[noshed]

Just to let everyone know- we had 2 drops of rain tonight. That was the thunderstorm.
I'm mulching furiously but this is ridiculous.

[nitiram]

Raining here all night, and last night too...after three weeks without rain we certainly need it.

[Oliver]

Raining here all night

We had a bucketfull probably (gone down about 30 cms)! It certainly is welcome.

The corn was all stalk, and at last, during the last week, after a little drop of rain, it started to make some fruit, so last night's rain will help (we hope!!)

[John]

We finally had a decent amount of rain here. Luckily we don't have a hosepipe ban but you can't beat actual rain.  Half an inch of rain puts 2.34 gallons of water on every square yard. Yes, I'm sad enough to calculate it.

Now, of course, all those weed seeds will germinate so it's time to hoe again.

[Oliver]

Half an inch of rain puts 2.34 gallons of water on every square yard

That is actually very interesting. It explains why a good drop of rain is better than several watering cans of water, even on the same place (with all its attendant problems)!

A good idea of what to get him (he loves these technical things) for Christmas - a rain gauge to put on the plot. A friend of theirs has been checking temperature and rain for 30 years! Must have a word with him.

John - do you know how long lettuces take from sowing to 'reasonable maturity'? (She never remembers. I see her writing things down in a little book, but all she seems to remember to write is when stuff was sown, sometims she remembers to put when it was potted on or planted out, but in a very hit and miss fashion. She must either pull up her socks or give up 'keeping records'!

[John]

John - do you know how long lettuces take from sowing to 'reasonable maturity'? (She never remembers. I see her writing things down in a little book, but all she seems to remember to write is when stuff was sown, sometims she remembers to put when it was potted on or planted out, but in a very hit and miss fashion. She must either pull up her socks or give up 'keeping records'!

Depending on conditions, usually around 40 / 50 days but in this sushine (as long as they have plenty of water) can be as little as 20.

[Heather_S]

Last thursday when it rained hard enough to make the roads into mini-rivers (not good for walking around in sandles, I speak from experience  :oops: ) seemed to give the allotment an excellent watering. When we came by on Saturday around noon, there was only a thin layer of driedness but underneath was just the right texture and moisture for planting a few more seeds.

Still having trouble getting green manure to grow, though!  :? Maybe because it's all surface sown it dries out too quickly.

[Oliver]

... sushine (as long as they have plenty of water) can be as little as 20.

Thanks John - they May just have some lettuces ready for the allotment collection entry at the show - need some fluffy green stuff to make the display look nice, you see!
O

[mellowmick]

We got a couple of what I'd call heavy showers on Saturday night; probably our first rain of any kind in 3 weeks.

[GrannieAnnie]

We got a bit of rain over the weekend, but today it started at 4pm and hasn't stopped since!  Luckily, I decided to water the polytunnel just before it started!

[Jake]

I've traveled from Cheshire to Bedfordshire today and it seemed to rain hard all the way until we got past Northampton. I went to the plot and it doesn't seem to have rained much at all.

Had a nice dinner though

[Oliver]

Glad you had rain grannieannie - we had about 6 drops here, accompanied by much wind.  We also had a bit of a disasster this morning - 'someone' (nothing to do with us, I must hasten to add) who will have to remain nameless to protect the innocent, decided to strim UNDER the water tank and in the process gashed the tank so all the water ran away. We have had to tie up the ballcock so the tank stops trying to fill and the man is coming tomorrow to weld up the hole. Meanwhile, we hoped i would rain .... much language was expended on the plot to day by all those who normally use that tank, something flowery to do with the intelligence of the strimmer weilder. Sigh ... O

[GrannieAnnie]

Oh Oliver, I am sorry about your water tank.  Hope you get it welded up soon!!

Yes, it was very windy here too, when we came home just after 4pm, nearly all my aubergines in pots outsiee had been blown over, my BIG pot (standing about 3 ft high and nearly as wide) full fo sweet peas was on its side, and several other things had gone over too.  I don't think any bad damage done though!

[Gwiz]

i had to drive over to bristol yesterday, looked nice and green there, and thats only 114 miles from the great surrey desert. :?

[mellowmick]

Probably had more rain in last 36 hours than we've had since April.