Karen Wils photo A little kitchen garden brings big flavor to meals.

ESCANABA — Vibrant green lettuce, spinach and arugula fresh from the garden.

Chives, green onions and rosy red radishes crisp and clean.

Doesn’t that make you hungry for a nice salad luncheon?

Years ago, before COVID-19, many churches would sponsor a “spring salad luncheon.” Everything from toss salads, chef salads and pasta salads to potato salads and fruit salads, all lined up in pretty bowls, filled the icy buffet table.

This time of year, shopping for produce greatly improves as early spring veggies start showing up in the stores.

It is a good time to eat healthy.

It also is a great time to put in a little kitchen garden. If you are like me, nothing smells better than freshly tilled earth. It’s just calling out for some seeds.

Some of the very early things you can plant in our area are onions, spinach, lettuce, beets and carrots. The first taste of garden produce may include leaf lettuce, chives and radishes tossed together in a salad.

The joy of gardening is a good thing for lots of reasons nowadays.

Reason 1 — It brings you close to your roots. As you are sowing carrot seeds think of how many times your grandpa had done the very same thing. How many times did Great-grandma snip fresh greens to put on the supper table.

Reason 2 — Homegrown is healthy grown. In these days of chemical fertilizers and genetically modified seeds, it is nice to control just what’s in your garden.

Reason 3 — Gardening can save on your grocery bill. During the summer months, a gardener can almost skip the produce aisle at the store. Home canned or frozen veggies or fruit can be a big savings, too.

Reason 4 — Even a little kitchen garden will give you plenty of exercise and fresh air. A garden can bring you to your knees — perfect for weeding, praying and communing with nature.

After growing a nice assortment of greens, it’s fun to toss them with a variety of salad dressings. My mother made the best homemade oil and vinegar Italian dressing. My husband and children like ranch dressing on everything. They are reluctant to try other kind.

Me, I like to try many different kinds of dressings. Blue cheese dressing is one of my favorites.

A real good garden-fresh salad with lots of herbs doesn’t need a dressing it’s so tasty. To make a salad a meal, I often add crisp bacon and sliced hard boiled eggs to the greens.

Celebrate the season by making a great garden salad. If you don’t have the room or the time for a garden, visit our wonderful farmer’s market.

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.