They weren't joking.

I bought a selection of Garlic from The garlic farm on the Isle of Wight. One of the varieties was labelled "Extra early Wight". All the others sat there quietly waiting until I had time to plant them, not so this critter. Since I am still gnippilbkcaB furiously I am in a position to report that, by30th Dec this row was 3-4" above ground with none of the others in sight.
I also tried Autumn sown Broad beans (Fava, to you lot over yonder) for the first time this year ... got to admit, so far the look promising.