I was drawn to our compost pile by the rising steam that looked like a camp fire.  Internal temp 140 degrees-yes!  The pile was hot to touch.  I surprise myself by my composting enthusiasm these days.  Checking the temp twice daily and fighting the urge to add more and turn.  Our last pile of finished compost was completed over the summer months with not that much monitoring, but I am serious now.   It’s my new cooking passion.  I began loading it up 9 days ago and it has reduced by about 1/5 in size now.

Ahh, steaming compost

I am fascinated by the compatibility of thick, cold frost on the leaves of cold-loving plants.  It isn’t so surprising on sturdy spinach or kale, but the delicate lettuce seems to enjoy a coating of frost just as much.  I do know that these early hours of icy cover bring out the wonderful sweet, juice flavor of these plants! 

"The Waiting Line"

Fearless spinach

Hoarfrosted kale