Category Archives: Weather

We’ve Gotta Crop!

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Two months ago, following an April with no rain, our oat crop was heading for disaster. It was thin, yellowing and prospective yields were at rock bottom. This was so plain to see, that during a school visit, an eight-year-old from London asked me how I hoped to grow a crop in rocks (the clay soil had dried out completely). Suddenly rain in the last month has changed the picture dramatically and I am looking forward to harvest…

The Oats are green and thick as well,
the rain has saved a harvest from Hell,
this farmer’s happy, this wasn’t planned,
the rain has made a green and pleasant land!
I only hope the rain will stop,
when we come to harvest the crop!

Have a good day, things sometimes turn out better than expected!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
STILL HERE AFTER 25 YEARS!
It is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Feed your hungry sat-nav with SG7 6RD

2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY MORNING!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

 

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Rainbow Timing!

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With my limited experience with a camera I have always found it difficult to capture the perfect rainbow. I end up either too early or just too late having missed the perfect photo. My effort yesterday evening after a heavy storm was just about ok! Rather like life, it’s all down to timing…

If you’re in the right place,
at the right time,
perfect picture,
perfect rhyme!

Wrong place,
at the wrong time,
the photo’s crap,
useless rhyme!

So may your day,
include the former,
perfect rainbow,
after a soaking stormer!

Have a great day and may you always have rainbows rather than storms.

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
STILL HERE AFTER 25 YEARS!
It is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Feed your hungry sat-nav with SG7 6RD

2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY MORNING!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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The Saturday Weather Gods!

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Running any outdoor event in the UK is at the mercy of the weather. Last week, just at the wrong time for my Saturday car boot sale, the heavens opened and we had a very heavy thunderstorm. I have never seen rain as heavy during a sale in the twenty-five years it’s been running. I must have angered the Weather Gods…

The God’s in heaven had a meeting,
“How can we punish him today?
He has been very demanding,
for fine weather on his knees he pray!
He wants fine weather on a Saturday,
so he can host a good boot sale,
every so often we have to punish him,
so as a human he knows how to fail!
Lets move around some furniture,
lightening to make a loud ‘crack’,
a heavy shower with a watering can,
for the boot sale – that’ll be that.”

They reckoned without my customers,
made of sterner stuff they are,
simply took temporary shelter,
by hiding away in the car!
Then the sun came out smiling,
the sale continued as before,
“Drat” said the Gods in their heaven,
“We’ll punish him in the future for sure!”

Whatever you are doing today I hope you stay healthy, lucky and safe. See you the other side of the weekend. BB

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com

The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
STILL HERE AFTER 25 YEARS!
It is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
Feed your hungry sat-nav with SG7 6RD

2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY MORNING!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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The Joy of a Blocked Drain!

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This morning the sky is dark, there is a mist hanging over the wood and it has been raining overnight. A quick look around the yard shows up a blocked drain, there are even puddles on the drive and the geese and ducks are smiling…

I never thought I’d be so pleased,
to find a blocked drain.
Overnight,
we’ve had 11mm of rain!
That’s more than I’ve seen,
In the last 30 days,
(says he shouting:
Hip Hip Hourays!)

I wondered if it would rain,
again this year,
…so out with the waterproofs,
I’ve a drain to clear!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com
The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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Rain Rain!

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We are looking forward to a super-soaking-shower in order to cure all the ills that are afflicting the crops on the farm, namely lack of rain! When spreading fertiliser on Thursday the drone footage showed up all the stressed areas of the crops as being almost yellow. This is purely down to only having only 9mm of rain (less than a quarter of normal) since March 23rd, in what should have been a period packed full of April showers. However even though we are desperate, we can be picky…

“Rain, rain come today,”
Not today it’s Saturday!
Maybe when the bootsale’s over,
you can make your way from Dover!
If this morning from France you’re sent,
spend the morning down in Kent!
Lets us have a weekend fun-day,
you can send all you like on Monday!

One good thing about the weather
…politicians control it? Please not ever!

Have a great weekend wherever you are and may your plans not be spoiled by either weather or politicians! Stay safe and enjoy yourselves!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com
The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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The Spillage!

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Yesterday, in anticipation of a much needed shower of rain, we applied the final dose of fertiliser to the wheat and oats. Unfortunately I ended up having to clear up where I had been clumsy with a big bag. I was careful to scatter the sweepings onto the field as I remembered what happened last time…

Sometimes you just can’t help it,
things will end up wrong,
the best ever intentions,
leave you in the pong!

Yesterday I split a bag,
not a ‘bag for life’,
I ended up a-shovelling
I hadn’t used a knife!

I’d driven over a nasty bump,
the big bag swung around,
and before I could stop it,
spilt fertiliser on the ground.

The last time that it happened
many years ago
I sprinkled it on the lawn
…all I ever did was mow!

Thank Heavens for Gaffer Tape! It doesn’t just hold my trousers up and mend a ripped ton-bag but a whole host of other life-saving jobs around the farm!
If you don’t want to spend all your free time mowing, go steady with the fertiliser!
Have a fantastic Friday. BB
STOP PRESS…… 2mm of rain overnight – Never have I been so pleased with so little. At least the fertiliser won’t evaporate and the plants will get some benefit! HAPPY DAYS!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com


The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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The Disappointment of Rain Gauges!

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Like a small child waking up on Christmas Day, I rushed out to my rain gauge this morning to see what the clouds had left me in the last 24 hours. The result was like getting the train tracks from Santa, with optional station and signal box, but without any rolling stock! However the forecast suggests ‘Light Rain Showers’ from 2pm until midnight…

The disappointment in my rain gauge,
will haunt me all day long,
just 2 millimetres (or an eighth of an inch),
is neither right nor wrong!
I suppose it’s just a case,
of farmers being satisfied,
with what we’ve got (not a lot!),
and accept the weather’s not on our side!
…But there’s is always hope for today!

If you’re looking forward to a sunny day, I hope you find it. However if you spot some rain-bearing clouds, please send them my way (but NOT for Saturday!).

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com
The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

 

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Mr Bunn’s Big Bag!

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Throughout my farming career there have not been many years when we haven’t used fertiliser from Bunns, an old established company from Norfolk. While waiting for the spreader yesterday, I contemplated the wonderful advancement of the big bag that makes my job of carting to the spreader from the barn so easy. I the days of my youth the man doing the same job used to have to handle 1cwt (50kg) bags by hand, a back-breaking task…

Years ago a Mr Bunn,
said to his wife: “let’s give farmer’s fun!”
They sat in the kitchen with a bottle of Tizer,
“we’ll sell them small bags of fertiliser!”
So for years they made farmers sweat,
(and praying for rain but not too wet!)
After the couple had enjoyed a good laugh:
“Let’s go down a different path!
We’ve made them panic, now let the sweat run,
we’ll fill a bag that weighs a ton!”
Every year it’s easier for me,
they didn’t take into account my JCB!

With many thanks to Bunns and all the fertiliser manufacturers and sellers for initiating a quiet revolution un-noticed by most who drive by our farms.

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com
The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

 

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April Showers?

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This has been an extraordinary month. April showers have failed to materialise and fertiliser that should have been applied in late-March still sits in the shed a month later. The urea needs moisture to activate it otherwise it just evaporates and no nutrients reach the plant. Luckily we farm heavy clay soil that is well known (and often cursed!) for its moisture retention properties – mostly it’s either hard as rock or wet as muck. This year, despite the dry conditions it is ‘friendly soil’, however I could still do with some rain…

Like passengers at a bus stop,
bags of fertiliser wait in line,
they’ve been queuing for a month,
waiting all this time!
We can’t blame the weather on Brexit,
Trump or even Le Pen,
we want absent April showers,
would help the crops no end!
They say you can’t please a farmer,
no wonder they curse and shout,
lack of rain when needed,
will arrive when the combine’s out!

…despite some slight drizzle yesterday evening, this morning the sun shines like a summer’s morn! Oh well, the one thing nobody control is the weather, so I might as well sit back and enjoy it!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com
The Baldock ‘Boutique’ Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
2017 Season
EVERY SATURDAY!
until mid-October
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

 

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Holiday View!

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Mrs Bard and I were having a drink with a couple the other evening and the subject of holiday photos was discussed. They seemed to favour one from a few years ago when they stayed in a villa in the Tuscany Hills in Italy. They promised to e-mail it to me. When it arrived I was much impressed, but wondered if it had come from the brochure…

Marvin and Janet went to stay,
in a Tuscany villa for holiday.
Every evening glasses of wine,
a very good job the weather was fine!
Two chairs, a table, bottle and view,
does it look just like the brochure to you?
Two weeks of idyl, they’ve not returned,
this year’s a package, lessons learned?

Wherever you are in the world this morning, enjoy the view! – Cheers!

© Baldock Bard 2017
For more from the Baldock Bard click on ‘Home’ above

Facebook: Baldock Bard
Twitter: @baldockbard
E-mail: simon.holtom@btconnect.com
The Baldock Boot Sale
SG7 6RD
is the friendliest bargain bonanza anywhere!
BACK THIS SATURDAY!
2017 Season
From April 22nd to mid-October 2017
With more FREE parking and a field full of bargains!
www.u-boot.co.uk

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