April 2013
Feel free to browse through my photos below. You can click on any image thumbnail to expand it.
Easter Monday 1st
-2 to 4 to -2°C. 2.74kWh 500W max. Overcast with a few brighter intervals but feeling very cold in the strong easterly wind which has been blowing for weeks now. Not what you expect at Easter, even when it falls early. Switched on the propagator light over the tomato, pepper and aubergine seedlings to stop them being drawn by the low light levels. Sun is forecast tomorrow but no improvement in the temperature.
More Snow Pictures from Yorkshire
These are some more pictures my sister took at the end of last month. It makes you realise how little snow there was round here, though I heard on the news that in South Shropshire, Herefordshire and just west of here in Wales there have been many sheep and lambs lost in deep snow drifts.
Tuesday 2nd - Pat's 65th Birthday
-5 to 7 to -2°C. 5.74kWh 2.4kW max. Frosty sunny start, clouding over by lunchtime but cleared again by late afternoon. Less wind so felt a little warmer. I bought a halogen oven for Pat's present. It actually arrived last week so she is already enjoying trying it out, including making some delicious hot-cross buns in half the time it takes to make them in the big oven and they rose much better as well.
Wednesday 3rd
-5 to 9 to -1°C. 11.71lWh 2.3kW max. Sunny most of the day but still feeling cold as the easterly wind was even stronger. Even so it is beginning to seem like Spring is finally here and, now that the snow has gone and the sun is out I can take a few pictures of the garden
Thursday 4th
-1 to 8 to 0°C. 7Kwh 2.3Kw max. Sunny intervals with less wind which is moving more to the south so feeling warmer than it has recently. Spent most of the afternoon cutting up an old damson in the hedge which had been uprooted partly by the snow and partly by the wind. It was dying so it needed to come out anyway. We would have already cut it back late last year had the weather been more favourable - it was part of the hedge which we were already working on before all this bad weather.
Friday 5th
-2 to 10 to 0°C. 11.34kWh 2.3kW max. Another sunny day and actually feeling quite warm in the afternoon now that the wind has dropped. Continued to pot more summer bulbs and also moved the blueberries from 10L to 25L pots.
Saturday 6th
-3 to 10 to 1°C. 11.49kWh 2.4kW max. Another sunny day. The solar panels have already generated more power than both December and January and will soon pass that for November. Planted out the Aquadulce broad beans which have been growing in trays in the polytunnel since last November. Usually I would have planted them out in late February but first it was too wet and then it was too cold and, especially, windy. In any case there haven't been any bees to fertilise the any flowers they have produced. That changed today; Pat spotted a large bumble bee visiting the primroses and crocuses down the side of the drive.
Sunday 7th
-4 to 12 to 3°C. 7.98kWh 1.8kW max. Slightly overcast with thin cloud obscuring the sun most of the day. Only a slight SE breeze making it feel much milder. Still no real signs of spring in the hedgerows on my bike-ride though; just a few blackthorn flowers and a slight yellow haze round the willow and hazel trees as the catkins start to open.
Monday 8th
0 to 12 to 1°C. 8.2kWh 1.8kW max. Clear night, clouding over in the morning but clear again by lunchtime. Spent part of the afternoon repairing the fence knocked down by the falling tree which we removed last Thursday. That should make sure the rams in the field next door don't get into the garden; Mr Gregory, our neighbour, has temporarily moved them elsewhere. Then back to tidying up the chrysanthemums. Looks like all the young impatiens plants are dead so I may consider getting some more plugs if they are still available.
Tuesday 9th
1 to 11 to 4°C. 6.68kWh 1.4kW max. Mainly overcast but only with thin cloud. At last the easterly wind has diminished and moved to the south so it is feeling a lot warmer. Spent most of the afternoon spiking and lifting the turf on the lawn. It is is very poor condition after being waterlogged for many weeks, walked on when we were moving the wood from the hedge and the big cypress across it to the wood storage and then covered in snow and finally frozen. Hopefully it will recover though it will need fertiliser and lawn sand to get rid of the moss.
Wednesday 10th
0 to 14 to 5°C. 6.29kWh 1.5kW max. Thin cloud but feeling much warmer in the afternoon when the sun came out for a while. Back to clearing the roots from the land behind the polytunnel and tidying up the chrysanthemums.
Thursday 11th
5 to 5 to 5°C. 1.41kWh 500W max. Overcast and misty with sleety drizzle much of the time. Heavier rain for a time in the evening. Not a day for working outside and I have finished most of the work in the polytunnel for the time being.
Friday 12th
5 to 14 to 3°C. 5.07kWh 2kWh max. Cloudy start, clearing to sunny intervals with April showers.
Some of the seedlings in the propagator are now big enough to prick out in to cell trays, starting with the leeks.
Some of the seedlings in the propagator are now big enough to prick out in to cell trays, starting with the leeks.
Saturday 13th
3 to 14 to 11°C. 6.46kWh 1skW max. Cold sunny windy morning. Clouded over around lunchtime as the wind moved to the south; feeling a lot warmer but with many heavy showers. Cleared into the evening but stayed warm because of the strong and gusty southerly wind.
Sunday 14th
10 to 16 to 10°C. 3.46kWh 1kW max. Mostly overcast with some light rain but with a few sunny intervals. Very strong southerly wind making it feel colder than the thermometer suggested. Continued transplanting seedlings in the polytunnel; this time the celery. Space in the propagator allowed me to sow marigolds Bonita, Naughty Marrietta and Crackerjack. I will need quite a few of these this year; all the Impatiens are dead after the recent frosts penetrated even the polytunnel and only about 40 of the begonia. Started building the polycarbonate and fleece box inside the the polytunnel so I can move the tomatoes, aubergine and peppers in there; they are also nearly ready to be transplanted. The early potatoes are growing well in their pots and will soon need more soil.
Monday 15th
9 to 18 to 11°C. 10.71kWh 2.1kW max. Sunny morning with more cloud in the afternoon but cleared again after dark. Southerly wind was less strong so feeling warmer. Transplanted the tomato and aubergine seedlings into cell trays. A good time to do this as it is forecast to be warmer both night and day for at least the next few days so they will have time to get used to not being in the 25°C propagator before it gets cooler again; hopefully the frosty conditions won't return. Started sowing the squashes in cell trays to fill the spaces in the propagator.
Signs of Spring at last
It is amazing how things have grown in only the few days since it warmed up. These are some of the photos I took today.
Tuesday 16th
7 to 16 to 6°C. 8.37kWh 2.2kW max. Sunny day with variable cloud and strong southerly wind which eventually died down late in the afternoon. Cooler still starlit evening. 34°C in the polytunnel mid-afternoon. Really too hot to work in there but plenty to do including pricking out the sweet pepper seedlings and sowing the rest of the squashes. Some of the early potatoes needed more soil in their pots. The marigolds I sowed on Sunday have already germinated and the peas and broad beans are also starting to send up shoots as well as roots through the bottom of the trays.
Wednesday 17th
6 to 17 to 10°C. 6.34kWh 1.8kW max. Sunny periods with a very strong and gusty southerly wind and a few short light showers. Raked over the main part of the vegetable garden and surrounded it with 3ft wire netting to keep the rabbits out. We might let the chickens into part of it until we need it for sowing and planting; they are very good at scratching the soil into a fine tilth and fertilise it too.
Thursday 18th
9 to 12 to 8°C. 6.7kWh 2.0kW max. Sunny periods, the wind slowly dropping throughout the day. Finished building the wire netting barrier round the kitchen garden and build a narrow passageway down the side of the fruit cage between it and the chicken run nearer the house. The 4 hens found their way down to this much bigger area. I will leave them to scratch for a couple of days before placing another barrier across one end so I can sow some broad beans and peas.
Friday 19th
6 to 17 to 3°C . 9.12kWh 2.1kW max. Long sunny intervals and much less wind. Even so I still needed my gloves on my bicycle ride before lunch! Fenced off part of the kitchen garden we enclosed yesterday so I could sow rows of Excellenz and Early Onward peas and Imperial Green Longpod broad beans. Some of the squashes I sowed earlier in the week have germinated.
Saturday 20th
-1 to 17 to 6°C. 11.74kWh 2.1kW max. Clear night with slight overnight frost but soon warmed up in the sunshine. A few clouds around lunchtime but otherwise sunny all day and feeling warmer with only a slight breeze. Sowed several different cabbages, broccoli, kale and brussels sprouts in seed trays and continued pricking out some of the seedlings from earlier sowings, starting with the last of the peppers and the marigolds. Quite a lot of time I spent watering in the polytunnel. I am glad we installed those two new big rainwater tanks; the old water butts are nearly empty so the extra 2250L will be needed soon.
Sunday 21st
0 to 13 to 7°C. 4.34kWh 1kW max. Clear frosty start but soon clouded over with a cold SE wind with a few spots of rain for the rest of the day. Finished transplanting the marigolds.
Monday 22nd
3 to 17 to 9°C. 6.84kWh 1.2kW max. Sunny intervals but didn't really warm up till late afternoon. Clear evening with a bright almost full moon but no risk of frost unlike previous nights. Decided to move the parsnips to a new bed; they have been in the same one near the old apple tree for 4 years. Chose a spot in the kitchen garden near the road and outside the area I enclosed last week; that was because I didn't want the smaller fruit trees inside it or the hens might peck at the lower buds. Good soil but rather stony. Parsnips don't like growing in stony ground, it causes them to fork so I have made a start on sieving the soil; a big job but necessary.
Tuesday 23rd
5 to 19 to 8°C. 9.28kWh 2.2kW max. The warmest day of the year so far with long sunny intervals and only a light southerly wind. Followed by a clear moonlit night. Continued to prepare the new parsnip bed after watering a lot of the outside pots,especially daisies, primroses and pansies in front of the house
Wednesday 24th
7 to 19 to 10°C. 4.99kWh 1.6kW max. Cloudy but still quite warm for April with only a light southerly breeze. Finished the parsnip bed but still continued sieving soil. This was soil from the old turf mound at the back to make more potting compost for the early potatoes. Some of them, the Casablanca and Arran Pilot, need transferring into 22.5L bags from their 7.5L pots.
Thursday 25th
8 to 16 to 7°C 3.05kWh 1.1Kw max. Overcast apart from a short sunnier spell around lunchtime. A few spots of rain later in the afternoon but not enough to really water the garden - we could do with some proper rain and soon. Continued moving the early potatoes into their 22.5L bags.
Friday 26th
3 to 14 to 5° 11.33kWh 2.5kW max. Thin cloud with a few very short heavy April showers. As usual this thin cloud actually generated more electricity than blue sky; must be something to do with it more evenly distributing the sunlight? We have now generated more electricity than September last year and are fast approaching that for June and August.The north-westerly breeze made it feel quite chilly despite the sunshine. Finished potting on the early potatoes.
Saturday 27th
1 to 9 to 2°C. 9.13kWh, 2.0kW max. A bright day with thin cloud and sunny intervals but feeling cold in the strong northerly breeze. We have now generated more electricity this month than any since last August. Started preparing to plant out the maincrop potatoes in the bed behind the polytunnel but I think I might leave it for another day or two to see if it comes a little warmer. Till then they are probably better off still in their pots inside the polytunnel.
Sunday 28th
1 to 17 to 7°C. 7.06kWh 2.3kW max. Bright cold sunny start but clouded over in the afternoon with light rain by 4pm. Finished planting out the main crop potatoes, Vales Sovereign, King Edward and Golden Wonder. Covered them with fleece till the risk of frost has diminished. Around 6pm the chickens suddenly started getting very agitated so we went out see what had disturbed them. It was the sparrow hawk again. This time it had killed a blackbird and was plucking it just inside the fruit cage close to the hen house. Once we turned up the chickens stopped their loud clucking so they obviously wanted us to protect them!! After a few minutes chasing the sparrow hawk around the fruit cage we finally persuaded it to leave through the door. How it gets in through the pigeon net on top of the cage I don't know; it doesn't seem to either since it doesn't seem to know how to get out again.
Monday 29th
2 to 14 to 5°C. 10.59kWh 2.3kW max. Thin cloud with a few short showers. breezy in the morning but still by dusk. Transplanted some of the squash seedlings, Squaskin, Sweet Dumpling, Autumn Crown, Courgette Floridor and the Coleus seedlings. Sowed Parsley Aphrodite and Basil. Started to soak the Begonia tubers stored in the conservatory over the winter. I was also please to see that the Fuchsia plants, which I thought had been killed by the frosty weather, are sprouting from the bottom. Pat picked another large colander full of sprouting broccoli. We really have got a glut of this at the moment, partly because all three varieties have flowered together; the should have matured in November, March and May.
Tuesday 30th
1 to 15 to 7°C 8.87kWh 2.1kW max. Sunny intervals with variable cloud and only a light breeze so feeling quite pleasant for the end of April. Rerouted the chicken run once again by fencing off most of the land near the hen house so I can plant the onions there. Onions like well fertilised well dug over soil and that is exactly what the hens have been doing to it for the last 2 months. They are also laying plenty of eggs. In this month they have produced 105. That's 3.5 per day, 26 each or around 6 each week; quite a few of them double ones. No wonder Pat decided to freeze six of them today!!
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