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| Met Office Mk2 Strawberry Gauge |
A few years ago, when I worked for The Environment Agency, I used to visit and maintain various rain gauges around the West Midlands. We looked after them on behalf of the Met Office, who used the data to calibrate their radar images of rain fall. We had some automatic tipping bucket gauges, some monthly storage gauges and some daily or '5-inch' rain gauges. These are the classic Met Office rain gauges which were invented in something like 1872*, updated to the Mk2 in 1875, and haven't changed since. They are a thing of beauty.
Periodically rain gauges would need to be replaced if they failed inspection, and I rehomed a couple with vague ideas of using them in the garden for plants or something sculptural. They have sat at the bottom of Daddy's garden ever since, but during a recent conversation with friends about using copper tape to slug-proof strawberry plants, I realised I had the perfect solution - I give you the Met Office Mk2 Strawberry Gauge!
The main body of this one already had a slit in one side after a nasty incident with a grounds-keeper and a ride-on lawn-mower (final score: Lawn-mower 1 - Rain gauge 0). I lengthened the slit and tidied the edge up with a metal file, then drilled a line of holes on the other side and used a hacksaw blade to make another slit. I hammered the top of the slit inwards, and used pliers to persuade the bottom half outwards. I didn't manage to make the hole very big and had to sort-of post the stem/leaves through from the inside, but it worked. I also drilled several holes in the bottom of it to allow for drainage. The lid of the rain gauge was used as-is with no modifications, as it has an internal funnel which allows it to drain.
Overall I am pretty pleased with how it came out, although doing the metal work was far harder than I had anticipated. I have another base, and several internal cans, but I think the neighbours deserve a break from banging, thumping and drilling for a few days - my arm muscles certainly do!
I'll have to wait a few months to see quite how slug-proof they are, but I am looking forward to fresh strawberries for breakfast enormously!
*That's a total stab in the dark. I remember from university that it was pretty old (18-something), but don't quote me on the exact date. Do let me know if you know though!
