It's been a strange summer on many fronts, mostly due to the very high temperatures, and the lack of rain.
This has had a hugely detrimental effect on crops and wildlife. Our Apples are all small, our Peaches dried-up, the pomegranates are pathetic, and our grapes have, inadvertently, become raisins. By contrast, our Fig crop has been huge; but they never fail.
At this time of year there is usually a constant drone from Crickets in the grass, and from Cicadas in the trees. This year there is silence. Nor do we have many Wasps, and absolutely no Hornets, about which we are not complaining.
I have not seen a single large green Lizard, and only ONE Praying Mantis (above).
In the fields, the Sunflower heads are very small, and I imagine that the crops will be miserable.
Elsewhere the Chestnuts are beginning to swell inside their husks, and, as with the Walnuts, I expect the crops will be OK; they are both deep-rooted and can probably find enough moisture.
There have been no mushrooms, so my Cèpes will, this Winter, come from expensive tins (of which I've bought several)!
The big storm of July 17th was vicious and destructive, but the short burst of torrential rain soon evaporated, and did no good. What we really need are a few days of constant gentle rain.
We've just had a small storm last night. Lots of bangs, flashes, and strong wind; but hardly any rain.
Will this now become our regular annual weather pattern? That remains to be seen.
13 comments:
It is all beginning to sound like a dismal apocalyptic Hollywood film.
I've been thinking of a post like this too. It's been a very different summer. While you've been roasting over there we've had cool breezes and still are. Makes you wonder . Is it all to do with El Nino and ocean currents. What will the next months and years be like
By the way it is a bumper year for figs here too and we've been given a bag of them. I'm making fig chutney today. Just a little. K loves those figs so I can't take too many
It's very worrying isn't it. Last year I made a couple of "bee hotels" and was delighted when they were almost 100% occupied. This year I put them out again and have been massively disappointed...there seem to be hardly any bees about apart from the usual bumblebees and even then there seem to be fewer of those. I've seen hardly any honeybees despite my garden being full of lavender and other bee friendly plants and just wonder where they've all gone? I thought bees liked dry weather but it seems not....
A lot of it has been OK, but there are a lot of disasters too. When Summer temperatures rise above 40 C, we'll know we're in trouble.
The Fig Chutney I made is delicious; perfect with a mature hard cheese.
Much the same here. We have a few of the big black Carpenter Bees, but no Hummingbird Hawk Moths, or ordinary Honey Bees. I do hope they haven't all died-out under ground.
It does indeed remain to be seen. If we get a chain of summers like this one Nature and agriculture will be utterly changed.
If you have access to The Sunday Times, it has three weeks of Eric Idle’s diary. He lives in Cotignac and had to evacuate twice due to the fires.
No bumble bees on the lavender. In the Midlands, the wheat has been harvested already, the news reports the crop about 3O% down. Milk yields down. The trees are turning brown for an early autumn.
I already find it worrying not hearing the sound of the Crickets etc. It doesn't seem right.
Oh dear. The smoke was terrible here two days ago. It was like thick fog, and the smell was awful. We were ready to evacuate, but it was from miles away.
It's still quite green here, most local trees have deep roots, and are OK. Only one cutting of hay here this year, so how dairy farmers will cope over winter is anyone's guess.
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