I think a note about the weather is overdue. We are expecting a third heatwave over the next few days and into next week. I gather the Met Office defnition of a heatwave is three consecutive days above 28 degrees centigrade. We have had a number of days above 30 degrees so far and a high of 32 expected again this weekend. But the real problem is the record breaking dry Spring. We had barely a drop of rain for more than three months where we are. During March, April and May we had a total of 22mm (less than one inch) and relatively little either side of this period.
Looking at the surrounding wheat fields the crop looks stunted and the stalks not very dense. Nearby, the combines have already started to harvest. The grass for hay and silage for feeding livestock over Winter has also been affected and I doubt the usual three cuts during the Summer will be achieved. I expect their will be lots of knock-on impacts on food prices when these weather effects work their way through the system.
Our grazing has been quite depleted as a result. We need some serious and prolonged rain to turn things around.
Aside from this, some things have been doing well. After a several years of an apricot crop in single figures, this year (they are not quite ready yet) it looks like we will have something considerly more substantial. The grrenhouse plants, too, are flourishing. We have had plenty of cucumbers, the beginnings of the tomato crop and high expectations for aubergines and peppers not too far off.
 |
| This year's lambs in the shade of a plum tree |
I was watching a farmer on TV saying that the heat has really affected the grass this year and there has not been enough for the animals. Im glad there is shade for them under the plum trees...
ReplyDeleteYes, it’s a real problem, especially in East Anglia.
DeleteSounds like John Lewis-Stempel in La Vie; just like farming in South of France. Cutting his hay to feed sheep because the grass has stopped growing.
ReplyDeleteFresh apricots from the tree! Definitely the Mediterranean life!
We are having to think what the best way of using the apricots will be. It’s a novel situation for us.
DeleteI hope you get some good rain. I overheard a farmer talking today on a bus in Southern Ontario, how you can take off one crop of hay and then everything burns up brown. Farming is such a precarious weather dependent activity, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI hope your apricot trees produce well, I love apricot jam, which was always available when we lived in Vienna as the trees grow all along the Danube.
Apricot jam is a possible option.
ReplyDelete