Sowing the seeds of (Success)?!

The first seed sowing of 2010 has taken place.We are being more cautious about the amount of seeds we are sowing early as I am sure there is too early especially if the weather does not suit young plants being put out when they should due to late frost as we had last year.Most seed packets have a little piece which tells how long from sowing to harvesting for the particular seed and I think if this is extended too far then the best crop is not obtained from the veg.
This morning I sowed Greyhound cabbage which can be sown Spring and Autumn for fairly continuous harvesting.We like cabbage but not a glut of it in a few weeks. The Cos lettuce is a winter variety which can be sown now until it is time for the summer varieties. Cauliflower All year Round is self explanatory again something we like in moderation for as long as possible.
I have made a record of the sowings and will make a repeat sowing the end of Feb
I had compost in the shed since last year when I bought an offer of buy 3 or 4 together but it froze solid during the big freeze! I want to give my seeds the best start so I bought a good quality compost for seeds which promises 25% extra germination....who can argue with that?!
Every year we plant seeds and think we will remember when and how but now know that does not work so this year we are keeping a record of our labours. This journal was a birthday gift last year but has no specific year just 4 weeks to a month with advice on what to grow and harvest with a few recipes thrown in. I like Carol Klein and she was one of my favourite presenters on the now defunct Gardener's World.
Of course I have only opened the book now on week 4 of January!Carol's advice for week 1 was to make early sowings of Spinach, lettuce,broad beans and summer cabbage!
Week 2 onions and leeks could have been sown.(Not on our frozen soil)
Week 3 is a recipe for Colcannon, this is a traditional Irish dish of cooked potatoes and cabbage mashed together with butter.
Week 4 is about chitting potatoes in old egg boxes, I have mine all ready to go but will hold off for another week to be certain we are not going to get another really hard frost, I am also going to put out rat poison after last years episode!
I put the seed packets of todays seeds in a separate envelope to remind me to make those repeat sowings in a few weeks.