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I couldn't be happier. The sun is shining and it almost feels as if spring is here.  Just last week there was standing water in the bottom few feet of one of my plots; the soil was completely submerged and saturated. Conditions were so wet

, and then watered sparingly from the base only to prevent any mould spreading. I recommend filling the saucer with tepid water, allowing it to be taken up by the plant for a few minutes and then draining off any excess. That, combined with cooler windowsills

aluminium foil sheets around the plants, in the hope that they will help to reflect light back on the seedlings and improve their chances of growing into healthy plants.I can never find a decent, slimline dibber, so use a blunt pencil instead. I find

refreezes, another layer can settle on top.I've also tried to ensure that the wild birds have a plentiful supply of food and unfrozen water.My garlic is a worry, especially those cloves that were planted only a few weeks before the snow arrived. Some have

This year has been a good year for tomatoes, but also a good year for blight. Blight, Phytophthora infestans, is a fungal infection, spread by spores in water droplets. Affected tomatoes develop brown, sunken patches, which spread to the stems

I've always been fascinated by algae. These simple organisms take so many forms. Some are accurate indicators of water pollution, and some, like the blue-green alga spirulina, are a brilliant source of vitamin B12. But right now they've gone too far

.When the icicles melted, the water landed on my hellebores and sarcococca and then froze again, coating the plants in thick layers of ice. Now the temperatures have increased and everything has defrosted, it's good to see that neither the hellebores nor

dashing around watering my newly planted garlic and onion sets, opening cloches and rolling back the vent covers on my new brassica frame.I recently planted overwintering brassicas, so I rigged up some temporary shading for them, using old netting from

and tunnels, and moved all pots out of direct sunlight.Even a bit of temporary shade is worth it, as it's made a huge difference to the plants. In the greenhouse the brick pathway was regularly dampened down with a can of water. Damping down may be an old

and removing algae from between the panes, using a combination of strong water jets and a slim piece of plastic cut from a margarine tub. Then, having finally cleared the last of the tomatoes from the bed, I removed any lurking traces of grey mould from