Not so long ago, winter gardening meant that, in early September, you started seeds for some rugged vegetables that would have to endure the cold weather out there in the garden with limited protection.
After last year and, in spite of all the deniers, things have changed and the gardener has to change right along even though (s)he does not know any better than anybody else what to expect: a freezing cold winter or a beautifully pleasant improvement over the summers we get around here? After all, 65 and no mosquito feels like paradise! You can actually do some work out there without melting away.
Adjustment is the word of the day! Adaptation! To what? We're not totally sure but we also cannot keep doing what we were just a few years ago and hope to get the same results.
Expectation: because we now never know for sure what will work or not, we do know for sure to expect some losses. This year were my head lettuce that went to seed before filling up. Head lettuce is so much tastier than leaf lettuce thanks to crunchy heart but it also requires constant cool weather, not the ups and downs we have been getting lately.
Experimentation: if the solid experience and history is not reliable enough any more, our best choice is trying some experimental planting that has a fifty/fifty chance of success. I now have two beds of young head lettuce and escarole that might produce in spring. Or not! Something I would not have tried just a few years ago. I am also trying some fennel that usually freezes around here.
Appreciation that no matter what we try as human beings, mother nature has the final word and all those in between. In spite of what we might believe or hope, we're here for the ride; we're not really in control. So I'll just keep trying, appreciate the good, chalk off the not so good and be thankful that North Carolina is still green, gets a decent amount of rain and that I get way more out of my garden than I ever lose.
Success stories:
My escaroles looked like they were heading the same way as my lettuce but they have turned out absolutely scrumptious, crisp and sweet with a ting of light bitterness, just the way I like them. 
Kale: even though they sweeten well after a couple of hard frost, mine tastes very nicely after just a couple of brushes with light frost.
Leeks: I just wished I had more of them but summer was a little too hot and too harsh of them. Now counting on my spring crop.
Chervil (cerfeuil): a tasty herb pretty much unknown around here, great for winter chervil soup.
And an all time favorite herb I can't live without: parsley. I made sure to plant enough this year. I don't like running out of it.
Onion greens: another taste I like adding to my salads.
Carrots! Fresh carrots, even though they never grow as large as those grown in deep dirt and wetter, cooler climates.
And, of course, the winter garden wouldn't be quite the same without some blooming Johnny Jump Ups:
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