View from the Rear Window - June 2022 ~ Crafty Cabbage

June is the month when everything in the garden moves into high growth mode, especially in the kitchen garden. All danger of frost has gone, there is plenty of warmth in the June sun, daylight hours are peaking and it just needs sufficient rainfall to bring all the plants on.

Early June (2nd to 5th) was the Platinum Jubilee Weekend celebrating 70 years on the throne for Queen Elizabeth II. We held an impromptu Garden Party for a few neighbours on the Sunday (5th). The banners went up on the 4th and the patio was given a good clean! From the rear window, the garden looks green and leafy but not that exciting!

June 4th - the day before our Platinum Jubilee Garden Party

By mid-June (16th), all the roses (right foreground) were in flower ...

June 16th

... yet, by the end of June (28th), only the pink roses (Gertrude and Maid Marion) were prominent while the patio has stayed remarkably clear ...

June 28th

Jobs in the Garden

1. Harvest strawberries, asparagus (till mid-June), cherries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, raspberries, cucumbers, salad vegetables and radish

2. Succession sow climbing French beans (Organic Cobra)

3. Succession sow Sweetcorn (Incredible F1)

4. Transplant celery and celeriac into large Salad/Veg Planters

5. Transplant brassicas (calabrese, cauliflower, kale, brocolli, red cabbage) into final positions

6. Sow salad vegetables in large & small Salad/Veg Planters

7. Regular watering of leeks in seed bed

8. Replace pheromone lures in codling moth traps

9. Transplant butternut squash and courgettes into their final positions

10. Trim wild cherry tree, medlar, hedgerow - lots of shredding & composting

June 2022 Weather

June's weather statistics are summarized below. A bit of a mixture weatherwise - not hot, not cold, not wet, not dry.

June 2022
Weather Parameter	Value	Dates
Average Monthly Temperature	16 oC
Maximum Monthly Temperature	32 oC	17th
Minimum Monthly Temperature	6 oC	2nd
Number of Air Frost Days	0
Number of Hot Days (> 25 oC)	7
Monthly Precipitation	43.0 mm
Greatest 24 h Precipitation	9.0 mm	4th - 5th
Number of Dry Days	11
Monthly Sunshine Hours (estimated)	205
Average Wind Speed	3 km/h
Highest Wind Speed	39 km/h	26th
Maximum Barometric Pressure (Sea Level)	1026.5 hPa	13th
Minimum Barometric Pressure (Sea Level)	1000.8 hPa	23rd
Average Barometric Pressure (Sea Level)	1015.5 hPa

Daily maximum and minimum temperatures are plotted below [click for larger image]. Steady overnight temperatures throughout the month with a warm period in the middle of the month. According to the UK Met Office, June temperatures in Herefordshire were close to normal (relative to the 1991-2020 period).

Rainfall and solar radiation (proxy for sunshine hours) for June are shown below [click for larger image]. There were more wet days than dry days but we did enjoy an extended warm, dry and sunny period in the middle of the month. Met Office provisional data for June indicates near normal rainfall and sunshine hours for Herefordshire.

A comparison of June 2022 with its predecessors of 2020 & 2021 [next two bar graphs - click for larger image] confirms how similar the June weather has been over the last three years.