A Week on the Estate: Gin Foraging, Plum Jamming & Not Raining
Whisper it but we may have seen summer’s last heatwave. Last week brought clear skies, temperatures above 30C, high humidity and little wind. This week, high pressure was displaced by westerly frontal systems bringing scattered and sometimes heavy rain across the UK. We had useful and sometimes heavy midweek showers in the Lincolnshire Wolds, but the enduring relief our region needs remains elusive. The coming week is set to give us highs of 23C and lows of 11C, a more clement but still generally dry outlook.
As expected, the Environment Agency has declared drought conditions for eight UK regions including ours. While water supplies to consumers are believed secure for now, the agricultural sector is likely to be strongly affected. Like other farmers, we began our harvest much earlier than usual, and in drilling next year’s crops we’ll have to consider the condition of the soil and the prospect of a dry winter.
Groundwater levels will need a sustained wet season to recover, not least because it could take weeks of gentle rain to make baked earth sufficiently permeable. According to the Environment Agency, 13 monitored river levels are at a record low and the moisture deficit in soil samples is comparable to the aftermath of the 1976 drought. They also warn that a dominant westerly weather pattern means that regions east of the Pennines could remain unusually dry until at least October.
