What's sproutin'?

Today featured the most wintry-weather crapulence so far this season. In Austin, of course, that means the temperature hovers above freezing and it's raining. Those of you who live where there's a real winter may laugh, but fellow sun-belters can relate. It's gross outside. The bunnies and children are sulking indoors.

I'm focusing on what's germinating in anticipation of warmer weather in a few weeks. I started fifty peat-pots of seeds last week and with the exception of some cayenne seeds from 2004 that have finally expired* I'm reaping quite a sprout bounty on the kitchen counter: Roma and beefsteak tomatoes; kale, collard and broccoli; basil and cilantro; black-eyed Susan and yerba anís. This weekend I plan to move them all into larger pots. Where I will keep them for the next eight-odd weeks is beyond me; it's my first real success (knock wood) starting seeds indoors.

Outdoors, my parsley and cilantro plants are covered in case of sleet, and my black-seeded Simpson and Bibb lettuce seedlings are under homemade row covers the boys helped me build with chicken wire and some old sheets that I cut to fit the wire frames.

After years of middling results and notable failures, I'm starting to get the hang of the gardening thing. My frozen avocado seedlings might beg to differ, but everything else seems happy. What gets you through the winter? What are you looking forward to?

*On advice I read somewhere (maybe Square Foot Gardening?) I store all opened seed packs and saved seeds in airtight containers in the fridge in hopes of preserving their sprouty goodness.