A number of records have been broken recently concerning extremes in weather. January this year (2008) was the second warmest on record, since they began keeping records in 1706. The warmest January on record was last year (2007).
Last year I started all my plants indoors at the usual time, and planted them out also on schedule. Had I know the weather was going to be so warm, I could have put them out two months earlier. This year I’m going to assume the weather is going to be warmer and not wait before putting some of my plants out.
Yesterday another record was broken. This record was for the highest barometric pressure ever recorded in February. This has meant for the last several days the weather has been sunny and very dry. Anyone who lives in a northern maritime climate will know this is not normal for February. This meant it was a good day for taking pictures.
This is the Prinsengracht canal near my house.
This is the view from my garden along the path leading up to it.
There’s not much growing in any of the gardens right now, with the exception of kale. Lots of the gardens have a few of these plants. I don’t know the name of the variety, but it’s what everyone calls ordinary kale. I never saw it before I moved to the Netherlands, but it’s everywhere here, and it tastes nice. I think it’s an F1 variety. This gardener’s plants aren’t doing well and are a little small. He also has red colored as well as green, which I’ve never seen before.
I love to see photos of where people live and garden and that canal looks interesting. The kale looks like what I know as Scotch Kale. When planting out early – at least there is 1 bonus to all this odd weather – don’t forget some plants grow by day length as well as temperature. Our summer (Adelaide, Australia) has so far been very average, despite gloomy predictions. Today is going to be a very dry 40 degrees C, that’s about 110F. By Saturday it will be only 22C or 74F. It is a roller coaster here in summer!It will be a good day to be blogging, out of the heat.Happy gardening.
Speaking of records, this has been our driest year since 91 years ago. We had some rain today (for the first time this year, if not mistaken).
I’m sending you the asparagus seeds tomorrow patrick. Still haven’t received yours, but I’m planing on not starting them indoors, but direct sow them.
How cool that you can follow weather trends for the last 300 years! Whenever they report on that stuff here it’s always, “…since record keeping began in 1950…”
I love the photos!
Hoi Patrick
I think this is the same kale as we call in dutch:boerenkool.
Greetz from Monique
Thanks for the comments everyone.
Hi Monique! It’s nice to hear from you. Boerenkool is kale in English. I was just reading a 150 year old American gardening book, and I saw at that time it was called ‘borecole’ (probably the German word). I wonder how the name kale came about and why only in the last hundred years or so. Kale is a strange word.
Kate — I think you are right, I think the common English name for it is Scotch Kale (although all the other Europeans that grow it in their own countries may not agree).
I just did a little etymology search and kale/kail is the Scots word for cabbage. I hear a lot that the Scots invented everything, but in this case they really did!
Your kales are very probably Greenbor F1 & Redbor F1: very amateur mainstream in the Low Countries.