I've allowed my garden the chance to thrive under a regime of benign neglect recently. And thrive it had. Especially the chickweed. And horsetail. I exaggerate - sort of anyway - I did make sure all the plants were large enough and hardy enough to look after themselves for 10 days or so before I let them at it. The brassicas are all strong and vibrantly large, ready to outcompete anything else growing in their beds (sorry peas!). Even the baby haricot vert plants held their own against the chickweed. Barely.

So it had been a few days since I visited. And I was so so happy to see the beauty.

Broccoli!!! Heads of it!!! My sister comes home to visit this week, so I plan to save the broccoli harvest for her first night out here. I've been waiting and hoping for the broccoli to bloom... I don't think I've grown it since that one oh so demoralizing year at the cabin when a mama moose ate my whole garden just hours before I planned to harvest it.

And baby buds of brussel sprouts!!! Oh! I lack words for the joy. Brussel sprouts are one of my all time favorite foods. Cook them simply in cast iron with butter until the cut ends carmelize. Nothing fancy needed.

And here... Inside carefully layer after layer of still-protective leaves : romanesco cauliflower, their fractal patterns inspiring and delightful.

Dill and fireweed. I'm kind of in love with this photo. I really hope the dill self seeds and comes back next year! Something needs to hold it's own against the mint past whom even raspberries fear to spread!

And kale. So much lovely wonderful dense delightful kale. I blanched and froze four quarts of it tonight. Here's to a hungry mama and a breastfed babe in the depths of winter. Thank you kale.

Thank you garden, thank you earth. Thank you compost. Thank you sunshine and rain. Thank you seeds. Thank you love.