Hurricane force

An image from Twitter as Franklin approached the coast.

The third storm of the week, #StormFranklin, turned out to pack the biggest punch to us. It blew for a long time and it blew harder than the previous two, Dudley and Eunice. The highest gusts recorded at Mayo Sailing Club were at 2 am at 81 knots - that's 150 kph. But gusts in the 70s lasted for many hours. That's a category 2 cyclone for hours on end. Sustained winds were over 40 knots from 3 in the afternoon to 4 in the morning. 

Is this the new normal?  I was heartbroken today when I saw the damage in the garden. Nothing major - a gorse bush broke, Alex's Inukshuk was dangerously altered losing his midsection so he had to take it down. But every shrub and plant that has started to bud and bloom was devastated. Withered and burned by the salt wind. Every window in the house is coated in heavy salt. 

I walked the vineyard and there appears to be no damage. The ground is VERY wet and I have no idea what the salt will do. The Galicians claim that the salt air adds to the terroir, but this was more than salt air. It was more like a scouring. Thankfully the careful staking and pruning seem to have held. 

I've been adding wood ash to the soil around the vines to condition the pH. I've got 5 rows done and only one left to go. I have a pH testing kit and will give it a go after a few days when it's all done. 

I've also fed the fruit trees and soft fruit shrubs with an organic fruit fertilizer, thinking it may help. Not if this wind continues. 

At least the polytunnel survived and everything inside is thriving, including my peach tree which has flowered for the first time. And strawberries are coming. So exciting. I've been pollinating by hand with a brush. It's been great to have fresh broccoli, lettuce, endive, peas, rocket, and Swiss chard through the winter. Wonderful. Very happy with the results. Everything seems healthy for a change. I think the treatment with fulvic acid really helped. I've also added microbes to the soil in the raised beds. 

Meanwhile, the bees were quite active today as the temperature increased and the wind subsided. Alex has been busy building and thatching his natural beehives out of old monkey puzzle tree sections.

 

Let's hope the worst of the weather has passed. I have started propagating my seeds. We bought so many this year. I've also been a plantaholic this winter, buying up stuff from Lidl and the coop and online. Now I will have to plant it all. 

 

Not again!

Storm Franklin

The third named storm in a week approaches us today. Storm Franklin will bring heavy rain, strong winds and 15m waves to the Donegal coast. In fact, there are multiple systems crossing the Atlantic all week. It looks like we will have rain and wind every day except Tuesday. The vineyard will be a swamp by the time this pattern subsides if it ever does. Is this the new normal?

The test of weather

 

Well, we survived two named storms in one week. Storm Eunice made landfall as a category 2 cyclone in Kerry and West Cork today. We had northerlies against which we are protected by the hill behind our house and vineyard. We were spared by track. But a Category 2 storm that they are now tracking like hurricanes and the NWS in the US tracking the storm's progress for us? Where is this heading?  Are hurricanes now the norm for us? Bloody hell. 

We did not get the snowfall that was projected for this morning. Just a dusting of sleet, snow and hail, but the hail showers continued through the day so it was hard to go up the hill to see what was going on. The squalls were ferocious. 

Croagh Patrick was stunning dressed in white against the whiteness of the storm.  Very flat light all day. Fierce, cold gusts. Alex is in Dublin for an event but I stayed home to tend to the homestead. I've experienced a bit of anxiety after exposure to lots of people and decided this event was not that important. 

Meanwhile, the seed hatching factory has been up and running for the past few days. First time trying seed propagators. I'm sorry to learn that I haven't been gardening by the moon. Right. Another thing to learn and plan for. Sometimes I feel like I am gardening on Mars. I hope to be able to walk to the top of our hill in the morning to get a view of Nephin before the snow melts. Hopefully, I won't get blown off. 

Stormy weather

#StormDudley not so bad right now

Two deep low-pressure systems have been named by the Met Office and will bring very strong winds and potentially snow to the UK and Ireland this week. I don't know how they choose who gets to name them. 

⚠️The warnings are in place. 

#StormDudley will bring a spell of wet and very windy weather today. A yellow wind warning is in place nationwide from noon today until noon tomorrow, with the strongest winds expected in coastal areas and on high ground. Windguru is showing gusts higher than 50 knots later today. Highest temperatures of 9 to 13 degrees C.

🌊Large coastal waves & some coastal flooding are possible. 

Current predicted track of #StormEunice

#StormEunice is the second named storm to impact Ireland this week, bringing high winds and the potential for snow. Some are even saying to expect blizzard-like conditions on Friday morning. In fact, all models are showing heavy precipitation overnight and temperatures around 1C.  #sneachta  

Strong jet stream will fuel Storm Eunice

Storm Eunice is expected to deepen rapidly with central pressure reaching as low as 965mb, 'as the low forms in the right entrance of a jet streak and shifts across to the left exit region'. The exact track/depth is uncertain, which will affect the location of the strongest winds, but there is potential for disruption on Friday especially in the southernmost parts of the country while the northernmost parts get snow pulled down from the North. A definite whiff of explosive cyclogenesis will be in the air as we run through Thursday into Friday (1005mb down to 965mb Thursday noon to Friday noon - 40mb drop in 24hrs).

Central pressure of 965 mb shown centered over the UK. 

The ground in the vineyard was already quite soggy and this week isn't going to help. At least we managed to tie down all the vines securely to their posts and I managed to finish pruning in the orchard. Hopefully, the damage will be minimized. 

They've just issued hurricane-force wind warnings for parts of the UK and Ireland. 

PS Got through Dudley without too much ado. Although Ghost and I got caught up in the polytunnel through the worst of it. 

California woes

February heat wave in California

The drought in California continues and now includes a rare winter heat wave. It was in the 80Fs this weekend in LA during the Super Bowl. The second week of February offered a preview of summer for southern Californians as unusually early heat set records from San Diego to San Francisco. Temperatures 15-20F above normal were seen in southern California from Wednesday through Sunday. Hot and dry conditions mean greater fire hazard. People are saying there is no more fire season as the fire hazard continues all year round these days. They are now praying for rain and no frost. 

California saw major storms in December that pushed parts of the state out of the most severe categories of drought. The storms brought record rainfall and snow – some areas received more than 122in of snow over seven days and reached 159% of normal for the time period. 

Meanwhile, in Northern California, vintners reported the smallest harvest in 10 years. As in other places, they report the quality of the grapes is outstanding even if there is so much less available. 

Looking viney

The day started off with beautiful sunshine. We had a visitor mid-day and took a walk around the land with him to show him the vineyard. I must say, the first vines planted are looking substantially viney these days. And there was still one rose in bloom. 

Winter clean-up

 

While I continue the pruning in the orchard (in between weather systems, that is), Alex has been strimming the rewilding areas, collecting the debris, and carrying it away up the hill. We haven't done this and we are hoping it will improve the wildflower mix by suppressing the grasses. Hopefully, the yellow rattle will have taken. I need to spread the poppy seeds. I know they are not native to Ireland, but they are beautiful and I harvested tons of seeds last autumn of many varieties. I'll start scattering them this week and continue weekly until they are gone. 

Today was a miserable day weather-wise, so ghost and I watered the polytunnel plants and pruned the raspberries and that was it. The beds in the polytunnel were not getting watered. Alex figured out the batteries were dead in the timer. All's well now and the timer didn't 'forget' the schedule. I've been harvesting peas and broccoli and lettuce. The strawberries are already producing fruit, so it's all very exciting. 

I am starting the seed trays tomorrow. I have loads of seeds to start this year. I'm trying to be organized. I've created a crop rotation plan for the polytunnel, and a plan for what goes into the tunnel versus the cold frame, greenhouse and outdoor garden. It's a very busy time of year.