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to fork in over winterSend off for mail-order seed catalogues and start preparing your planting wishlist

seasonRemove pond pumps and filters, wash and store awayTake advantage of seed catalogue early order special offers

-sized tomatoes.I had vowed never to bother with them again, but last spring I was tempted to sow seeds of a brand new variety sent to me to trial, and set for introduction in the 2008 seed catalogues. A new variety would be worth growing, surely?In short... no

it into growth up to eight weeks early. Top up bird baths with fresh water dailyRecycle your Christmas tree at the local council tipCheck closing dates for any seed catalogue discountsAround the gardenSquash mistletoe berries into apple tree branchesCut down old

!) Growing so easily from seed makes me wonder why I've never spotted it in any seed catalogues before, but there it is in both the Chiltern Seeds and Thompson & Morgan catalogues - a packet containing 150 seeds costs less than a third of the price I paid

Now the chaos of Christmas is over, I can settle down to some serious shopping. In January and February I like to get all my seed and plant orders underway; it's usually the perfect weather to stay indoors, warm and cosy, contemplating the season

Has anyone tried the "turbo" tomato plants available from some catalogues and if so what do you think? We tried them and were very dissappointed. The crop was quite poor so last year we went back to "normal" ones. Hello Newallotmenteer, 'Turbo

.However, reading through seed catalogues last winter I discovered 'Emir', a brand new variety for 2008 from Mr Fothergill's, which had been bred specifically to be grown in our northern climate. A combination of tolerance to cold conditions and fast-maturing fruits

's also climbing nasturtium, Morning Glory and Canary Creeper, amongst others.  It's probably a bit late in the day to start growing all of them from seed now as some take a while to get going but many of the plant catalogues sell annual climbers as plants

Catalogue has been listing obscure varieties like melon 'Collective Farm Woman' from Ukraine for years. The company operated as a 'seed club' to get round regulations, but it's only now that eastern European seed varieties are making an impact