Good morning đ The weather is getting more and more unpredictable these years. I really canât think of any other reason for it than global warming. Winters back in my country used to be cold (-30 degrees) and white - there was always snow. These days the temperatures are barely below 0, so if it snows, it doesnât stay on for long.
When I first came to England the weather was⊠well, English. They say it always rains in London and although thatâs not entirely true, we did have good amount of rain every summer. Usually a few days of rain and back to sun⊠mid 20âs.
This year summer was so hot, not only temperatures exceed 30 degrees Celsius, but also there was almost no rain. My garden was suffering. I emptied my 200litre water butt and another 200-300 litres I had stored in bottles. I had to pick and choose which plant to water and which ones can go another day without. Some plants in smaller pots dried out completely.
As if that wasnât enough, the government announced hosepipe ban, as our rivers reached a dangerously low level. I myself didnât really use hosepipe much, as I only grew a few rows of veggies there, but my allotment neighbours with bigger plots than mine were suffering.
To prepare myself better for next year, I recon I need another water butt for my garden and for my allotment too đ
Me too, but perhaps we just don't have the skills to imagine what else can it be! And you guys had SUCH a crazy summer - we keep a keen eye on the weather over there of course because of my sister in law. I hated England above 22 degrees - it's so darn HOT and I spend my time searching for swimming holes and it's so darn cold in the sea!
When we lived through drought here, I was adamant I would water my veggie patch anyway and fuck em. Of all things! All that water that goes into food production and transport and my locally produced veggies have to suffer? But not watering with a hosepipe DOES make you more conscious of how you are using water.
It's so cool you have an allotment. I never had one there as we always lived rurally on decent sized land but I always loved the idea, there seems a real sense of community there.
Yes, allotment community is great. Such an abundance of knowledge to learn from them too. With my small plot I always use watering cans and I continued to do so while hosepipe ban was on. They only lifted it last month! Now we have tons of rain and itâs all reversed, while in Poland itâs snowing đ
We had drought here this summer. I use deep mulch and that kept me from having to water but once a week. But the plants did suffer and the pests and disease were far more apparent this year as a result.
Mulching is a great idea. One that I only ever remember for winter and not for summer đ All plants in the ground survived, but those in pots were much more affected.
I shall remember this for next season. This year my mind was not much on the garden also. Hopefully better next year đ
I've really noticed a lot more pests this year, especially with the rain and relative humidity.
When plants get too stressed the pests and diseases move in...
That's really sad.
Here the rain is also becoming unpredictable. We are getting rain, not on our need but it's just running our crops.
There is plenty of rain here now too, just summer was very dry đ