Ok, a little of bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but, you know I warned you last week about how nature doesn't usually make it easy for you? Well, I was right.
Last week, I had to feature a shot of a bird on a frosty branch, because I didn't have any shots of frost damaged plants. And last week's post was also a warning about some cold weather ahead and how I was preparing for it.
Well, unfortunately, now I do have some shots of frost damage - just take a look at my potatoes below.
Even with the protection of a cover, potatoes can't stand -3 degrees C and below is what happens as a result. Brown, withered dead foliage. You will note the green around the picture, well that of course is the indestructible bind weed everything on my plot shares the soil with - that apparently can stand minus 3 degrees - of course it can!
It's not all bad though, take a look below and you can already see the plant trying to recover with some new growth coming out of the centre of the plant. All this extra effort will probably means fewer spuds but hopefully at least it will still mean some spuds.
I could only cover plants already in the ground - obviously they can't be moved.
My garden veg on the other hand were either covered with pillows as your saw last week or withdrawn completely to the sanctuary of indoors. And they survived...apart from the lower leaves of my greenhouse cucumbers (it only went down to plus 1 degree in there but that was enough - the plants look to have survived though).
But looking at the two week forecast, it looks like the frosts are now over (in Bucks/Northamptonshire anyway) with night time temperatures 9 and 10 degrees for the foreseeable future - much more like it.
In fact, the impatient me has already taken the decision to move out of the conservatory my first batch of courgettes and squash as they were becoming triffids (John Wyndham anyone?- an early read in my life...).
Possibly a bit soon, perhaps, but I do have a second batch coming just in case and with the good forecast, they should acclimatise and establish in the temperatures ahead.
And they will get some protection from the elements in the containers they are housed in; a cracked re appropriated water butt (with tap still open and holed at the bottom of course) and one of those bags they deliver hardcore in stapled to a wooden frame! Both free apart from the staple gun and staples!
What they won't get in the next two weeks (at least from the sky) is any water. Yes, there's no frost, but there's also no rain in the forecast too, which re- echoes a previous post about the crazy spring weather we now get. There's plenty of organic matter (manure and home made compost) in the beds to keep them moist for a couple of days, but the watering will have to start again mid-week if the clouds aren't going to do it for me like they should be at this time of year.
Next week I'll update on the progress of my greenhouse, but before I go, one thing I love about the allotment is the things you see that you just don't see every day. Here's a couple from today, one in my shed and one in my compost heap.
Until next time, have a good week.
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