August 2019

Thursday 1st

14 to 21 to 15°C. 7.02kWh 1.9kW max. A better day with fluffy clouds and sunshine.

My asthma has not improved, I have no idea what has triggered it. So another missed day in the garden

Friday 2nd

13 to 24 to 18°C. 9.34kWh1.8kW max. Misty start but cleared to a sunny late morning and afternoon.

Started feeling better by the afternoon. So we picked the black plums in the hedge at the back of the garden. Most of them we can't reach safely. Perhaps I might try cutting the tops out of the trees this winter.

We now have plenty of tomatoes and even more cucumbers, at least one from each of the five plants every day. Had tomatoes on toast with a side serving of fried cucumber for our lunch today. This is also at least one patty pan squash every day as an extra vegetable with our dinner.

Finally ate the last of the cherries, it is over a month since we started eating around 20 each every day. There are plenty of blueberries for Pat. I don't like them but it won't be long before there are some ripe Laxtons apples though there are no large desert plums this year.

Saturday 3rd

15 to 23 to 18°C. 8.08kWh 1.2kW max. Warm, cloudy and hunid with a few very short showers.

Spending most of the time weeding and hedge trimming for the next few days.

Sunday 4th

16 to 23 to 17°C. 6.01kWh 800W max. Another cloudy wam humid day with a few periods of dark clouds and a few spots of rain.

Monday 5th

 15 to 20 to 15°C. 9.37kWh 1.9kW max. A breezy day with sunny intervals but also some brief showers.

Despite the breeze I decided to spray the weeds in some of the less cultivated parts of the garden with glyphosate, if only to keep them under control while we get to them. The weather this year has been perfect for weeds as well as vegetables.

Tuesday 6th

15 to 22 to 15°C. Another sunny and breezy day with some heavier showers amounting to 3mm of rain.

Wednesday 7th

 13 to 22 to 15°C. 9.22kWh 1.9kW max. Breezy with vqriable cloud with sunny intervals.

Coming back from my bike ride this lunchtime I noticed the cherry plums in the 'edible hedge' I planted many years ago along the road was full of cherry plums, red yellow and black. All ripe and ready for picking and that is what I did this afternoon. This is the first time we have had more than a few of these. They flower very early in the year and either there aren't any bees about or there is a frost just as they start to grow. The warm February is probably why these are so good. They are a good replacement for the big plums which have completely failed this year, probably because of the poor weather after that February spell

Thursday 8th

 13 to 23 to 19°C. 8.76kWh 1.9kW max. A quieter day with sunny intervals but the clouds are gathering in the west for the forecast bad weather tomorrow and over the weekend.

Started tidying up the perennials on the northern side of the drive. The Marguerite daises are finished and need cutting down. There are too many off them so later this year I think I will dig out all the ones at the front of the bed out and get something different to replace them.

Friday 9th

17 to 22 to 16°C. 7.43kWh 1.9kW max. 19mm of rain overnight then warm bright a breezy duirng the morning before becoming showery in the afternoon and evening with another 6mm by 11pm.

The only casualty to the weather was the largest of the begonias, shown with the hydrangea above. The weight of the rain snapped off one of the stems from the corm. My fault, I should have given it more support which I usually do and have now done. No real loss; I have cut the leaves into over 20 pieces and placed them in wet coir and vermiculite to root and produce new plants.

Saturday 10th

 15 to 19 to 14°C. 3.42kWh 700W max. A cold cloudy windy day with several short showers only amounting to 1mm rain.

Cowan and Euan have come to visit for a few days.

Sunday 11th

11 to 17 to 12°C.6.56kWh 1.1kW max. Cold, for August, and breezy and it is forecast to be even colder tomorrow. A good day for tidying up the shrubbery, hedges and wild garden.

Monday 12th

 11 to 16 to 12°C. 9.45kWh 1.6kW max. A cold misty start clearing later but with some light showers and quite windy at times.

Planted out the Savoy King winter cabbage seedlings. Later than last year. It is a  gamble when the best time to start them is. Too early and they heart before the autumn, which is what happened last year. Too late and they are not big enough to stand through the winter. It all depends on weather.

Tuesday 13th

9 to 19 to 12°C. 8.86kWh. Another quite cool day for August but there was some warm sunshine for a short while in the afternoon.

Decided to dig up the next lot of potatoes before more rain later this week. This time it was the early main crop Vales Sovereign. Filled nearly 4 buckets which at around 12kg per bucket is about 45kg. A very good return from the original 1.5kg of seed, including some tubers so large that there will be too much for both of us in just one potato. That will suit the hens; cooked potato is one of their favourites.

The weather has been perfect this year for potatoes with just the right combination of sunshine and rain at the right times. The maincrop is still green and very tall so there is plenty more to come.

Wednesday 14th

 11 to 17 to 16°C. 2.43kWh 400W max. Rained most of the night and morning clearing in the afternoon though it stayed overcast and very humid. 14mm of rain in total

The rain followed Pat as she took the boys back home.

Thursday 15th

15 to 18 to 17°C. 7.35kWh 1.5kW max. A better day with some sunny intervals but a cold westerly breeze.

Picked some of the Laxton's Fortune apples. A large crop but they are quite small. Picked the larger riper ones hoping the rest might grow for later. It will be nice to slice one into my porridge each morning again.

Friday 16th

 12 to 17 to 14°C. 1.57kWh 300W max. A miserable dark day with continuous light rain or drizzle amounting to 13mm in total. Not what you expect in August.

Saturday 17th

 14 to 19 to 14°C. 11.11kWh 1.6kW max. Some light rain (1mm) overnight but cleared to sunny intervals but with a strong westerly breeze.

The chrysanthemums needed some more staking.

Sunday 18th

11 to 19 to 13°C. 9.51kWh 1.9kW max. Another breezy day with sunny intervals. The wind has moved to the south west but the wind chill was still noticeable.

Trimmed the hedge down the side of the chicken run and noticed that they like elderberries. They had already eaten all the ones they could jump up to reach so I left the rest of the branches on the ground for them to finish off. I am not sure whether this could affect the taste of their eggs?

Monday 19th

 13 to 19 to 13°C. 9.21kWh 1.8kW max. Another breezy day with a few sunnier intervals.

Picked the small green plums from the tree at the back of the garden. They might be small and with a lot of stones in a serving but they are the best stewed plums we have.

Tuesday 20th

12 to 19 to 15°C. 8.12kWh 1.9kW max. A similar day to the last few but with less breeze so it felt warmer. Still not what you expect in August but the Bank Holiday weekend looks like it might be better then usual.

There were a couple of short showers in the late afternoon and evening.

Wednesday 21st

12 to 20 to 15°C. 8.5kWh. 1.7kW max. Another mainly cloudy day with a strong south-westerly wind an some short showers.

Thursday 22nd

14 to 22 to 17°C. 4.51kWh 800W max. Another mainly cloudy day but it is starting to feel warmer as the wind moves to the south.

Not very well today courtesy of my visit to the asthma nurse at the local doctor's surgery; an environment not conducive to my health. Patients wearing perfume or clothes washed in modern detergents and rooms cleaned with surfactants and antiseptics . The usual yawning, aching and shortness of breath. Who else goes to the doctor's and becomes ill afterwards? I would refuse to go but they will stop my medication if I don't see someone at least once every 12 months.

Friday 23rd

15 to 24 to 18°C. 7.51kWh 1.4kW max. A much better day. Warm with less wind but cloudy enough to reduce any risk of sunburn.

Started feeling better enough to go for my cycle ride at lunchtime and do some gardening in the afternoon.

Saturday 24th

 9 to 28 to 18°C. 11.8kWh 1.9kW max. Cool misty start but soon warmed up in the total sunshine with only a few wisps of cloud most of the day.

Stayed as much as possible in the shade clearing the nursery, covering it with a new layer of mulching fabric and moving the pots of resting plants back onto it. Pat finally managed to get the mower onto the lawn to cut the 10cm long grass.

Sunday 25th

 14 to 29 to 17°C. 10.49kWh 1.9kW max. A very warm day with mostly hazy sunshine.

Picked the Limelight, Queen Cox and Bramley Seedling apples. Earlier than usual but they were beginning to fall off. Not many Bramleys this year,only one crate and some of those are small or misshaped. Most years we pick enough to fill 4 crates and leave nearly as many still on the tree There are lot of Russets so these will be the ones which hopefully will store well into next year.

Monday 26th

 15 to 27 to 16°C. 6.12kWh 1.7kW max. Another very warm day but quite cloudy in the morning.

Tuesday 27th

14 to 23 to 17°C. 6.84kWh 1.5kW max. Still quite warm with some sunshine in the morning but clouded over with some dampness by the afternonn

Wednesday 28th

12 to 16 to 11°C. 1.97kWh 300W max. A dark damp and breezy day but only a few light showers.

Dug up the rest off the potatoes. Cara and Sarpo Myra. A very good yield, expecially the Sarpo Myra. These red potatoes should keep well into next year.

Thursday 29th

10 to 18 tto 16°C. 5.24kWh 1.2kW max. Cloudy with some sunny spells and a gusty breeze. Feeling quite autumnal.

Friday 30th

15 to 20 to 16°C. 4.61kWh 1.2kW max. Cloudy and breezy with a few sunnier periods in the afternoon.

Started tidying up the pots of begonias and dahlias in the bed behind the conservatory.

Saturday 31st

14 to 17 to 12°C. Another cloudy and breezy day with a shower of light rain in the morning.

Finished tidying up the dahlias and begonias and gave them some liquid feed to keep them flowering into the autumn.