Awesome that you help the shelter.
Our animal shelters around here do good work. Bigger work is the large community of dedicated volunteers who maintain the feral cat program.
I’m not sure when I will start lettuce. Valentine’s Day used to be the perfect time to start the early garden, but winter seems to be shifting. February is getting colder. And I plant way too much stuff to protect from freeze or frost, so I tend to wait later than the folks in town.
/johnny