Is it really winter?

A head of lettuce from the market (January 2012)

I don't know about y'all but I think this weather is especially mild and finicky even for a winter in NC. Yes, its been cold- for about 3 days at a time. I had to go out with my headlamp to pick the last of the tomatoes on my plants a few months ago when it looked like we'd get our first frost. And a lot of my wildflowers have died back for the year. But its January and I have bulbs coming up. I'm not so confident that they'll be successful this year.



The upside is that there has been a wonderful array of fresh vegetables available at the farmers markets. I've found myself able to enjoy experimenting with greens since I can still get some other things to go along with them. And you can always grow your own to supplement the market. I've already done a few batches of sprouts this year and continue to add them to salads and other dishes whenever I can.
And growing sprouts isn't hard. The most difficult part for me is remembering to rinse and drain them a couple times a day. But thats all you have to do :)







An especially exciting salad I made lately- I loved all of the colors!



Ingredients:
purple cauliflower
spinach
beets
pickled radishes (get the recipe from me at the carrboro market)
pea shoots
carrots
alfalfa sprouts
lettuce
egg
croutons from leftover bread
(avocado, nuts & olives not local)