|
Post by onlyMark on Aug 10, 2021 18:24:12 GMT
My phone says for Thursday through till Monday, low 40's Celsius. I wouldn't mind it cooling down a bit.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Aug 10, 2021 18:30:19 GMT
You are near Jaén, aren't you, Mark? I saw a report in the Guardian about how some olive producers are experimenting with leaving plants/bushes between the rows of trees, instead of ploughing all the soil, which leaves complete aridity with no insects or birds or small animals. In the places where it was tried, it has made a big difference -- perhaps it would bring temperatures down a bit too? Same thing being tried in some vineyards north of there. Here is the article: www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/10/days-of-wine-and-olives-how-the-old-farming-ways-are-paying-off-spain-aoe
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2021 18:50:20 GMT
Too hot Mark.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Aug 10, 2021 18:55:08 GMT
I’m all for that bjd.
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2021 5:48:52 GMT
That's a really good idea and I hope it catches on. If it does, it'll take quite a lot of time around here for it to do so because of the financial situation - what I mean is, as stated in the article, olive growing isn't as profitable as it once was and a landowner would have to be a bit brave to try something different without the cushion of knowing it would work. They are very conservative and resistant to change and know they have survived ups and downs in the past, so think they will now - but - there has been some gossip locally about some farmers who have dug up all their olive trees and planted almonds. I can see a couple of fields where they've done that from my window. Quite how long that will take to come to make money I have no idea.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Aug 11, 2021 6:09:01 GMT
I think the problem with almonds will be the same as olives if they just maintain their methods of getting rid of all the vegetation between trees. Almond growing as an industry has had dire consequences in California, especially for the bees which are trucked in while still in hibernation to pollinate the trees.
Doing what is mentioned in the article would probably get EU subsidies and would be more natural (just don't plough everything up) than scrapping their olive trees to replace them with almonds. As you see in the article, they have had positive results in only 3 years.
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2021 8:58:55 GMT
If it is organised that they'll get an EU subsidy for doing nothing, then they'll do it. There is a problem though that I can see and it might not be a problem for those in the know - the method of olive gathering here is to spread a net under the tree and give the tree a good shake. It used to be women and children with sticks to knock the olives off, but now they have a man with something like the motor of a chain saw attached to a pole with a 'hand' on that wraps itself around the trunk or branches and then shakes the hell out of it. All the olives drop on the net which is gathered up and then emptied.
But - this is one of the main reasons they clear everything away from under the tree - sticks, stones, grass, plants, leaves, flowers etc that end up with the olives all have to be 'weeded' out otherwise they are penalised when they take to load to the factory and weighed. If doing that is too much trouble, depending on if they do end up gathering more detritus with the olives, then they won't bother. The olives have to be harvested within a relatively short space of time (like anything that ripens) and it's all hands on deck, any and every able bodied person, no matter age or sex, gets roped in and I wonder, if that is a problem, if they have or can spare the time and 'personpower' to do it.
The landowner would have to weigh up the benefit of not having to clear the area, chemical sprays etc etc and the work and time involved against leaving it and having to remove the extras they don't want.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2021 10:22:20 GMT
On the news yesterday there was a report about vineyards in the south of France being converted to aloe vera and nopal. Although heat is normally not a problem for grapes, the droughts are. Problem solved by growing Mexican desert plants instead.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Aug 11, 2021 14:42:09 GMT
It is raining here again today. We are thankful for rain but wish we could share it with the west in Canada and the USA who need it desperately. Yesterday I read a headline that a ski resort in Manitoba is cancelling the 2022 winter operations schedule due to current drought conditions.
Also it has been quite warm and very humid, expecting a break in the humidity next week.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Aug 12, 2021 13:20:05 GMT
It's going to snow and snow and snow! Dark skies already and we've battened down the hatches....Brrrrrr
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Aug 12, 2021 14:09:57 GMT
Does your region get a significant snowfall in the wintertime?
It is extremely hot and humid here.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Aug 12, 2021 15:19:12 GMT
Today has been our first "hot" day in about 3 weeks. That means 30°.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Aug 12, 2021 16:11:57 GMT
It was warm and sort of muggy early this afternoon, but a sudden squall and lots of wind brought clouds and a drop in temperature. 24° right now.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Aug 13, 2021 3:30:25 GMT
We had another storm yesterday evening while we were at my brother’s place for dinner (delicious roasted pork loin, rice, green bean, Cesar salad and warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream) where we watched it approach across the lake. It was scary to watch as the lightning lit up the city below. His home is on the hillside above the city with a breathtaking view. The rain stopped enough for us to get home.
I thought it might continue this morning but then the clouds dispersed and we had sunshine all afternoon. Mr. M. spent the morning drying out the cover, ropes and carpet from the boat, with so much rain everything was saturated.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Aug 13, 2021 7:46:27 GMT
Does your region get a significant snowfall in the wintertime? Lagatta, we normally get a weeks worth of snow on the Drakensburg mountains and surrounding areas. A more heavier snowfall is usual in the Maluti Mountains which surround Lesotho. The snow does not last long so there is a tremendous dash by city dwellers to find snow and romps around with snoball fights and making the kids a snowman. Within days of mild weather again all is just muddy dirt roads.
|
|
|
Post by lagatta on Aug 13, 2021 14:07:13 GMT
I remember very cold Austral winter weather when you hosted the World Cup but no snow beyond flurries in the cities. Mandela was on his last legs and visibly shivering. All the fans were freezing, even the Argentines (no snow by Rio de la Plata, but plenty in the Andes and in Patagonia where they go for winter sport). Many weren't properly dressed. Needless to say, the Argentines who flew across the South Atlantic for a football match were the wealthy ones.
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Aug 13, 2021 14:12:25 GMT
Forecast for today was 42C. Wrong. It's 46C.
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Aug 13, 2021 14:23:18 GMT
I hope that your swimming pool has not dried out.
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Aug 13, 2021 16:53:55 GMT
Had to top it up though.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Aug 13, 2021 20:02:38 GMT
Raining here, a steady straight down rain.
|
|
|
Post by questa on Aug 14, 2021 7:06:04 GMT
Trees in colder climes drop their leaves then hunker down for winter. In Oz the trees keep their leaves and when it is hot they drop their bark and twigs to act as insulation over the root base. Then some fool goes on a "rake it all up so it is tidy" spree and then wonders why the trees die.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Aug 14, 2021 8:07:41 GMT
Yes Questa, Our Plane trees are almost bare and my darling little Marula trees from Kruger Park have also lost all their leaves. Only a week or so and as rains fell last night, I am expecting very pale green leaves to shoot out soon.
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Aug 14, 2021 8:29:23 GMT
Interestingly, plane trees here drop big chunks of bark in the summer, even though they lose their leaves in winter. Maybe a cooling mechanism?
24° here at the moment (10:30 am), but it will get warmer today. The sky is a kind of hazy blue, which means it will be hot.
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Aug 16, 2021 20:55:26 GMT
Pouring down here.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Aug 17, 2021 16:14:12 GMT
Hot hot hot - 30C - made it pleasant with no humidity.
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Aug 17, 2021 16:16:59 GMT
Cold, cold, cold. 15c. Had to put the heater on in the car this morning. Our non existent summer gets worse.
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Aug 17, 2021 18:54:37 GMT
Really hot, really hot, really hot - was 39C today, but cooled down from the last few days. Did I mention the hottest temperature ever recorded in Spain (47.4C) was a couple of days ago about an hour from me?
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Aug 17, 2021 18:59:41 GMT
Really hot, really hot, really hot - was 39C today, but cooled down from the last few days. Did I mention the hottest temperature ever recorded in Spain (47.4C) was a couple of days ago about an hour from me? That is ridiculously hot. And we were 15c for most of today...
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Aug 17, 2021 20:49:52 GMT
Returning from Marseille (32°) I confess that I found Paris refreshing (20°).
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Aug 18, 2021 6:27:23 GMT
Raining. Again.
|
|