Snow and Sunchokes

Well, Spring is not here yet. What a difference from last year! Right now it is snowing again.
Here's a pic I just shot looking out the slider into the yard:

The snow is wet and heavy because temps are just above freezing.

Last week I continued my tradition of planting my first seeds in February.
 I sowed Razzle Dazzle spinach under a makeshift coldframe:

Last year I sowed spinach ten days earlier, and by the 28th it had sprouted! We'll see how long it takes this year.

Despite the snow I harvested some fresh sunchokes from the garden this morning.  Under the snow the ground is thawed, and I easily stirred up the soil and pulled out a handful of golden tubers.

I scrubbed the sunchokes clean, then sliced them thin, and added them to a winter salad of cabbage, potato and carrot. Then I splashed olive oil and sherry vinegar on the vegetables, seasoned with salt and pepper and mixed them up thoroughly.  The final touch was decidedly not locovore  -shaved Italian parmesan. Sometimes a little compromise is worth it!

Waiting for spring