Bloody, Bloody, Weather

[The Riff-Raff Element]

fabulous here in Greece. sorry to gloat. it's the only thing we've got going for us really.
Jon, could you rig up some plastic covering just to keep the rain off and to warm up the soil? surely things will start improving soon.

That would mean buying it!

The long range forecast that the farmers follow suggests early June should be a changing point. My wife was talking to a chap we know who farms 180 hectares of arable, and who is definitely not one of the boneheads, and his maize / sunflowers are all going yellow since they can't metabolise magnesium from the soil to produce enough chlorophyll to match what little growth they are putting on. If it doesn't warm up soon they will simply die, and there isn't really enough time to re-plant with any hope of a decent crop. And there may not be enough seed in any case. All very ugly and a good argument for not putting all one's eggs in the Monsanto basket.

[safronsue]

ok revert to plan A with the tune whistling. can you explain the monsanto connection pls?

[yvette]

Two frustrasting days in London where it is grey and cold and depressing all day and looks as though it is going to rain, and then the skies clear just in time for the sun to set! Infuriating! I am finding some of my seedlings are coming up now but they have taken ages - I had written them off, as they have taken weeks to show.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

ok revert to plan A with the tune whistling. can you explain the monsanto connection pls?

Certainly. At the moment, if my chum decides that he needs to replant but "proper" FI seed is either unavailable or has become very expensive, he can toddle off to the local feed merchant, buy a bag of whole maize, and plant it. Now, this won't give him the yield that his usual seed might; in fact, if it's planted late, it might not ripen at all, but at the very least he'll be able to make silage out of it and the season will not have been a dead loss. In fact, quite a quite a lot of farmers around here sow feed-grade maize after wheat to give them a second crop for winter silage.

However, in the US, where Monsanto really has the whip hand, GM maize & soya is mixed with the non-modified stuff in the silos. Any farmer buying a few sacks of this for the purpose of growing a late silage crop - which was a common practice - will be germinating seeds containing Monsanto's patented genes without having paid through the nose for the privilege. Monsanto take a dim view of anyone doing this, even if the crop will never be allowed to come to seed, and sue them hollow.

Now that Monsanto are making ever-more progress in insinuating themselves into a controlling position in Europe's food chain, it seems likely the same will happen here. OK, they probably won't find European courts quite as p-l-i-a-b-l-e as US ones, but they'll still try to make people's lives a misery for no reason other than continuing a traditional practice.

[oldjerry]

They may have trouble in the European courts,Jon,but it'll be a pushover here in blighty.Defra,Monsanto(and similar),the NUFand our friendly badger/buzzard killer,Paterson all relieve themselves in the same stinking ditch...the 4 Horsesarses of the Apocalypse!....that probably won't seem funny when the ciders worn off.

Any how ,back on topic,today,on the Long Mynd,it snowed!!!

[Skippy]

Any how ,back on topic,today,on the Long Mynd,it snowed!!!

Yesterday I was out working and it was changable as the met office would call it. I was mowing one lawn when little white things started to come down. My first thought was blossom blowing off a tree but it very soon turned into a little hail storm.
Today's cold and windy with spits of rain too.


Pete

[Pumkinpie]

I am really fed up grey and dark outside with a strong cold wind. It's more like autumn than summer.
I really feel like a duvet day today. But I have lots to plant out. On the bright side the sun should be out tomorow. I think I will give the plants a good water and plant them out tomorow afternoon.
Happy growing everyone. I am not surprised the plants are staying firmly fixed in their beds this year all snuggled up in what ever you can lay your hands on to keep them warm. I am going to be brave and put some of the cubits out on Sunday.

[Odsox]

I love it when the wind's in the north.
We've had wall to wall sunshine every day this week and as I type the temperature is 20.4C.
Not that I'm gloating you understand.

Nights are still far too cold though.

[Pumkinpie]

From one extreme to another . No wonder the plants are not happy.
Brilliant sunny clear day, hardly any wind very warm in the sun.
Bet there is a frost tonight thiough!
When will I dare risk putting some of the more delicate stuff out?

[Pumkinpie]

Wild wet and windy yet again.
Come on I want some decent weather so I can get stuck into planting at the allotment rather than stuck at home with the boring house work.

[Flo]

Dunno, the odd day in is useful as I have a house move coming up so need time for organising. The kids are going to provide the vehicle when they get back from holiday and I get the keys next week. Sure it's only from one set of social housing to another and is not far distant with the allotment mid way between the two.

What do you reckon - absolute foul weather 15th and 16th June?

I'm busy clearing out via freecycle the bits that really don't need to go to the new place. It may be the same size but not the same layout so various things don't fit of course. From a flat with no hall (just a connecting space between living area, bedroom and bathroom) to a bungalow with a narrow hall down the middle. They don't build halls like they used to do. Last farmhouse I lived in, the downstairs hall was so big it was treated as another room and very useful for things like railways tracks and scalectrix as these could be left up without getting in anyone's way.

[Pumkinpie]

Yes a lovely day. I feel a BBQ coming on this evening after a day of hard work sorting out the back garden. bacon sandwiches all round and all hands to the deck. Lets hope we have a few weeks of this so I can get some work done outside.

[Pumkinpie]

Weather still great.
Think I have done too much gardening, and I might have hurt my back even more .
When will I learn.
I feel a nice soak and some natural muscle rub coming on , I wonder if I can get my OH to rub it in when he gets back from work.
No more gardening today I might do a little bit of light stuff tomorow.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Making progress at last. We're into the 20s finally but still very unsettled.

[diggernotdreamer]

North West Ireland, for a change, the last few days - scorchio