an act of faith in the summer to come

Sweet peas can famously be planted any time from October to May, and though you might want to go early or late for best results, I find the act of planting in deep midwinter irresistible. There's so little going on elsewhere in the garden. Doing almost anything involving soil will churn mud monstrously. You can hack and chop, certainly - but there are invertebrates sheltering everywhere.

So, the sweet peas:

Nicky's Nursery still have a good choice available if you want to do some midwinter planting (or spring planting) of your own. I got Velvet Crush - not a variety, but a very sweet mix - a lovely looking lavender blue called Bristol, and a favourite of mine called Blue Shift which is pretty much a candyshift of pink and purple. They're going into a root trainer, you can see it under the packets. 

Next up: the propagator, for the chilli seeds (that's probably what the fourth packet is, in case you're wondering).