Weather Station

What is a weather station?

It measures, precipitation (rain, snow, hail) humidity, air temperature, wind speed and direction. Plus we’ve added a soil moisture and temperature probe.

What type of weather station?

Davis Vantage Pro2 Wireless Weather Station & WeatherLink Live Bundle 6122UK – to which we added a soil probe for both temperature and moisture. We purchased from www.weathershop.co.uk though there are other suppliers and other weather stations out there.

Why is it useful?

We hope it will allow us to make better links between weather conditions and how we garden. We believe this data will be invaluable for analysing alongside plant growth/or lack of it! It will enable us to quantify more accurately the amount of rain the garden receives (through precipitation measurements), and combine this with soil moisture readings and plant observations. It should allow us to see patterns over time, and to adapt what we plant and how we grow in changing conditions. For example, the volume and frequency of watering required to obtain a satisfactory harvest, in turn allows us to judge the volume of rainwater storage needed. We hope this will make us more efficient with water use and allow us to experiment with mulches, and drought tolerant varieties.

Being able to research these aspects, is important because weather conditions are likely to become less predictable and arguably more challenging over time. East Kent is in the driest zone of the UK and thus drought and water management are particular considerations for us. For others, flooding or high winds may be more a greater challenge. We would like to equip ourselves, and others, with the confidence to respond positively to the vagaries of weather.

What’s the goal?
We hope it might be useful to gardens and gardeners for us to share our data and thoughts around small scale growing and weather conditions. Many of us are keen to adopt more sustainable approaches, but it isn’t always clear how best to do this. Whether you are nurturing a window box or something bigger, we will try to offer practical help and also encourage a positive, ‘can do’ approach to climate action.

We have a weekly blog that forecasts the very local weather and adds details of what we are planning and doing in the garden that week.