I am gardening vicariously (owing to the weather) and browsing through seed catalogues with my sights firmly fixed towards next spring. For many years it was flower seeds that engaged gardeners most, and they outsold vegetable seeds hugely. However, these days vegetable seeds outsell flower seeds and some suppliers record 70 per cent vegetable seeds and 30 per cent flowers. I find this heartening: few things are as satisfying as growing your own food.

When it comes to vegetables, we are living in interesting times. EU legislation has restricted the use of chemicals for health and safety reasons. In response, plant breeders around the world have begun to prioritise disease resistance. The new onion ‘Santero’ resists downy mildew, a disease that tends to be more prevalent in the drier eastern half of England. There are now Brussels sprouts with clubroot resistance and they are a must for many allotment holders. ‘Brest’ F1 (a tall midwinter variety from D. T. Brown) and ‘Crispus’ F1 (a Christmas-picking sprout) will both crop well. ‘Losetto’ (only from T & M) is the first blight-resistant tomato. It makes a neat, trailing plant if restricted to a 12in basket, or a vigorous bush in the garden. Six seeds cost £3.49. Ouch!

There are more hybrid varieties. The new French x runner bean ‘Moonlight’ (which I grew last year) is excellent. Next year another similar hybrid called ‘Starburst’ will appear. These are often expensive, but their hybrid vigour gives strong growth from day one and their seeds germinate more reliably.

Few experienced gardeners would grow an ordinary parsnip now that F1 varieties like ‘Gladiator’ are around. ‘Gladiator’ appeared in 1982 and it was bred by Tozer Seeds (www.tozerseedsdirect.co.uk). Later Tozer varieties include F1 ‘Javelin’ (the best seller commercially) and F1 ‘Dagger’, a very popular variety with gardeners.

F1 parsnips have smoother skins, a sweeter taste and germination is not a problem as long as seeds are sown when temperatures reach 10C (50F). Seed companies persist in telling gardeners to sow parsnip seeds in February. Is this a a practical joke or a commercial? Parsnips take 30 days to germinate and in the heart of England, April is the month to sow them.

Equally warm temperatures are needed by carrots and parsley — two more members of the Cow Parsley family.

The other recent development is the introduction of varieties from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Bloc. These areas have huge populations to feed and for many years, until the Cold War ended, importing expensive food wasn’t a possibility. They had to grow their own, often reliable, varieties. They often saved their own seeds and many heritage varieties have been located there. Chemical use was not an option financially and many successful varieties have natural disease resistance. Mr Fothergill’s have a Vegetable Explorer range and I will be growing the purple-podded pea, ‘Blauwschokker’.

I also rated the F1 Cucumber ‘Iznik’ (Plants of Distinction), an F1 cocktail cucumber that cropped over three months producing short outdoor cucumbers with smooth skins. ‘Iznik’ is downy mildew resistant, but (like all cucumbers) it prefers cooler, damp conditions and water little and often. This one is perfect for a pot.