With all the furore about genetically modified crops thats around at the moment, Im even more pleased than usual to be growing my own, or at least some of my own. As usual there are successes and failures in the vegetable plot – the autumn sown broad beans are coming on a treat, as are the lettuce in the cold greenhouse. However, the lettuce which were intended to overwinter outside disappeared without trace a long time ago, the overwintering spinach is distinctly sporadic and as for the spring cabbages – well, the less said about that the better!
Never mind, April is the month when things really start up again but I shall be aware of the possibility of frosts and resist anything too tender at the moment. I always feel that if youre not sure if its the right time or not, its always best to wait as everything has a habit of catching up in the end.
For many people the gardening year doesnt really start until Easter. Good Friday is the traditional time to plant potatoes and although there isnt much logic to this as the date varies each year, I shall be putting in a few rows over the weekend. Im gradually moving over to the no-dig, organic school of thought and this year I havent dug the potato patch at all but have given it a good mulch of well rotted manure and the tubers will simply be planted with a trowel. Meanwhile, Ive been to the Societys shop and stocked up with fertilizer for both the roses and the lawn. The roses have been pruned, so a good sprinkling should do them a power of good. Im a little worried about the lawn though – after a thorough raking to eliminate the moss there may not be much grass left to feed!

We have started the process of finding out the level of interest in the village to developing a Village Design Statement which aims to provide generally agreed guidelines on the features of the village we particularly wish to preserve and enhance and the sort of changes we feel could be desirable. An appeal in Chipperfield News elicited responses from two people who would be willing to work on a team to develop a proposal to put to the village, but more volunteers are needed.
Clir. David Nobbs