If the long, dark nights of January didn’t see you sorting out your seed store, then get to it now. We are nearing the time when we need to get seeds in the ground but stay patient until we are safely into the middle of March before you really get going. When the days are longer and the sun is that much stronger, all this pours into the seedlings. And sturdier seedlings are better adapted to go out into the world. So, until then, you may as well consolidate your store and sort out all those half-used and out-of-date packets. The idea here is not to throw them out, but to take a gamble on them. For all those packets with just a sprinkling of seed left – look for the sorts of things that can be eaten as baby leaves (spinach, rocket, radish, any sort of brassicas, east Asian greens such as mizuna, pak choi, leafy herbs and lettuce) – dump them into a bowl. Give them a good mix and sow them liberally into pots. I say pots rather than seed trays because if they do germinate, you don’t want them to dry out too quickly. This lot should be sown cheek to jowl, so they need depth for their roots. Water them well and leave them by a radiator, perhaps covered in a clear plastic bag to act as a propagator lid if the radiator is pumping out heat. You want them here just long enough to get germination happening, then move them somewhere with better light (and remove the plastic bag as the leaves often get covered with mildew). The aim is to get them up to microgreen size, about 5cm high, and then eat them. This should take 7-10 days on a warm windowsill. If they grow a little leggy, it’s not a terrible thing; they will be eaten before this becomes a problem. If you have lots of seed, you can reuse the soil: jiggle the surface about and then sow a second batch. I do the same for pea shoots, but I sow these on their own because they rather overcrowd leafy types. If any of these are doing well and I feel that, with a little fleece, they could make it in a polytunnel or greenhouse, I turf them out. Peas, coriander, rocket, winter lettuce and radishes are all good candidates for surviving with a little extra protection once they have three or more true leaves. I’ve had excellent salads in mid-spring from random packets that I’ve scattered over pots. This exercise is mostly about keeping idle thumbs busy; in a couple of weeks it will be all go for serious sowing – and using out-of-date packets is a good way of creating funny salad mixes from the leftovers.