Insulated

Shhhh! I know it's winter and you know it's winter but my baby lettuce plants don't know. And that's the way I like it.

I ran into a friend at a Christmas party when we had three feet of snow on the ground. He's passionate about his vegetables; his Victory garden outgrew his side yard several years ago, then consumed the sports court that the kids used and now occupies the front yard too. And he regularly dines at the best restaurant in town--because he supplies them with his gourmet greens. (His pampered lettuce plants reside in hot frames with soil heating pads and produce in abundance. Did I mention that he has his own tractor?) We fell into conversation about the kids and moved on to gardening. He laughed politely when I told him that I was growing lettuce (remember those three feet of snow). I'm not sure if he thought I had a poor sense of humor or was suffering from a mental breakdown. It's tempting to email him my photo right about now.

Truth is, I accidentally discovered that if I sow my lettuce seeds in the fall, they'll sprout, somehow magically survive the killing frosts and then grow happily under their cozy blanket of snow before providing an early harvest of delectable leaves in the springtime. These little guys easily doubled in size under the snow despite the sub-zero temperatures in December and January!

Easy-peasy gardening, gotta love it.