I have had a lot of fun with the gardening part of my sustainable kitchen project. I haven’t had huge yields or anything (maybe a tomato here or there, peppers that I’m still waiting to see grow, and a ridiculous amount of basil). Still, there’s something amazing about eating something from the garden. I didn’t want it to end when summer ends, so I did some research about planting a fall and winter vegetable garden.

In the chaos that is my house, I also find it soothing to go outside to check on my veggies and water them. Some gardening tasks I don’t like. They actually seem to me to be hard labor with dirt and bugs, to be frank. Would it be wrong to hire someone to dig up my grass for a garden plot? Hmm…

But I digress. The idea had been in the back of my head, but then I went to a local used book store, Downtown Books and News, and flipped through the cookbook section. I happened on Fresh in Winter, and that basically sparked the idea that I should plant, in fact must plant, a fall and winter garden.

So I started with some pumpkin seeds I actually bought in the spring. Those have been growing like crazy in front of my house. Here’s how they look:

I also purchased a whole bunch of seeds from Park Seeds. Here is my little basket full of seeds and my new winter cookbook:

I am not feeling in the mood to undertake a whole project of digging up a new garden plot. I do have a book with really cool directions on a low-effort method to have a plot next year by laying down cardboard to cover the grass, piling up organic materials on top, piling on compost all fall and winter, and then ta-da: garden plot next spring. That sounds more like my kind of effort level.

For now, I am going to clear some of the flowers from my bed, put in something for the climbers like the peas, and plant in front of my house. I also have three big aluminum containers with holes drilled in the bottom that I plan to use for the lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

Here are the seeds I have. I may not get room to plant them all, but I hope I get close. The root vegetables concern me the most, since I know they need some room down deep and around the roots to grow. I thought there wouldn’t be much that was enticing to choose from, but then I happened on this great Cool Weather Vegetables section at Park SeedCool Weather Vegetables. And the entire order cost something like $20 plus shipping:

• Leeks
• Celery
• A master chef lettuce blend
• Blondie (white) peas
• Touchstone gold beets
• Radishes
• Very cool-looking orange cheddar cauliflowers
• Small miracle hybrid broccoli
• White satin carrots
• Tumbling cherry tomatoes in yellow and red (which I plan to try inside in a hanging basket with a light)

I can’t wait to see how they do as I get into fall and winter (and I need to get to planting ASAP with some of these!). There are some really amazing-sounding recipes in my cookbook, like Allspice Cabbage, Chicken and Butter Leek Soup, and Thyme Buttered Baby Roots.