4th August 2023 Featured, Summer

August sunshine returns? After an incredible amount of rain during the last five weeks, 180 mm here, there is a sudden reappearance of high pressure from the southwest. It’s delightful news. I d

16th July 2023 Featured, Summer

July’s second half in the no dig garden, we need to harvest and replant despite the weather. I see little sign of the cool winds and heavy showers ceasing apart from an odd day or two. Seize tho

1st July 2023 Featured, Summer

This is a key month of the whole year. As well as offering many harvests, it offers the chance to sow and plant many more vegetables. As well as giving more to eat through late autumn and winter, this

15th June 2023 Featured, Summer

Late June, often the weather changes around this time of solstice. I hope so, after five weeks without rain for most of us. Find more details in my recent newsletter, do subscribe if you have not alre

31st May 2023 Featured, Summer

See my newsletter for June with lots of advice for the coming few weeks. It’s a top time for sowing beetroot, carrots, purple sprouting broccoli, autumn cauliflower, savoy cabbage and chicory fo

30th July 2022 Featured, Summer

August starts dry here, after just 3½mm/0.15in rain here in the last four weeks. Lots of lovely sunshine and a pleasant average day temperature of 24C/75F, night minima of 11½C/53F. We are watering,

3rd July 2022 Summer

See mid month update in my newsletter here https://mailchi.mp/2132b158b2c2/sow-transplant-water-harvest?e=d992f1d9c9 The weather has been unusual. June for example was sunnier than normal, yet no war

31st May 2022 Featured, Summer

Summer is underway with tasty beetroot, broad beans, new cabbage and broccoli, carrots and more. It’s a top time for making a lot of compost too. Below I show the rewards of seed saving. and the

26th July 2021 Featured, Summer

Everything happens in July! No dig makes it all easier and quicker. You can replant a lot of your garden, after harvests of early plantings. Clear beds to replant as soon as you can, because every day

28th June 2021 Summer

A growing month, was June. Even though quite dry, with mm in the first four weeks. Average day temperature 21C 70F, average night temperature 10.5C 10F, see my live weather feed. We are fortunate with

14th June 2021 Featured, Summer

The cold spring is a distant memory! We have had three weeks of warm weather with day temperatures averaging 22 C and night temperatures averaging 9C 48F. Light levels are at a maximum so many plants

31st May 2021 Featured, Summer

Much of May has been cold, and this followed a remarkably cold April. The legacy is plant growth a long way behind what one expects at this time. May’s final five days have been warmer, afternoo

15th August 2020 Summer

Early August has been unusually warm here, night minimum temperatures averaging16C/61F and day maxima averaging 27C/81F. Growth is fast as long as one waters – we use a hose, which takes time w

25th July 2020 Featured, Summer

It’s a rainstorm as I write and I am grateful for it. Before today, July’s total rainfall was 29mm/1.2in and after this storm it’s 46mm/1.8in. Still below average. We have been water

12th July 2020 Featured, Summer

It’s speeding up now, but growth has been slowed by the weather here. A cool two weeks until 10th July saw daytime maxima always under 20C 68F and averaging 18.5C 65F, with just 4.5 hours sunshi

27th June 2020 Featured, Summer

June has been warm and with mixed weather, including decent rainfall! of 107mm so far. Rain in June is the best of any month, after the surge of growth in spring. At Homeacres it has rescued my peas,

13th June 2020 Featured, Summer

The weather is cooler and damper than May, but only 28mm/1.1in rain here so far. The soil under growing plants is still dusty – but some of you have had big rain, even too much. “A drippin

30th May 2020 Featured, Summer

May was the driest ever month here, in 47 years of my records. 1990 came close with 4mm rain compared to 3.2mm (0.13in) in May 2020. In the last 20 years, the previous driest May was 2010 with 34mm, s

11th August 2019 Featured, Summer

Writing this in a thunderstorm, our first substantial rain for two months of lovely warmth, over 40mm so far and 46mm in the end (1.9in) in four hours. All soaked in, watering finished for 2019 except

28th July 2019 Featured, Summer

Be ready with seeds of this month’s top sowings; spinach, salad rocket, mustards, pak choi, land cress, spring onions and spring cabbage. August can be a second spring in the garden, when it rains.

1st July 2019 Featured, Summer

Be prepared for everything: picking planting sowing weeding watering pests heat. Give as much time as you can now, for best results later. June here was much less hot than across the Channel. Our aver