Well the Easter bunny seems to have delivered a rather surprising package this morning. About 10 centimetres of snow. Most exciting – if you don’t think about all those little seeds you have sown in the vegetable garden a few days ago.

 In a spirit of making amends for the neglect, I vowed to secure the potting shed from the coldest of the wind. Up I went (after thumping the snow from the artichokes and thyme plants in the herb garden) with an armful of plastic sheeting and strong gaffer tape.

It doesn’t look pretty, but I now have the windows and doors sealed against the cold and the wind. Until they get blown away. But must be optimistic; it will do some good.

As it was lovely and cosy at last in my little shed I decided to do some pricking out. A lovely task which resulted in 32 little cabbage plants (well, tiny seedlings, but one must imagine the future) and 30 lettuces. All in their own little pots, and snug inside their plastic bags.

I was going to water them in, but discovered that the water in the plastic watering can underneath the bench had an inch of ice on the top. Ouch. So down to the house to fill up with tepid water and trudge back to get everything watered.

A quick tidy, put up the silly poster of lunar planting schedule I am supposed to follow. (They are very keen on it here.) And a yearning look at the benches. Would love to stay, but I have run out of seed trays and run out of time. Four house guests arriving in a few hours and there is Work To Be Done.

Just have to list these. I don’t think I have ever sowed so many seeds in one afternoon before. I knew I had to get the allium purple sensation bulbs into the ground – any sort of ground – as they were starting to sprout. I couldn’t get to the garden as there is no logical place to put them yet. So they have gone into pots instead.

The stipa packets have only 25 teensy seeds each. More like dust than seeds, so it didn’t feel like a feast of possibilities there, but I have planted them in their seed trays and will hope for the best. If all else fails I will have to buy pots of them already growing lustily.

I had to come back to the house and look up the book on dahlia plantings. The corms (is that right?) or bulbs look rather odd and baffling. Hopefully I have planted them the right way up. We shall see.

I have run out of labels so have to take risks with the labelling for a few days. Fingers crossed I don’t plant nicotiana in the cabbage bed.

• 39 allium purple sensation
• 2 allium drumstick
• stipa tenuissima
• verbena bonariensis
• peppers
• cucumbers
• nasturtiums
• nicotiana
• antirrhinum snowflake
• liatris spicata
• dahlia snowflake

Early Easters often present weather conundrums; and this is no different. Sipping my tea early this morning I thought I saw lots of plum blossoms floating in the air. But no – it’s snow. End of March and we finally get a real winter’s day.

Luckily yesterday was gorgeous weather. Windy but sunny and perfect for getting some seeds in the soil. (Poor things will be suffering now, of course.) In my newly drawn geometric beds, I have added carrots, beetroot, radish and chives. The radish are more for decoration than a desire to eat a bucketful of fiery veg each day. So too the chives which I hope will germinate and run all the way down the long path. Need to buy more seed this week.

In the brassica bed I planted two rows of sensible green and white swiss chard (oh for some colour there). And I even managed a small row of pea seedlings. These have been romping away in the cold frame and are no doubt suffering with this cold snap in the ground.

Inspired by Nicolas  (or should I say gently chided) I even managed to get lots of seeds sown up in the potting shed. It’s a long cry from my impatient London windowsill sowings when I seemed to have had everything done early Feb. This is a colder climate and I am a slow mover.

But in their seed trays lie red bor kale, dwarf french beans, rocket, aubergines, two types of tomatoes and some sowings of stipa grass. I need to double my production over the next week or so. But so much to do. Houseguests, wall work, a funeral, and house painting lie ahead.

If it stops snowing long enough I shall take my camera and record the blossom report. Things are sprouting mightily here and looking full of promise.