One of the ways I know I'm not a very seasoned gardener is how much I mourn the loss of a crop. My guess is that a more experienced gardener just accepts that the weather changes and some crops will no longer thrive.

I'd never imagined that I'd be able to harvest lettuce, kale, and spinach straight through the fall and into December. For the extra greens, I am exceedingly thankful. And, yet, when I walked out to the garden after 3 mornings of frost and 2 days of cold wind and lifted the plastic sheeting to see my ruined lettuce, I thought I might cry.

Here you can see how the leaves have withered and turned brown.

I removed the sheeting and laid it out to dry before storing. Planning to use it in early spring, I left the hoop frame up for now.

Cocoa Puff didn't seem to mind that the greens were a little wilted. I guess I'll just feed her a little bit of what's remaining each day until it's all gone.

In the meantime, I found myself purchasing "Organic Spring Mix" greens at the store yesterday. So much for eating in season. :(