just another january day in the garden

it was somewhat colder when i left to take a trip out to the garden this morning ( and is that a bud i see on the twig? thinking so...one more indicator to watch ) and when i arrived i found the alfalfa and turned down again...but not the winter rye...and when i strolled over to the brussels sprouts i found that the large leaf ( which wasn't nearly so large last trip out ) was definitely a bit worse for wear...the smaller leaves down the stem and the ones around the other side were still crisply green and unwilted while some other stalks were evincing new growth as well...temperatures are forecast to moderate in the coming days and return to above freezing...the remnants of the ice/sleet/snow will melt and we will be taking another look around the cold hardy fall crops to see what transpires...the fifth photo is cauliflower by the way...discovered that while i was puttering around...it has been an odd winter so far...you can chalk it up to "el nino" if you like...but what caused such a massive and prolonged one of those?