March 2013
Feel free to browse through my photos below. You can click on any image thumbnail to expand it.
Friday 1st
1 to 8 to -3°C 1.49kWh 300W max. Mainly cloudy with some hazy sun in the afternoon leading to another clear frosty night. The pictures below show how all the water butts are connected together with the overflow from the conservatory and front of the house going to the two tubs in the back. These also will take the overflow from the two new tanks.
Saturday 2nd
-3 to 8 to 0°C. 8.34kWh 1.65kW max. Clear frosty start followed by blue skies so we had the best electricity generation this year so far. Generally tidying up the garden including moving the spring flowering violas and dianthus in pots out of the polytunnel into the space in front of the rose bed. The narcissus are growing well in this bed so Pat tidied them up before they got too big to walk between them.
Sunday 3rd
-3 to 8 to 4°C. 3.72kWh 1.6kW max. Clear frosty sunny start but clouded over by late morning with a few short sunny intervals in the afternoon before becoming fully overcast but dry in the evening and feeling much milder. Attempted to fix some of the damage to the primroses down the drive caused by vehicles driving over them but eventually came to the conclusion I was doing more harm than good trying to dig up the damaged squashed plants because I was disturbing the bulbs growing beneath them. So eventually just lifted the soil beneath them to let a little air in which might help them recover. The hens have already laid 2 eggs. One very small and one medium sized which is what you would expect as they are only around 16-17 weeks old.
Monday 4th
0 to 8 to 0°C. 4.94kWh 1.4kW max. Hazy sun with some cloudier periods in the afternoon. Cleared again by evening. Generally tidying up the garden ready for the bulbs to start flowering. The other two hens laid a medium sized egg each. The one which got out yesterday managed to do so twice more today so we have tightened the covering nets even more. Most surprising is how well they are behaving with no signs of them establishing a 'pecking order'.
Tuesday 5th
-3 to 10 to 3°C. 7.33kWh 1.4kW max. Clear frosty start with hazy sunshine all day followed by a slightly cloudy evening. Some light rain is forecast for the next few days so we might be able to test our new water storage system for leaks. Spent most of the afternoon connecting electricity into the polytunnel so that I can start using the propagators in the middle of the month.
Wednesday 6th
2 to 8 to 5°C. 1.17kWh 200W max. A grey misty overcast day. Finally started to drizzle around dusk turning to light rain later in the evening. Went back to digging over the patch behind the polytunnel where the potatoes will go this year.
Thursday 7th
5 to 7 to 5°C. 1.26kWh 300W max. Light rain or drizzle all night, all day and into the evening. Enough to fill the standard water butt draining the conservatory roof. This should have them overflowed into the tub behind the house but there are air-locks in the hose which we will need to clear in daylight.
Friday 8th
5 to 7 to 5°C. 572Wh 100W max. A similar day to yesterday, only worse with continuous drizzle of light rain. Still haven't got the rainwater to overflow from, the two butts at the front of the house into the storage at the back. Looks like I might need to think again about the way they are connected, once it stops raining!
Saturday 9th
5 to 6 to 2°C. 824Wh 200W max. Cold, overcast and drizzly though a little brighter than yesterday. Came colder in the evening with a little fine sleet as the wind moved round to the north east. Decided to pump the rainwater out of the standard butts and tubs into one of the large tanks so we could rearrange the system with all the connections into the bottom of each container. Hopefully this will fix the airlock problem. It needs to rain again before we can test this - only a little snow is forecast.
Sunday 10th
-3 to 2 to -2°C. 1.42kWh 300W max. A bitterly cold day with the northerly wind making it feel much colder than the thermometer suggested. Clearer skies in the evening making it even colder. Not a day to be outside in the garden. In the polytunnel it was a little warmer at 6°C so managed to start repotting the summer flowering bulbs, starting with the calla, freesias and tigridia.
Monday 11th
-4 to 3 to -4°C. 6.12kWh 1.9Kw max. A sunny day with a strong chilling wind and a few snow showers, though no real covering of snow. Kirstin and Anna came to visit for the day and we all stayed inside away from the wind, even the chickens spent a good part of the day inside their hut.
Tuesday 12th
-5 to 5 to 0°C. 9.07kWh 2.1Kw max. The sunniest day since last August but definitely not as warm with a very chilling northerly wind. The wind dropped in the evening with another clear starry night.
Wednesday 13th
0 to 6 to -2°C. 5.26kWh 2.0Kw max. Warmed up overnight to a bright sunny morning but soon clouded over with some show showers by late morning and through the afternoon. Cleared in the evening with another clear starry night. Hopefully the frost won't make the wet drive and paths slippery overnight. Finished repotting the summer bulbs. By this time in previous years I would have already planted the main crop potatoes. This year I still haven't even planted the first early potatoes in pots in the polytunnel. No more really cold weather is forecast so I will start that tomorrow. I was also hoping to take some pictures of narcissus and hyacinth flowers but no have yet opened. I can't recall such a late spring before - very different to this time last year but maybe the summer will be better?
Thursday 14th
-5 to 7 to 3°C. 7.31kWh 2.0kW max. Very cold but sunny start slowly clouding over and becoming milder and less windy as the day progressed with some light sleet showers in the evening. Rain is forecast for tomorrow. Started planting the early potatoes in 7.5L pots in the polytunnel, starting with Casablanca, a super early. Quite small seed potatoes so there are already 23 pots and still two more varieties to do tomorrow.
Friday 15th
3 to 9 to 4°C. 2.72kWh 600W max. Light rain with a few heavier bursts in the morning, came brighter for a short period in the afternoon before more light rain in the evening. Two of the trays of 128 plug plants came in the post, Impatiens and Gazania, so spent most of the afternoon planting these into larger 12 cell trays.
Saturday 16th
2 to 10 to 0°C. 4.28kWh 2kW max. Started off cold but sunny but started to rain after lunch with some very heavy showers with hail and sleet. By evening this had turned to wet snow. The water butts and their overflow tubs were nearly full after being almost empty in the morning so pumped this into the big tanks which are now over 80% full. That's nearly 2000L we have collected from what has not really been a very rainy period of days. Finished planting the Gazania into 12 cell trays and then continued to plant the early potatoes into 7.5L pots in the polytunnel: Lady Krystl and Aran Pilot.
Sunday 17th
-2 to 8 to 0°C. 3.8kWh 1.2kW max. Cold start with slippery paths from the thawing snow freezing again when it became clear later in the night. Sunny intervals with a few wintery showers. The forecast is for more cold weather. I would normally have sowed the tomatoes, aubergines and peppers by now; maybe even been ready to prick them out. If I don't start doing this soon they won't be producing until July. I also am thinking about planting the second early and main crop potatoes in 2L pots in the polytunnel to get them going so I can plant them out once conditions are suitable; at the moment much of the garden is cold and waterlogged only a spade's depth below the surface.
Monday 18th
-2 to 8 to 2°C. 4.67kWh 1.5kW max. Cold cloudy start but cleared by mid morning with some sunny spells till late afternoon when it clouded over again with a little light drizzle most of the evening. Feeling warmer as the wind dropped. Planted the seed potatoes, second early Kestrel and Vales Sovereign, early main crop Harmony, main crop King Edward, and late main crop Golden Wonder, all into 2L pots to get them started in the polytunnel, whose temperature rose above 20°C in the middle of the day.
Tuesday 19th
1 to 7 to 3°C. 2.34kWh 500W max. Overcast with some light drizzle at times but also a few brighter intervals. Cold wind but there was enough radiation from the sky to make it feel quite warm, around 16°C, in the polytunnel, where I am continuing to work. I need a lot of potting compost to plant all the potatoes and making this is much harder than usual. There is plenty of good mature loamy soil from the old turf mound but it is soaking wet and difficult to sieve.
Wednesday 20th
0 to 5 to 2°C. 1.3kWh 400W max. Today is the vernal equinox but it certainly wasn't Spring like, though there was a really good dawn chorus around 7am, so the birds think Spring is on its way soon. Damp and overcast all day apart from a short brighter spell in the middle of the afternoon. It wasn't much warmer in the polytunnel, around 7°C, where I started to transfer the latest plug plants to arrive in the post into larger 12 cell trays; begonias and geraniums. I didn't finish them because my fingers were so cold I couldn't safely handle these tiny plants.
Thursday 21st
-1 to 5 to 0°C. 5.77kWh 1.6kW max. Sunny but the very strong easterly wind made it feel very cold. Started sleeting late in the evening as the wind grew even stronger. Heavy snow and strong winds are forecast for tomorrow. Not the sort of weather you expect in late March
Friday 22nd
My sister's 65th birthday. Often this is a sunny spring day; not this year!!
0 to 2 to 0°C. 776Wh 200W max. Snowed all night and all day but most of it was wet during the daytime and didn't settle. In the evening it has started to settle and snow more heavily. A strong easterly wind made it feel even colder than the thermometer suggested. Working outside, even in the polytunnel, was impossible.
0 to 2 to 0°C. 776Wh 200W max. Snowed all night and all day but most of it was wet during the daytime and didn't settle. In the evening it has started to settle and snow more heavily. A strong easterly wind made it feel even colder than the thermometer suggested. Working outside, even in the polytunnel, was impossible.
Saturday 23rd
0 to 1 to -1°C. 113Wh ( PV panels covered with snow) Snowed all night and most of the day but only light most of the time with accumulation of around 10cm and drifting to 30-40cm. Very cold and strong easterly wind dropped by evening and it stopped snowing but the temperature dropped below zero. It is forecast to stay below or around freezing for at least the next 3 days. That probably means all my summer bedding is at risk in the polytunnel unless there is some sunshine to warm it up; this seems unlikely. Any longer and the potatoes will probably freeze through as well.
Sunday 24th
-2 to 2 to -1°C. 2.59kWh 500W max. Light snow most of the night and morning, clearing after lunch with thin cloud and even a little sunshine. Still feeling cold in the strong easterly wind. The temperature in the polytunnel stayed above freezing, probably because the snow on top was acting as insulation. The temperature started to drop as the sky cleared to reveal a 3/4 moon and some of the brighter stars and the previously thawing snow started to freeze again. The one thing this cold weather is proving is that the wall insulation works. It is certainly a lot warmer in the house than it was during previous periods of near or below freezing outside.
Monday 25th
-2 to 6 to 0°C. 7.77kWh 2.4kW max. A sunny day but still very cold in the strong easterly wind. We got the first four eggs in one day today; recently we have had 2 or 3 every day. Two were quite small but the other two were nearly full sized. The hens seem to like eating snow rather than drinking water and will miss it when it melts!!
Tuesday 26th
-3 to 4 to -1°C. 6.73kWh 1.8kW max. Another sunny but cold day but actually feeling warmer as the wind wasn't as strong. It got up to 19°C in the polytunnel where I finally decided I couldn't wait any longer to start sowing seeds in the propagator. Sowed Tomato Shirley, Bejbino and Big Boy, Aubergine, Peppers Mixed Sweet, Romanian and Mixed Hot, Celery and an early and mid season leek. Also Coleus; the rest of the summer bedding Marigolds and Nicotinia will have to wait till these have germinated. Turned the propagator up to full but even this only heated the seed boxes up to 15°C, though they will reach the required 23-25°C during the day if it remains clear and sunny. This is the only time we could be accused by some of wasting electricity - still a lot less waste than the cars speeding past each day, or people who insist on keeping their whole house at 18°C or above.
Wednesday 27th
-1 to 4 to -2°C. 3.82kWh 1.2kW max. Sunny intervals with a few snow showers and a strong cold easterly wind. Despite this most of the snow has melted leaving the ground too soggy to work even if I was willing the brave the chill factor from the wind. Hopefully the weather might be improving after what is now officially the coldest March since 1962
Thursday 28th
-3 to 5 to 0°C. 6.86kWh 1.8kW max. Sunny intervals with less wind so feeling a little warmer. Went back to digging the ground behind the polytunnel. This hasn't been turned over for at least 20 years so it it full of roots from the hedge; useful for keeping warm. A little waterlogged but should drain quite well once it has been dug over.
Good Friday 29th
-2 to 8 to -3°C. 9.35kWh 2.3kW max. Sunny day but with a strong easterly wind making it feel colder even in the polytunnel. The best electricity generation since early September but nowhere near as warm!! Started to dig some more of the land behind the polytunnel but gave up after less than an hour; my hands and ears were really cold from the wind, despite wearing a thick woolly hat and liners inside my gardening gloves, and working quite hard. A clear night followed with the wind even stronger.
Easter Saturday 30th
-4 to 7 to -2°C. 7.43kWh 2.3kW max. Cold sunny start and continued with sunny intervals for most of the day, feeling warmer because the wind was much lighter. Cleared again after dark. Decided it was safe to start planting the onion sets into 20 cell trays in the polytunnel for planting out later once they are rooted. I find this is a better way than planting directly outside where they can be damaged by frost or damp and pulled up by the birds. Some of the seeds I sowed in the propagator on Tuesday are starting to germinate.
Easter Sunday 31st
-6 to 8 to 0°C. 10.61kWh 2.3kW max. Clear frosty night but with no wind didn't feel as cold as previous nights. Sunny most of the day giving the best electricity generation since last August and also increasing the months output to more than last October. Sowed Karmazyn broad beans in 12 cell trays and Exzellenz peas in 20 cell trays to start them in the polytunnel. The ground outside is still too cold and wet to sow outside and there is still a risk of more hard frosts.
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