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This topic contains 5 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by Kah Reyd 12 years, 11 months ago.
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10th April 2011 at 7:54 am #21137
For some years now dry spring/early summer has been a real problem in East Yorkshire. Away from the coast the sea frets and occasional showers seem to miss us and little of any promised rain from the west reaches us. With the best will in the world, by judicious use of water, building organic content and mulching, some crops do not perform satisfactorily. I think the answer lies in more sophisticated irrigation techniques but done properly could be an expensive operation. Local farmers rely heavily on overwintered cereals and rape. Potatoes, peas and carrots are watered from the increasingly familiar large scale irrigation lakes that are appearing all over the place. Watering by hand helps but even that becomes ineffective if rain does not arrive and hand watering is too time consuming and hard work. Any water butts soon become empty which means tap water must be used, to the chagrin of allotment authorities.
Any suggestions very much appreciated.
Pete
11th April 2011 at 5:31 am #22461East Yorkshire sounds Saharan! I do appreciate your point and recent springs have been much drier than summers.
I may not be the best person to answer as we have a little more rain than you describe, for example in March we had 1.2" (30mm) and in April so far, until 11th, we have had 3/4" (19mm), just enough to maintain moisture although some plants like leeks and spring cabbage could do with rain.
On the other hand i do find that animal manure has helped, and retains more moisture than the fluffier green waste and mushroom composts. I gather you do nit dig, which is the main way of maximising early moisture. I avoid bulky mulches like straw because of potential for slugs and their impracticality in terms of sowing and setting out small plants.
Re irrigation, I have never practised it so cannot help there. I do all watering with a hose, even in my tunnels, about half an hour a week in each one at the moment. All plants are watered in and then left to send their roots down, except in great heat when a second or third small watering is given, always by hand to the rootball, not over all the soil, so water is economised massively.
11th April 2011 at 6:55 pm #22462Thanks for that Charles. Unfortunately hose pipes are a no no on allotments and at the moment the main problem is direct sown seeds, i.e. parsnips, carrots and lettuce. Today was typical a rain bearing front from the west gave 10 minutes rainfall so I reluctantly watered my seed rows with a fine rose, (still waiting for carrots and parsnips to emerge).
Pete
11th April 2011 at 7:34 pm #22459I wonder if you shouldn’t sow parsnips earlier as the seed do not mind cold and do not seem to rot over-winter, last year I had some germinate well from a November sowing (it was a mistake, for a photo shoot in fact). this year I sowed mid February and there are lovely rows now.
Re today’s front, we had no rain at all and an extremely drying wind to boot.
12th April 2011 at 7:07 pm #22460You`re dead right about parsnips Charles and I always get them in early (20th/23rd March this year). That usually gets them away but I`ll certainly try earlier next year. Incidentally I sowed some late ones last year when the weather turned in May and surprisingly they did ok. So all is not lost.
Pete
16th April 2011 at 7:39 am #22463Hi Pete
I live in Essex in one of the driest parts of the country, I have an allotment on which I have limited time to tend.. when setting it up 4years ago my attention was taken by the method of gardening by the Head Gardener at Tresillion House in Cornwall, his name is John Harris. He avocates digging trenches under your crops, filling them with good rotted organic material, refilling, this then captures the moisture that is drawn up by the first phases of the moon, and the falling rain, when we get it:) Quite opposite to Charles method however the deep dug trench lasts for 4years… Worth a read… It does work.This year I have read about Charles method and my interest has been similarly taken so I have created raised beds at my allotment and filled 18inches will good rooted organic material and topped up the rest of the raised bed with soil. With a view to topping with up per Charle’s method when appropriate for the beds, my goal is to have produce all year.
I still have my Runner Beans over a Deep trench and my Potatoes…. I do water a bit but nothing like my neighbouring allotment holders and the soil stays moist right where the roots of the plants are. Good luck Kah -
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