Sowing capsicum seeds ( chillis and peppers)

It's St Brigid's day, traditionally  the beginning of spring in Ireland ( as if!). I believe she lived about the 5th century in Ireland and straddled the old pagan beliefs and the start of the Christian ones. Some people in the west of Ireland still make St Brigid's crosses on this day and put them up in their houses to replace those from last year. They are traditionally made from rushes though, when my children were little they learned to make them in school from flattened drinking straws ( no, not the plactic ones). I think I could still make one if I had the rushes - fortunately I don't have a supply of them here - they need impoverished, sodden, acid land to thrive.
It may not be the start of spring yet but, it is a milestone for me. During the month of January I spent 'good' days digging, tidying, burning rubbish, wood-chipping paths, keeping my polytunnel adequately watered (don't allow the ground in polytunnels and green houses to become too dry over winter - it is difficult to bring it back in the following spring/summer) and, of course feeding the birds. The robins are my main pleasure. They always turn up when I arrive. I do wonder why they will get so close to us while other birds keep their distance. Perhaps they have worked out that we are not a threat and that our presence keeps the bigger birds out of the way. And perhaps I'm just being fanciful.  While, it seems, we are getting increasing numbers of 'unusual' birds in our city gardens and allotments - like fieldfares, we have noticed that there are fewer blackbirds around. The cold winters seem to have hit them hard.
Today I will allow myself to sow some seeds - my chillis and peppers. I won't sow all the seeds, just in case it turns into a very cold spring and I can't get the young plants into my tunnel in time to stop them becoming very 'leggy' from lack of light.
Have you noticed how few seeds you get in each pack - an average of 6 - which makes them very expensive. You really need 80% germination. So, I will sow twice. My second sowing will be at the end of February. Last spring was so late and cold I didn't sow my capsicums until April - in UK that is much too late and the growing season was too short, especially for chillis. The peppers were really satisfactory, but only in my poly-tunnel. The outdoor plants, although they did grow - a bit, and did fruit - a few, they took so long to ripen the slugs attacked them. I would love to know if anyone else has had more success. Perhaps I didn't feed them enough. Perhaps they aren't partial to the ground conditions ( heavy clay soil, pH about 6). Any advice would be much appreciated.

I have found a source of deep Jiffy pellets. Normally I don't like Jiffy pellets, I think they are too small, lacking in compost and nutrients and the fragile plants they are suited to can't break out of the mesh covering. However, I'm going to try the deep ones for my first sowing of capsicums. I hope they will be like deep-root trainers with even less root disturbance but, I wiil report on their success of lack of. I have already reconstituted them and will sow a mixture of chillis, peppers and winter Cos lettuce, which can grow on in my poly-tunnel when big enough.
Sowing seeds at this time of year is always a risky move. I have a small propagator and a plant light which help. Nonetheless, my polytunnel is not heated and if the weather becomes very cold over the next couple of months the light I can provide is not good enough to provide adequate growing conditions for young plants.
That said, the horticultural year is always a series of ups and downs. What suits one plant will not suit another. What works one year will not work the next. But, each year is always a success for some crop and the growing satisfaction of 2011 is only just starting.