I’m not a winter person, but I get more knitting done between the months of December and March than I do the rest of the year combined.
The fireside and knitting go together very well, except when I knit so late I’m in peril of nodding off and falling into the flames.
I also get more baking done in the cold months. And crock-pottering; winter and slow cookers go hand in hand.
I simmered up a pot of these flageolet beans, with a few additions (smoked paprika, cumin, and chili powder).
I made these into cinnamon rolls with my discard sourdough starter.
I’ve even finished a hat and a cowl, started a shawl, and begun swatching for a sweater.
The garden is calling. I’ve been fussing around with garden sketches, trying to work out a plan for spring planting. There never seems to be enough room in the garden for what I want to plant.
One reason for that is the berry problem. Two berry problems, really.
I let some blackberry plants get out of hand and they won’t stop coming up in my vegetable garden. They’re the thorny kind and they don’t play well with pant legs, keep trying to overtake my beds, and pop up everywhere.
The other berry problem, if you can call it that, is renegade strawberries. It started out with my plan to tuck one little strawberry plant at the end of several of my vegetable beds for some perennial pizzazz and to have somewhere to put the runner overflow from the strawberry beds. But they’ve done their runner thing so well now I’m overrun and losing ground.
While they’re not hard to pull up, I’m having a tough time psychologically bringing myself to remove them. I keep remembering the big, syrupy berries they produce and don’t know if the veg I’d plant in their place could surpass the contribution of the strawberries.
I’m loving these Osaka Purple Mustard Greens. They’ve sprung back so well from the frosts, freezes, and our one little snow. And they look beautiful next to the happy collards, too.
That’s my February. Waiting for spring, knitting while the fire glows. How are you spending your February?
Much the same as you — planning the garden, cooking foods my family loves, crocheting, keeping warm.
Not a good winter for me. Pesky lung infections and head colds have kept me inside. Otherwise, spending my time making soups, breads and plotting garden additions and omissions. Getting a few books read. Waiting for the spring plant sales to add to my bee and butterfly garden.
Here in central Calif. I’ve been pretty .much eating all winter long on broccoli, caiflower, kale, lettuces, chard, some herbs, as chives and parsley. Onions and garlic continue to grow well, and hopefully I’ll have a decent crop. Cabbages are starting to head up. There are more brassicas still growing as I put in seedlings gs as I pulled out spent plants. But I’m sure getting hungry for spring veggies! The snow peas are just beginning to put out those yummy flat pods. Tomato seedlings are showing up in the garden centers now that we have passed our last frost date. My biggest project at the present is battling the weeds! This drought plagued valley has gotten some much needed rain and the weeds are taking over. But in this glorious weather, I don’t even mind pulling weeds. Ask me again come July and August.
Knitting mittens & hats to keep warm here in Indiana. Loved all of your knitwear,
garden and food pictures. Thanks for sharing… now I really need to bake some yummy
cinnamon rolls 🙂
Loved your pictures and especially the cinnamon rolls from sourdough!! Do you have a good sourdough recipe you can share? Thanks for sharing all your info, appreciate it and look forward to it. Still freezing here in Indiana.