Over winter, is a great time to start planning what you will do with your established garden for the coming season.
If you were happy with the varieties you grew the previous year, then it is an easy choice to buy the same ones that you already know have worked, but if things did not go so well, you may be looking at new varieties to try.
Factors that may have caused issues are pests, very dry or wet weather, diseases, as well as wind and variety size.
Some growers may find for instance, that the pea variety they selected did badly as it is a tall growing variety, and was damaged by wind, a shorter growing variety may be a better choice, or that the varieties of root vegetables did less well due to very hot dry conditions, and a different variety may be less prone to drought conditions.
If you had seed left from last season, they will likely still be viable if stored well, one exception is parsnip seed which can be tricky to germinate if fresh, but struggles as it ages past the first season.
Old and larger seed, can be germinated on damp kitchen towel, and any germinating can then be gently moved into their first modules or pots to grow on, unfortunately very fine seed is difficult to check this way so will still need to be sown into a pot to save trying to handle the very tiny seedlings.
If you are growing in a small space, remember to check the size of your variety, Cabbage Winter King can grow to huge proportions and can take a large amount of space so choose a smaller variety that forms a tighter head.
There are many varieties that can be grown in patio tubs and hanging baskets or in among existing flowers, which may also help protect them from pests.
Check out our selection of fresh seed for the coming season.