I've mentioned before that you can't work against nature - you'll never win - you have to work with her. But sometimes she doesn't half make it difficult!
We're 6 weeks into my 'season' so far and although there have been a couple of scene setting updates, the essence of this blog is to track the ups and downs of a typical growing season. And it can certainly look like there are more downs than ups! From no rain when there should be, to too many weeds where there shouldn't be or slugs where you don't want them to be, there always seems a peril around the corner to test your patience or worse, make you want to jack it all in.
And this week we have another such peril - the sudden frost. (Yeah, ok, this picture wasn't from this week but it tells the story and anyway, they're all mine and I like it so I'm going with it!)
Anyway, you've got all your seedlings growing nicely, and these warmer springs are tempting you to put things out that little bit earlier. After all, it is May now isn't it so summer is just around the corner. The daytime temperature is in the teens degrees centigrade and sitting on a chair in the sun in the garden can be a very pleasant experience. In fact, a look at the temperature gauge in my greenhouse shows it's been up in the low 40 degrees C at times.
Then you wake up one morning having missed the previous night's clear skies and sudden temperature drop to survey a delicate white frosting over everything that the morning sun hasn't directly touched yet. A ground frost. The late spring frosts don't last very long; but a mere couple of hours is all 'Jack' needs to do its damage. And believe me, damage he can do. Wipe out a row of young potato tops. Stop and stunt tender french beans in their tracks. Wither establishing tomato plants acclimatising to their outside berth.
The brown edges to young leaves 2-3 days later are the first sign, but if the 'kill' has been clean, the whole plant will weaken and dissolve into the ground within a week. It is so depressing. You won't get that time back to put a new plant in (unless you really did over sow in the first place and keep back some 'spares' for just this eventuality). If you are lucky, your potatoes might recover with new growth over the subsequent days and weeks but all that extra effort in generating its replacement foliage is energy the plant is not putting in to making spuds!
As I write we have a 1 degree night time low (Tuesday) followed by 4 days in the low 20s and night time temperature not even dropping into single figures - followed by a quickfire cold snap with single digit day temperatures and night frosts again.
How on earth will plants cope with that type of variation? The answer - they won't, not without some help. Now if you are going to subscribe regularly to these posts, by the time we reach autumn, you'll hopefully have learnt a few things about growing things. But probably more likely learnt about how I like to recycle....or should I say, RE-USE....A LOT...
Some of these plants are going to need help in the form of protection from frost and cold.
Now the potatoes on the plot occupy so large an area, I have bought a purpose built protective fleece that I reuse year on year to protect spuds from frost early season, blackcurrant bushes from birds mid season and brassicas from cabbage white butterflies late season.
But the rest? Well - what can I find.
My patio potatoes have plastic orange juice bottles with the bottoms cut off (yes I know its plastic but after a couple of season's work I can still put them in the weekly recycling collection). Or perhaps upturned flower pots will also do the job so nothing out of the ordinary there.
My french beans have either got some dried out capillary matting or worn out and shapeless pillows, long since discarded from the guest bedroom, suspended or propped up, a couple of inches above the plants. So that's pretty cosy.
And my tender young tomato plants - well they're over nighting in an empty green bin that I don't fill with grass cuttings etc because I make my own compost (that's another blog for the future!)
So, there are three points I want to make this week.
1. You will constantly be set challenge by mother nature and it can be very demoralising - but don't give in.
2. When plants need protection, really anything goes - be creative!
3. Always keep an eye on the weather forecast!
Next week I'll let you know if my preventative measures worked!
Enjoy the weather!
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