The tender leaves of the first lettuce harvest.

The lettuce that survived the winter has a jump on all the other plants of the garden. Check out my first harvest. While not enough to feed the entire family, these will make a nice single person salad. Since this is a leaf lettuce variety, we like to harvest the leaves beginning at the bottom of the plant at leaving a few at the top. The plant will continue to produce new leaves. When the plant finally bolts in the summer heat, you’ll notice our talk, stalky lettuce. But what we remember is the number of meals we made in between.

Rouge lettuce grows between the garden beds.

Don’t let the organized appearance of our three garden boxes fool you. Seed still grows wherever it falls. I’ve noticed more lettuce coming up among the radishes even after we thought we’d transplanted it all into a single bed. Meanwhile, these two happy plants thumb their noses at the very idea of mingling with the other lettuce in an organized assembly of greens. They’ve found enough soil between the garden boxes to make a comfortable home and I don’t feel the need to get a trowel. This isn’t a high traffic area and the look delicious right where they stand.

Potato spouts hint at the spuds beneath the soil.

Elsewhere in the garden, these potato sprouts have arrived. We didn’t intend to plant potatoes last year. Our compost pile yields all kinds of mystery food. When they sprouted last year, I transplanted the little spuds in the bed and left them alone. I didn’t really know when or how to harvest them but since their just roots, the winter here isn’t a problem. I pleased to see their happy in their garden bed and hope to get my first taste of garden fresh potatoes this year. I’m told they could ruin me from all store bought potatoes. I’m okay with that.