Winter Salad. . .

My favorite gardening season is right now, when nights threaten to freeze everything in sight, and there are cozy boxes of salad, their protective lids in place. There are three different kales in this one. Peeking out in the box behind are lettuces, which are more fragile and usually give up the fight by mid January. I put the lids back on just after taking this picture, as it is supposed to be in the twenties tonight, the death knell for tender greens.
In the open beds just out of view are their hardier cousins: spinach, two different kinds of arugula, mache and beet greens. The glaring blank spaces are where the seeds and I didn't cooperate very well. Oh, and various weeds of course, or at least "of course" in my garden. I have learned to think of them as character flaws, simply enriching, making life more interesting.
It is a pristine day, this first day of December. Gusting rain yesterday, accompanied by the thrilling threats of tornadoes, cleared the air for today's sunshine, brilliant. What a devoted friend, this sun, who continues to show up, day after day. And this water, which wants to nourish all of creation. What friends we have.
The salad showed up on our dinner plates last night, along with roasted cauliflower and onions, a new favorite on John's low-carb diet, and grilled lamb chops. . .a swoon of a meal. A mini-version of leftovers turned out to be lunch today. . .blessings, blessings, blessings. . .