First harvest and a snowstorm rages…

It’s April 16th and a snow storm rages outside my window. I feel like I’ve been here before! Unlike last year though, I do not have month old tomato plants on my dining room table. This year I held off on the seed starting until April 10th so my seedlings just shot up over the weekend.

My seed starting helper.

Unlike last season, I’ve already harvested some greens that grew outside in my garden! I seeded some spinach in my mini greenhouse last fall. The greenhouse plastic caved in under the weight of the snow but apparently the snow did a good job of insulating because last week, after the snow had melted next to the south side of the house, my daughter noticed the green leaves! She exuberantly started picking and snacking, sharing her treasure with me and her little brother.

Sylva munching on our first harvest of spinach, April 7!

I love tasting those first greens in the garden in the spring. It’s what my body has been craving all winter.

Milo chewing on some garden spinach.

I’ve tried to appease those cravings with spinach and kale from the store, grown far from here, but it just doesn’t compare to the real deal, laying dormant all winter, soaking up the nutrients I’ve supplied the soil, just waiting for the right conditions to come alive. Eating it, I come alive! Now we’ll see how hardy spinach is as it weathers this latest storm unprotected.