Monday 17 February 2014

Weather terrible- gardening continues

What awful weather we've had  lately in the UK. Well saying that doesn't do it justice. I have nothing but sympathy for everyone affected- and contrary to those who may think that down South it's only "posh" houses by the Thames affected I can assure you it isn't.

 Last week I saw hundreds of extremely ordinary terraced houses in the London Borough of Croydon with filthy water lapping against them (it must have been in the houses as well), sunken cars, water gushing from manholes, a couple of forlorn fire engines piping water around, desolate minor roads, and elsewhere traffic hold-ups where major road underpasses were deliberately flooded as temporary reservoirs. And it has been going on for weeks. All credit to the emergency services and others which has stopped what looks like a disaster zone from actually being one.   Elsewhere of course there has been all sorts of damage, including the many hundreds of acres of crops destroyed by the constant flooding, and the massive problems for farmers.

The River Misbourne in Bucks is normally a small stream. In Amersham it has flooded cellars and back gardens. The picture was taken yeasterday after the water had receded quite a bit.
Any concerns we might have about the sogginess of allotments seem irrelevant.  However it has made me think about issues of food security. I think it is pretty much accepted now that the current situation is likely to be repeated- the relatively rapid global climate change is at last generally considered to be caused by humans- and we will see more dramatic weather events.  I hope we are intelligent enough to be able to globally co-operate in addressing issues and planning for the future, and it starts by getting our own house in order, and supporting one another.   But on the micro-scale of our allotments I have two thoughts- one (self-centerdly!) I'm glad we have an allotment if in the short term veg and fruit prices are likely to rise; and two- are we going to have to adapt our styles of gardening?

Here in East London we are lucky to be protected from our River Lea by a special flood relief channel- without it the allotment would undoubtedly be flooded, and the house not long after.  So we continue to work on the plot- with some good sunshine at the weekend and not at all sodden soil.

Oh, and in the back garden, the tender nasturtiums thrive... climate change?

 
We've moved the strawberries back to the edges of a front bed, to be used soon for potatoes.

We are getting to grips with the back section, which hasn't had too much attention in the first year of our plot
 
 

In the back garden the cyclamen look almost exotic

 

And the primroses in my £1 from the charity shop cage look cheerful in the sun!

But perhaps nicest of all are the snowdrops- here they are en-masse at the Chilterns Crematorium, Amersham- which has lovely wooded, natural grounds

 

11 comments:

  1. Interestingly not long ago we were told that we needed to grow drought tolerant plants in our gardens. I think the general problem is that we only ever are told what people what us to know and there is some vested interests at work in that.

    If you look into the situation more deeply you are really left wondering whether anyone really knows what is happening to our climate and what exactly is causing it - we only ever seem to be given part of the story. I don;t think the media are very helpful as some of the statistics quoted as fact don't stand up to close scrutiny,

    As you say though - soggy allotments and even a big lumnp of mortar on the car bonnet is small fry in the larger picture.

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    1. And I suspect on a small scale we can adapt to climate change on our plots. I hope there is research into the bigger picture going on behind the scenes without us being aware of it yet!

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  2. Was good to get back to your plot this weekend after such a long time without seeing it. It looks good!

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    1. Disappointing salsify crop though! Forgot to take a photo- did you eat the salsify?

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    2. I did - all 1 mouthful of it! It was ok but not particularly exciting. It did smell slightly oyster-ish but the taste was somewhat bland. A better chef could no doubt have made more of it.

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    3. Simmered it for a few minutes until soft, then fried it for a minute or so.

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  3. There is a weather pattern emerging, it seems that when we have extreme weather it stays for much longer than before. When we have very cold weather, the cold weather lasts for many weeks or even months, rather than a few days. When we have a cold spring it last for months, when we have a rainy winter it lasts for months. This is kind of a new weather pattern and is all to do with the jet streams – why, is anybody’s guess I think, so far I have heard so many theories that I don’t know what to believe.

    I feel for all the people affected by the bad weather, here in Newham we are protected by the Thames Barrier, without it my house, and my son’s house would have been flooded several times this winter.

    I hope you are enjoying the relatively dryer weather and that spring has arrived in your garden too!

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    1. And now the weather is just right for gardening Helene! In fact I got too hot at the weekend, it's definitely Spring now isn't it?!

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  4. Primerose in the cage.... so beautiful, interesting! Thanks for sharing. A nice blog!

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  5. Many thanks Endah! I need to put a new post up because now the weather is perfect for gardening!

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