We made it through winter! (I think)

61 degrees yesterday in the mountains. Crocus and daffodils are blooming. Right now it's 39 degrees and snowing. Mother Nature just doesn't know which way to swing this year. While there is a scent of spring  flowing across the highlands from time to time, I'm busy looking through my seeds saved from last season desperately trying to discern when to plant. I moved from a place where I had weathered winters with lots of salad greens under plastic and old sheets...

... to a new location where I'm planning for much less ambitious growing situation in a few pots on my deck.

Sometimes it's enough just to have a few snips of garlic or onion or celery leaf to throw into my cooking and I'm excited by the leaves growing from the base of the bok choi I purchased last week.

Next time you have root vegetables like carrots, beets or daikon radishes, don't throw away the top ends. Instead push them part way into moist potting soil, give them some sunshine and water to keep them from drying out and wait for the leafing action. You can add marvelous tastes to your food just from the leaves! And what a way to garden inside if you don't have space outside. It just takes a few items headed for the compost bin and a windowsill with some sunlight to make you feel like a farmer. Need some music to get you going? Try this on--hip hop for gardeners!

Here's a great book with a refrigerator full of ideas for gardening with your garbage! Don't Throw It; Grow It! Deborah Peterson's book lists 68 windowsill plants you can grow from scraps. Who says you need a tiller?

April is trying to peek around the corner. Please don't give up on us.....we've waited sooooo long. Thank you heidi richardson evans at www.daisybones.com