The one thing I have to do at this time of year is think about my vegetable seed order for next year, while everything is fresh in my mind.

Many years ago I had to go for cheaper open-pollinated varieties and, although they gave me a crop, it was often patchy and the sizes were all over the place and the germination was a little hit and miss.

A few years ago I started to pay a little more for hybrid seeds with hybrid vigour and now I couldn’t go back to growing an older, open-pollinated variety again for many things.

The name that kept cropping up (forgive the pun) was Tozer Seeds, a Surrey company that breeds varieties for commercial vegetable producers who have to satisfy the supermarkets.

I first saw these in Thompson & Morgan’s, but prices differ. The two most economical companies are Kings Seeds (www.kingsseeds.com/01376 570000) and Marshalls (www.marshalls-seeds.co.uk/0844 557 6700).

The packets may be plainer, but the seed counts are much more generous. Among my favourites are Leek F1 ‘Oarsman’, a mid-season maturing leek cropping from mid-October. This is a nice to eat, with not too much cellulose, and it stands well in my cold garden. ‘Oarsman’ is vigorous, with a medium shank and dark erect leaves and is British bred by Tozers.

My top tip is to grow your seeds in modular trays and keep them out of full sun so that the compost stays moist. Don’t worry if your plants look small at the end of summer: they always spurt into growth in September and October.

Parsnip F1 ‘Gladiator’ is another Tozer standby and this was the first hybrid parsnip bred using a male-sterile wild parsnip collected by Peter Dawson on the A3.

The tricky thing about parsnips is they tend to be patchy germinators and this isn’t helped by the seeds needing 30 days to appear. Like all umbellifers (members of the cow parsley family) they need warm temperatures to germinate.

Only sow the seed once spring is here, ignore the advice on the packet to sow in February. In most years the soil and air temperature are too cold. ‘Gladiator’ has hybrid vigour and this really makes a difference to germination. It is much improved. The evenly-sized roots are wedge-shaped — the best shape of all for the cook.

Runner beans have also been transformed by breeding and there are now hybrids between French beans and runner beans. These don’t need a pollinator to crop and can do it in cool or hot summers.

Red-flowered runners drop their flowers on hot nights. White-flowered ones don’t and French beans prefer warm conditions, but sulk in cool summers.

The solution is the hybrid ‘Moonlight’ and I sow this with a white-flowered runner bean (‘Snowstorm’) and a red-flowered, stringless runner bean called ‘Polestar’.

I also sow climbing French beans as well, using tripods with two varieties. The dark-podded ‘Blauhilde’ crops late and the green ‘Cobra’ is earlier. It’s a weather-proof solution.

The Brussels sprout I prefer to grow is also a Tozer F1 named ‘Bosworth’. Officially a mid-season variety, the smallish buttons are smooth and densely formed. This will stand all winter and doesn’t tend to produce open ‘blown’ sprouts. A new type of flower sprout, which is a cross between kale and Brussels sprouts, is called ‘Petit Posy’. It’s being hailed as a superfood by supermarkets.

However, I have found it difficult to grow as yet because it needs warm growing conditions in the early stages. It hated last year’s cold spring. Not all of my varieties are new-fangled hybrids though.

I also rate the Pea ‘Hurst Green Shaft’, the Broad Bean ‘Jubilee Hysor’, the onion ‘Sturon’, the lettuce ‘Little Gem’ and the carrot ‘Nantes Early’. All are established old favourites still well worth growing.