Makeshift

The high winds are now forecast to carry on from Saturday morning to Monday night, and we have an associated Met Service severe weather Watch. Gales are likely in ‘exposed areas’. Depending upon the exact direction of the wind, Chez Mima can be an exposed area. I’m prepared. 

The winds are from the northern quarter, so temperatures will be in the high teens to low 20s. 

The combination of gales and warmth present me with a problem because I have several trays of veg seedlings in the tunnel which need hardening off, prior to planting them out later next week. I can’t put the trays on the staging outside the tunnel like I do usually, because the seedlings will be blown to pieces, or even blown away altogether.

I need a cold frame to protect them from the wind and allow them to become used to outside temperatures.

Fortunately I have an old bath which has been leaning against the fence by the tunnel for the last two years, waiting for its purpose to be revealed.

It is a perfect makeshift cold frame. You can see the peas and brassicas in there, cosy away from the wind, especially after I popped another green windbreak on top. 

The Totara post is also a relic of this property, carved by a former owner perhaps? It is a weighty wood and holds the covers down nicely.

It took all of 5 minutes to put together, and I am pleased with finding such a simple solution. It demonstrates the value of hanging onto stuff which will one day be essential for an unexpected reason.

So that was five minutes. What about the rest of the day? 

I watered a lot of recently-planted trees, the raised beds which have plants in them (broad beans, garlic and carrots), the raspberry canes, and the skerrit / yacon bed. We might get a few mm of rain overnight and tomorrow if we’re lucky, but it won’t be enough to soak in far.

When the wind wasn’t too strong I line-trimmed some of the orchard. It’s great weather for it: all the bits blow away and don’t cover me with a thin coat of grass and weed fragments.

Bellbirds, but no Tūīs today.

I’m happily weary.