Did Jack's beanstalk need a support structure?

This morning warranted a trip to the shops, and we came home with some bean and eggplant seeds, among others. I'm trying hard not to get too carried away with the things I want to plant in the garden, we really are limited on functional space. Enter the beans! We bought a packet of "butter bean" and another of "purple king". Missy Moo and I decided to plant them into punnets for now, I was thinking of distributing them along a stretch of fence in our waste land and putting them in punnets gives me a chance to find and prepare an appropriate spot.
Eggplants.... I'm not too familiar with their growing habits. Are they more of a compact plant or do they need a lot of space like zucchini? Either way, they got sown into small pots until they're big enough to transplant also.

One thing that has particularly struck me over the last couple of weeks has been how much I am looking forward to next winter! Shocking! Here we are, in the midst of all the glories and promises spring holds, and I am eagerly anticipating the next cold, drab season...
Mostly because winter is the season of renewal; preparing the garden beds, building things (I want to fashion a structure to store firewood) and basically being able to get stuck in to the hard yakka and get it done without getting too hot and bothered, plus its one of the only cheap and effective ways to stay warm without going stir crazy! I am also looking forward to having a little more experience up my sleeve, being more familiar with the limitations of my space, what works and what doesnt, and having much of the inital set-up work already done and spaces prepared. This year has been a little expensive buying tools, pots, seeds and soil, but next year will hopefully be more about profits than expenses. And it will be awesome learning about eating seasonally... more lessons on making the best we can of what we've got :)