Unfortunately, this year we fell victim to a surprisingly rare occurence of a field fire. Considering the required dry conditions for harvest this is only the third time in my lifetime that I can remember a harvest time fire and this is by far the most destructive. The fire took hold on the field known …
Weather . . . or not BBC website weather summary on 4th November. “One of the warmest October months on record gives way to a mild start for November. It will turn colder as we move through the month and this will bring some night-time frosts. It looks set to be a rather unsettled month …
Weather or not Remember my comments a month ago; and remember also that I am writing a month before you read this. How do you remember the weather in June? We had a week away in Devon in the middle of the month and that county was rapidly rehydrating whilst we were there! There was …
Weather or not Today (6th June) my heart is singing (quietly to itself, you understand) like the blackbird in the rain in our garden. We have had the best part of 20 hours of steady rain which, together with a couple of decent rains a week or so ago, at last brings some welcome relief …
Weather or not The very dry weather continues. Only 12” have fallen since the beginning of September 2010. This is very bad news for crops in this area, particularly those sown in the spring. Our winter wheat is suffering and we estimate a potential yield loss of 25% as I write, and it’s likely to …
Weather or not Provisional Met Office rainfall figures show that March 2011 was the driest for 60 years across the UK and for 100 years in some parts of eastern England. At the moment rainfall distribution is following last year’s pattern of a very dry spring which brings challenges on the farm (see below). How …
I am writing this in the last days of February. After a few cold, grey ones, today is a beautiful spring day; warm and bright. Blossom is breaking out, daffodils are about to, and there is once again the prospect of longer, brighter days ahead. (On reviewing this article on the 28th February the weather …
Where are the weeks going? Already as I write Snowdrops are well on flower and crocuses are showing through. The days, especially evenings, are noticeably longer. The light is different and the birds know something is changing. On a lovely crisp sunny morning earlier this week a pair of buzzards were wheeling and mewling above …
Suddenly, 2011 is off at a gallop, the struggle with the snow and severe frosts in December a distant(ish) memory and Snowdrops are showing shoots through slumbering soil. Once again, though always missing our cows, I am so relieved that we are no longer dairy farming, and struggling with frozen water pipes, (150 cows producing …
If you walk along the top of Crackle Hill and then downhill towards Polehanger you will notice a big difference between the wheat crops on view from the top of Crackle Hill, which are more advanced than the crops in the fields between the track and Nuns Wood, together with those ahead and beyond around …
Oakley: a month in the life of a wheat plant continued Read More »
