The garden is now an hour’s drive away. It’s a rare refuge. I lucked out that my appointments in the area aligned with a rare beautiful winter day. A day in the garden, away from all the politics and injustice out there, it’s rare but it’s everything. So, today, I won’t rant about the world out there. Today, we’ll harvest some spinach and talk about pretty things.

The garden is now an hour’s drive away. It’s a rare refuge.

I lucked out that my appointments in the area aligned with a rare beautiful winter day.

The world out there is getting scarier by the minute. Seriously, I’m scared.

It’s textbook. It’s not unexpected albeit a bit faster than even I feared. But I wish I could pretend not to notice.

A day in the garden, away from all the politics and injustice out there, it’s rare but it’s everything.

Even now when I can be here only every few weeks, the garden grounds me.

So, today, I won’t rant about the world out there. Today, we’ll harvest some spinach and talk about pretty things.

This is a spinach called Verdil. That name came with the subtitle “winter giant” and I know why by now.

Look at these giant spinach leaves. This spinach would be ideal for harvesting the outer leaves all winter.

I harvested a bit more liberally because I knew I wouldn’t be back in a few weeks.

A neighbor had asked if I could bring him some beets but there weren’t any left to bring him.

Some of the leftover beets might mature if I give them a few more weeks. But I think my beets are done for the season.

The second variety of spinach called Bufferflay is a bit behind the Verdil–and a lot smaller.

Maybe next time…

There were still two kale plants left from the summer months. I decided to take the rest home.

If the garden was closer, I’d only take the outer leaves while the plant continues to grow.

But with the garden now far away, I decided we’d have delicious kale for dinner that night.

If I get another chance to garden soon, I’ll cover it with mulch to grow potatoes in next year.

The corn salad needs more time. A few more weeks at least, I’d say. But I had a craving, so I harvested a tiny bit.

Corn salad with some good balsamic vinegar, some honey, salt, and pepper. It was delicious.

I learned a lot about growing winter greens this winter. Now, I don’t dread next winter as much.

There is still green in the darker months. There is still growing and gardening. I can still get my hands dirty.

I am still learning the lesson of patience. But there is no regret.

With an hour’s drive and grocery shopping ahead of me, I didn’t feel like leaving the garden.

Reluctantly, I packed up and readied to leave.

I also took some of the balcony planters that hadn’t fit into the car when we moved.

Three of them now sit on the South-facing window sills. When it gets a little warmer, I’ll plant them.

A rosemary plant we inherited from former neighbors claims one of them. But there is plenty of room for some herbs.

Lettuce? Radishes? There are options even without a balcony.

I am also excited about what volunteers will grow here in my absence. I’m sure there will be tomatoes, for example.

We will plant our stock of sprouted potatoes in the beds that look best. We’ll leave the rest to minimal maintenance.

The rest depends on when we find a new garden. I could start some things here for transplanting.

But I am not ready for those plans and steps. For now, I am taking a tiny bit of garden to an interim apartment.

For now, we live in limbo.

We make the best of the interim place. Neighbors at the old place left this sink in the trash.

The base is from our old kitchen.

Another neighbor offered us a small dishwasher. With Bob still in the shop, I accepted. That night, I hooked it up.

I used the hoses from the old apartment, as those that were attached seemed sketchy.

Before long, the dishwasher was functioning. I’m still figuring out why it vibrates so much when pumping water.

But it works.

I bet it would be a lot quieter under a proper kitchen counter with walls and such luxuries.

I am still not very good with water-related tasks but I am at least comfortable with the basics by now.

The tap broke during the move, so I had to install a new one. That task, too, I succeeded at.

The sink is much bigger than our old one. I’m sad someone threw it away.

With a proper faucet, it is so much easier to use than the one in the old place.

The shelves from the old kitchen are everywhere again. Though they are definitely not as ideal here.

There isn’t enough storage here, either. But we make do with stacked crates. It works.

It’s dark in most of the kitchen with awkward lighting. But it’s now possible to cook and create.

With a deep sink to keep the roots wet and the peeler dug up from the last kitchen box, I can even peel salsify.

Most of my garden neighbors shy away from them because of the sticky latex. It is the worst kind of sticky.

I don’t use single-use gloves if at all avoidable, never in the kitchen. The trick is to keep the root wet all the time.

If you throw them straight into vinegar water, they won’t get that orange tinge. Still delicious.

I don’t care about the orange tint but if you want them nice and white, you need to keep them wet the entire time.

I chopped them into pieces and then finally added them to a bowl of water.

This was only my second time using salsify, so it’s not routine yet.

These are potatoes we grew this year. One bucket still holds pretty tubers.

Three of the buckets are in the garden house with sprouted potatoes. The warm fall and move made them sprout early.

Next winter, we’ll experiment more with potato storage.

I’m excited I at least get to grow potatoes this year.

There wasn’t anything exciting about dinner that night–except that we’d grown the main ingredients.

And that made boiled potatoes with boiled salsify, butter, salt, and pepper a very special meal.

So long, and thanks for being here through all the chaos.