Rain!

Some serious rain overnight and this morning. Very welcome because the warm, dry and windy weather has dried the ground completely and the water butts are getting low. We're concerned that the fruit trees will start dropping their little fruits, which this year are abundant on all the trees, and we were on the point of getting out the hose.

I see so many of my posts are about weather (about 82 out of 180 mention the weather!). But the weather seriously affects how the garden performs. The temperature, rainfall, and frost can bring forward or delay the seasons. Even sharp changes in weather can affect crops and cause conditions like the potato "Hollow heart".

The frost last week, the first week of June, caused serious set-backs to the marrows and squashes and the potatoes - more damage than I thought at first. It's a juggling match, whether to plant out veg that is growing out of it's pots and at risk of getting cooked in the greenhouse or to risk damage from a late frost.

It's often difficult to keep track of the weather. We remember the really dramatic weather events but find it hard to get an overall picture of weather and trends. Writing a blog like this can help the memory and allows us to compare weather and results year by year.