Dark wet days post-Christmas and we all need a bit of cheering up.  Now is the time to plan for those longer summer days so I ditched the travel supplements, holiday brochures and flight planners and went and ordered my seeds for the prospective vegetable patch.

This year I decided to order locally from one of our local suppliers: Pennard Plants.  Their seeds are cheaper than the big boys which could partly be because there are fewer seeds in the packet. But since the average packet of runner bean seeds from Suttons would give you more wigwams than Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse combined, I think I should still have enough plants for the allotment.  Fewer seeds – less waste.

They had New Year 25% special offer, were delivered within a couple of days and look quirky and fun in their packaging.  The heritage and heirloom varieties are intriguingly named and should be interesting to grow.