Kitchen Garden?

Morning glory in my backyard, last summer.

It's February in Michigan. That means change. Last week, we had a spell of 60 degree weather for 2 days, and it reminded me that spring will in fact come again. It was so nice to not have to see snow for awhile--it stayed warm enough, even at night, to melt the several inches around here and even do a fair amount to decimate the larger piles.

Then this morning we woke up to several incehs of snow again. I know it's more "normal" and that it's 26 degrees F now, which means that it's almost above freezing (32F=0C), which is practically a heat wave in itself in a northern state this time of year. But that little "taste" of spring made the drifts so discouraging to see.

So I'm trying to think spring thoughts, and trying to figure out what I want to do to bring spring on sooner.

I was thinking of maybe planting a kitchen garden. Not much, maybe one of those little kits from Walmart or some such. Or maybe just getting an African violet, since they're pretty hardy and I think even I could keep it alive. I could also force some blooms, iris or tulip or hyacinth. I just feel like I need something green and growing around me....especially since even the dirty green-brown winter grass is covered again.

Any suggestions? What would go best in a house with northern/western exposure? What is hardy enough to withstand me? What's most likely to be left alone by my Annie-cat, or at the very least won't kill her if she does ingest it? (She has a mean appetites for spider plants, which results in death before adulthood in all I've tried over the last 8 years.)

Thanks for your input.