It’s been a long wet autumn and winter. It’s now May and we’ve had a few bright sunny days but followed again by heavy grey skies and below average temperatures. This time of year is the most stressful for gardeners. It’s a case of ‘will they? won’t they? have they?’ as we nurture seedlings and try to protect the delicate green shoots of new growth from marauding slugs and snails.

We sowed seeds back in the middle of March, already quite late in relation to some previous years. They have germinated but then have stopped. We need more sun and more consistent warmth.

Still, our remaining pear tree near the entrance is really powering away, the apples are in blossom, the crab apple flowered this year, we have giant parsely from last year’s seeds and an enormous verbascum (mullein) growing in a shady corner near the ‘Crawley Beauty’ apple tree.

We have planted a few potatoes, and there’s evidence of potatoes growing from last year. We’ve not really planted out any of our seedlings yet; a couple of courgettes are waiting, as are chard, kale, cavalo nero and frisee lettuce. Chard from last year is doing well and we have dug in our ‘green manure’ bean plants to fertilise the soil. Last week, we dug in some of our mature compost from the compost scheme. The soil looks good …

We replanted two of the tree pits outside the station with cyclamen in late January, to celebrate the life of our dear friend Madeleine. We’ll be celebrating again when the growing season starts in earnest in early June with plants that bear her name.