or have an open composter make sure you have a wavin pipe Mink Trap The wavin pipe mink trap is a great rat trap too. Drown them inside the pipe if you catch a mink or rat and release if you catch a stoat or pine marten.

er,, the nettle recipe is what I meant!!!

We have dogs and cats to deal with rats etc... They go off down the drive waving a white flag

Graces7

Bob; speaking of wind burn... On the island where there were no trees because of the wind, we would save empty tins , cut the bottoms out and use then to protect from the winds.

At the end of May there would always be a terrible wind storm that burnt everything black. So we had to wait or lose everything.

Would never had risked a tunnel etc there; hen houses used to blow away and garden seats walked.

People don't always realise how dependent we are on the weather if we are growing and living away from towns.

It says what we grow and can destroy all our work in a night.

With modern sea and air travel, we have lost the seasons. And it is a loss.

Probably why so many are growing again.

But at least we can buy food if crops fail.

Sponge Bob

Graces7 wrote: »

Bob; speaking of wind burn... On the island where there were no trees because of the wind, we would save empty tins , cut the bottoms out and use then to protect from the winds.

Where was this island Grace???

Much of the west coast is as bad as any island for the wind burn. A very good solution is collecting 2 litre plastic bottles ( water / cola / 7up)

You cut the bottom off, remove the lid and protect each plant with one wedged solid into the ground over it.

As you may imagine it can grow a fair bit inside and you get great growth in the mini glasshouses around them.

Graces7

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Where was this island Grace???

Much of the west coast is as bad as any island for the wind burn. A very good solution is collecting 2 litre plastic bottles ( water / cola / 7up)

You cut the bottom off, remove the lid and protect each plant with one wedged solid into the ground over it.

As you may imagine it can grow a fair bit inside and you get great growth in the mini glasshouses around them.

lol

Great minds think alike.. Only i use halved plastic milk containers .. I don;t use anything else in bottles...

They are also great protection from slugs.

Ah this was one of the Northern Isles. Caught between two great tidal systems and nothing to break the wind's passing. Shiver...

Even the worst gales here hardly compare; I was out feeding stock in anything up to 124 mph gusts. It felt as if the skin was being flayed off your face. And that would go on for days.

From around the autumnal equinox to after the vernal equinox.

Power would go and no boats etc.

Life here is that bit easier, believe me. It has taken me many years to stop being terrified by the sound of the wind. Shudder! lol! All you could do was try to hide from the din of it.

Although just after the tsunami we had one appalling gale here. it brought back some hard memories.

I used to grow many of my flowers in tubs so that when the wind came I could put them inside. Else they just got ruined.

Weather rules all in so many places