Distance makes the heart grow lazy

I'm talking about distance from blogging, of course. The further you get from it, the easier it is to stay away. Besides it being the time of year when nothing noteworthy is happening in my garden, there have been things going on in my non-gardening life that have consumed my emotions and energy. With the new year, and all the catalogs, however, I am being lured back to thinking about the garden.

We had a very warm fall, and I kept postponing the last of the cleanup chores. Then the non-gardening events transpired, and the garden was all but forgotten. Now, in the middle of winter, the ground is frozen, and things will have to stay where they are for awhile.

The kale slumped over and froze to the ground.

The ground is frozen around the pepper cages, so I can't pull them out.

At least some things are as they should be.

peas and oats cover crop

I had several cabbage plants doing quite well, and I even covered them for a couple weeks. Then one day it was warm enough to uncover them, and I never put the cover back on.

This one probably would've made it to eating size.

Under the snow are several smaller cabbage plants and my squirrel-planted peanut.

I meant to dig up that peanut after the first hard freeze to see if it had any baby peanuts on the roots. Oh well, maybe the squirrels will plant another one next year.

It's kind of pitiful looking in the garden right now, but I'm going to start planning this year's garden and hope I get renewed and energized.