Winter Vegetables

Almost too pretty to eat :)

This Fall I planted cabbages, broccoli and kale in The Middle Garden. The broccoli was taken out by extreme cold and I learned my lesson about picking. As in, pick, even though things aren't perfect. Savoy cabbage has a well earned reputation for being cold hardy and kept going and growing through temperatures in the teens. They were very nice. So nice that our dog ate three of them just as they were forming heads before we wised up to her greedy ways.
Today, knowing that it is going to be in the single digits for the next two nights I went a'harvesting. I ate pea shoots straight from the garden (yummy). Tonight there will be Japanese chicken soup with soba noddles.  Kale stands in as seaweed. Elephant garlic in for leeks. Tomorrow there will cabbage casserole. And then we will start eating down turnips and sweet potatoes. Did I mention I try to cook what's currently growing in the garden and what I've saved.
Spinach has withstood so far. We had as much as I could pick in a salad last night with pretty little pansies as garnish. Under the row covers the mache, bok choi, turnips and peas are just up. They were planted weeks ago when we had a warm spell. In the house there are lettuces, broccoli and kale sprouts waiting on warmer days to be transplanted. Potatoes are chitting, lined up in egg cartons on the kitchen windowsill. Hurry spring! Cold winter can't last. Me? I am having trouble lasting also.

Good eats from our winter garden!