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January …….. oh January.  By Pilot, 1970 something. The B side sounded like the Beatles, but I forget what it was now.

January means two things, the end of Christmas, and the start of Spring (I am an eternal optomist).

Last night we enjoyed the end of Christmas by opening a box of Quality Street. We ate half of them, but it wasn’t a very big box so we weren’t being very greedy, just one of those upright ones that are handy to say ‘thank you’ (or, as this box said, Happy Christmas). As usual the rubbishy chocolates came out first, which was why we had to go on eating them. Eventually we had had enough, and folded the lid back, which was when we read the box. I have a long history of box-reading. I don’t remember not being able to read ‘thiamin, niacin and riboflavin’ from the Cornflakes box, although no-one ever told me what they were, they were obviously a ‘good thing’. (My favourite current boxes to read are the Innocent Smoothie cartons, with the line ‘if we don’t, you can tell out Mums’) The Quality Street box had a panel on recycling. The coloured plastic outer layer on the wrapper is not plastic, and it can go in the compost bin. The tin foil bit can’t, it needs to go in with the drinks and dog-food cans. The cardboard box can be recycled with other paper and card, although we will put it in the compost bin. There is a small triangular clear window on the box. This isn’t recyclable, it needs to be torn out and put in the rubbish bin. Now, in ’sales-speak’, trying to attract customers with shiny flashy stand-out products the Quality Street box probably works quite well, but now I know how fussy it is to de-construct for recycling I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather start with something simpler, so it may not be the sales ploy they hope it is.

Moving on to Spring, January is seed catalogue month. I don’t need any more seeds. Did I tell you that last year? It’s still true. Nice Mr Fothergills sent me a £10 voucher I can use if I spend £30. I was very good. I did not buy seeds. But the potatoes were very tempting, and I have a sure-fire way of growing great strawberries in polystyrene fish boxes, except I didn’t have any strawberry plants, and my lemon bush had died so I needed another, and if they were sending all that I might as well get the 3 for 2 offer on blueberries so I spent a tad more than £30, although with the random weather and boats I’m no longer sure when the letter actually went. Last weekend was very good weather. We ripped out bramble bushes and measured the broken polytunnel and made big plans, and I sowed a few seeds. It is absolutely ludicrous to sow tomatoes this early, even in a propagator, but I have lots of tomato seed (did I tell you I don’t need any more seeds?) and I only sowed a pinch. Honest! More sensibly, I also sowed onions, rocket, broad beans, sweet peas, and a few seeds from four different, very old packets of leek seeds, just in case they were okay, because if they aren’t I may have an excuse to buy seeds. So far there isn’t a sign of a leek, but the onions and rocket had germinated after three days, closely followed by the sweet peas. The tomatoes are probably waiting for February because they are more sensible than I am, but the rocket is beautiful. It may only be a quarter of an inch high but it carries so much hope and anticipation on its tiny leaves. Remember, happiness is a pot of just-germinated seedlings.

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