November

Friday 1st

8 to 15 to 12°C. 862Wh. Another very grey day but at least it was milder. Started raining in the evening.

Saturday 2nd

10 to 14 to 8°C. 1.47kWh 300W max. 6mm of rain overnight. It was supposed to rain during the day but we seem to be the only place that stayed almost dry though it was very cloudy most of the time.

Started digging over parts of the garden, starting behind the polytunnel but it is very soggy and therefore hard work.

Sunday 3rd

 7 to 13 to 7°C. 3.74kWh 1.2kW max. Sunny morning but more cloudy in the afternoon.

Monday 4th

 5 to 9 to 6°C. 3.02kWh 1.2kW max. 2mm of rain overnight then sunny in the morning but with a cold wind. Clouded over by evening.

Finished clearing the area behind the polytunnel and laid two strips of mulching fabric. This is better than the woven polythene fabric I usually use as it is not woven, is more flexible and lets rain and air through but very little light which means weeds are unlikely to push through it. This will serve as a nursery for the pots of bulbs and winter/spring flowering annuals and after that bags of early potatoes.

Tuesday 5th

5 to 11 to 3°C. 725Wh. A very dull day. Cleared in the evening so might be frosty by morning.

Started repotting the bulbs in 7.5L pots starting with tulips.

Wednesday 6th

 2 to 7 to 6°C. 535Wh. Another dull damp day though it only started raining properly late in the evening with 3mm by midnight.

Continued repotting the bulbs. I have ordered some more dwarf narcissi, hyacinths and cyclamen.

Thursday 7th

6 to 7 to 6°C. 1.12kWh. Light rain all day with some heavier bursts totalling 22mm.

There is a risk of snow next week so we have started removing the finer nets from the fruit and vegetable cages.

Friday 8th

 4 to 9 to 0°C. 4.76kWh 1.2kW max. Another 2mm of rain during the night but had cleared by morning to a much brighter day though with a cold wind.

Finished removing the fine nets including the big one over the fruit cage. Some of them are rather wet so I have draped them over the stands in the polytunnel to dry before packing them away in their crates till next Spring.

Saturday 9th

-2 to 3 to 3°C. 263Wh. Clear overnight with a frosty misty start which turned into a very dull cold day with light sleety rain.

Not a day to be working outside, not even in the polytunnel. Pat did pick the rest of the sweet and hot peppers. Most of the hot peppers go in the freezer.

Sunday 10th

 0 to 7 to 4°C. 4.45kWh 1.2kW max. Another 1mm rain after midnight but then cleared and was frosty by the morning, staying sunny all day but not feeling very warm. More rain is forecast for tomorrow.

I continued to repot the bulbs and Pat swept up leaves from the drive, paths and poplar leaves from the lawn.

Monday 11th

 1 to 7 to 3°C. 2.63kWh 800W max. Frosty start with some sunshine in the morning. Clouded over in the afternoon with showers into the evening. 5mm rain in total.

The ground is completely waterlogged and there are large puddles even with only a short shower. We are at the highest point round here. I feel sorry for those in Yorkshire and Derbyshire struggling as the rivers overflow yet again.

Tuesday 12th

2 to 8 to 6°C. 915Wh. A damp drizzly day

Finished potting on the bulbs

Wednesday 13th

4 to 7 to 3°C. 2.99kWh 900W max. 2mm rain overnight but cleared by the morning with clear skies and sunshine until mid afternoon. Rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow but it looks as it will mainly be south and later east of us.

Took advantage of the dry weather to return to cutting back the shrubs and hedges.

Thursday 14th

 4 to 5 to 4°C. 86Wh. Very dull with 6mm drizzly rain and a cold blustery wind.

I think this is probably the most miserable day we have ever had. Even in the middle of winter, except when covered by snow, the photovoltaics produce more electricity.

Friday 15th

4 to 8 to 6°C. 1.24kWh 600W max. A better day but only because it couldn't be much worse than yesterday. The sun tried to come out for a short while in the morning before coming dark and cloudy again with some light drizzle in the evening.

The bulbs I ordered came today so I placed them in 7.5L pots, 30 hyacinth, 100 miniature narcissus, 30 free lily flowered tulipis and 50 free Carlton daffodils. Also 18 cyclamen corms which sent into 14cm half-pots.

Saturday 16th

6 to 8 to 6°C. 637Wh. Another very dull day with occasional drizzle.

Sunday 17th

 6 to 8 to 4°C. 739Wh. Another grey drizzly day.

It was dry enough to shred some of the brash I cut from the shrubs on Wednesday

Monday 18th

3 to 7 to - 2°C. 3.42kWh 900W max. Misty start then sunny for most of the day.

The clear sky means it could be quite cold by the morning. Picked the rest of the chilli peppers to ripen inside away from the frost.

Tuesday 19th

 -4 to 6 to 4°C. 1.44kWh. Quite frosty overnight but was already rising by morning as it clouded over. Stayed cloudy but dry with very little wind.

Tidied up the pots of overwintering onions in the polytunnel, taking out the weeds and turning over the ones which had been planted upside down or turned over by birds. Out of over 300 bulbs only 8 have failed which I am very pleased with.

Wednesday 20th

 4 to 7 to 3°C. 1.18kWh. Another damp dark day with a cold wind.

Continued clearing the polytunnel.

Thursday 21st

2 to 5 to 4°C 195Wh. Even darker and colder than yesterday. Eventually got some light rain in the evening.

Started digging over the polytunnel. At least this job keeps you warmer.

Friday 22nd

3 to 5 to 7°C. 341kWh. Another dull day but at least it seems to be getting warmer though with 4mm of rain in the evening.

Finished digging over the polytunnel, raked in flat and laid woven polythene fabric on it. Then started to cut the stalks off the dahlias, setting the pots out on the fabric to dry out.

Saturday 23rd

 6 to 7 to 8°C. 36Wh. Probably the greyest day we have ever had. I thought 86Wh on the 14th was low but this was worse. Misty and damp most of the day and then 4mm rain in showers starting in the afternoon and into the evening.

Continued tidying up the dahlias. I would have finished them on a brighter day but it was too dark to see properly by 3:45 in the afternoon.

Sunday 24th

 8 to 8 to 8°C. 250Wh. Another grey damp day though lighter than yesterday with only some very light drizzle.

Finally got the chance to test my bicycle with its new chain and rear 6 speed cassette which I fitted a few days ago. I can now go for my daily bike ride silently without a slipping chain and unreliable changing.

Finished tidying up the dahlias.

Monday 25th

8 to 10 to 8°C. 487Wh 350W max. Still very grey and drizzly but quite mild for November. It actually came brighter for a short while around lunchtime with even a glimpse of the sun but it didn't last and started drizzling again to a total of 4mm rain. Cleared after dark enough to see the stars.

Finished tidying up the begonias. Now we need some dry weather so I can work outside though it is probably too wet and heavy to turn over any vegetable or flower beds.

Tuesday 26th

 6 to 9 to 5°C. 567Wh. Another grey drizzly mild day

Wednesday 27th

6 to 10 to 7°C. 892Wh. No change in the weather

I am rather busy with my software at the moment so it is good that the weather is no good for gardening.

Thursday 28th

 6 to 9 to 2°C. 347wH. Cloudy but did not rain(3mm) till the evening when it started to turn much colder.

Started moving the chrysanthemums which are good enough to propagate from into the polytunnel. The plants themselves are quite healthy with good new shoots but this awful weather has ruined the late flowers.

Friday 29th

-2 to 5 to -3°C. 3.28. Very cold frosty but bright start with a cold northerly breeze. Stayed sunny but cold for the rest of the day with a clear sky in the evening.

Decided to go for a bicycle ride at lunchtime but came back after only going halfway. There was a lot of black ice, frozen leaves and half frozen rutted mud on roads where the low sun didn't reach. The last thing I need is another broken bone.

Saturday 30th

 -2 to 3 to 0°C. 836Wh. Cold and clear overnight and didn't warm up much during the day though it was bright enough to warm the polytunnel to 8°C in the afternoon for a short while.

Tried cutting back some more shrubs in the afternoon it wasn't warm enough even for doing that.

The end of another disappointing month weatherwise, but at least there was only 89mm rain unlike the more than 100mm of the last three months.