Page 13 - Demo

Dear Friends,How quickly the seasons have turned this year!As I write this in mid August I am seeing evidence of autumnal foliage all around - leaves are browning and falling, as are ripened apples and pears in the Rectory garden.The elderberries have come and almost gone already, and hips and haws are ripe and red%u2026I suppose it%u2019s not surprising given the exceptionally dry spring we had, and a series of extraordinary heat-waves over the summer with temperatures in the high 20%u2019s and up to the mid 30%u2019s.Like many of you, we have been struggling to keep our vegetable plot well watered, trying not to use a hosepipe except in desperation. We gave up on most of the fower beds and ended up just focussing on potted plants and hanging baskets, some of which have survived.There are some positives of the hot, dry weather of course; the school holidays have been flled with days out, for once without rain coats, umbrellas and wellies accompanying us on every occasion, and harvesting weather, although unseasonally early, has been fne and dry I think for most farmers. On the down side, I suspect many crop yeilds have been smaller or of poorer quality in many areas as the lack of rain has not swelled grain and root crops suffciently. What does all this mean in the long term if our weather really is to become hotter and dryer for large parts of the year, with extreme sporadic rainfall in between which causes issues like fash foods and waterlogged felds that rot early-sown crops or become unsuitable for grazing? I dont really like to dwell on it too much...Perhaps instead of building new homes with integral central heating it may be air-conditioning systems that become essential selling points for developers and estate agents.Whatever happens, we seem to be experiencing rapid and somewhat alarming change in our environment which many DEADLINE FOR OCTOBER:18TH SEPTEMBER