My summer garden was largely a bust from drought and critters. I did get a nice harvest of onions, garlic and ginger. In fact, there are still onions in the raised bed as the warm weather is encouraging second growth and blossoms. And, with Thanksgiving just days away, we haven’t had frost yet to make the collards sweet and tender. Gardeners and farmers are watching the climate change a little bit each year. Someone on a podcast recently–maybe Jon Stewart–reminded us that the canary in the coal mine dies. Not sure why that has stuck with me. Warnings are just that and we ignore them at our peril.

This post wasn’t meant to be about climate change but sometimes I let my subconscious do the writing, like my own private AI bot. I nicknamed her Rhetorica when I was in graduate school. Perhaps TMI?

This post was meant to be about was the joy and ease of growing your own food, at least in small batches. My goal this fall was to replace those plastic tubs of lettuce mixes that I was buying regularly. Heads of lettuce–think iceberg and romaine–can be challenging to get to maturity without losing them to bugs and varmints. But, those tubs are filled with baby greens, and they are easy to grow, especially inside. Throw a few seeds in the dirt, give them sun and water, and they are ready to start harvesting in a few weeks. I have been clipping leaves from my first planting in October and put in a second go in early November that is about ready to be transplanted. I started with a collection of 10 different varieties but you can start with a mix of seeds, too.

There is something satisfying about eating food you have grown. I also enjoy a bit of gardening in the winter months. Just a couple pictures: I love the view of the pole barn through the porch door in the second one.