I've been gardening for years, but I haven't grown much food. My biggest success has been a tarragon plant that comes back every year, and my biggest failure has been pie pumpkins. My biggest disappointment has been blackberries. I loved picking blackberries as a kid in Oregon and tried to recreate that experience here. I've spent hours and hours cutting back canes and digging up volunteers, but I've never been able to pick more than a handful of berries.

This year I'm going to try to grow real food. Phil has agreed to build raised beds, and he's running out of time. (Too bad I can't get him interested in reading my blog!) I have a small garden bed next to the patio I can use, and I plan to try growing some things in pots.

The problem I'm having right now is not knowing whether to plant seeds or plants from a nursery. The guides I've been reading don't give much guidance on that. What I've kind of decided to do is plant seeds for things I want lots of and buy seedlings for the rest. (Except potatoes—I want lots of those, but you can't plant those from seed.)

Raley's had Burpee seeds at 40% off yesterday, so I stocked up. Here's what I got:

• Beets (will have to learn how to cook them)
• Carrots
• Pie pumpkins (I got a tip that they'll ripen if you set them on upturned black plastic pots)
  
• Cantaloupe
• Watermelon
• Lettuce mix
• Spinach

Besides the potatoes, I plan to buy plants for the tomatoes Phil wants as well as onions, green beans, and corn. I might try some strawberries, and I'm thinking about trying Jerusalem artichokes, too (after years of refusing to take them when Dad tried to give them to me!). I'll also buy more basil, which doesn't make it through the winter here. And maybe some strawberries—another pleasant Oregon childhood memory.

What's my next step? Let's see—I need to work on my soil and I need to shop at a nursery for the rest of the plants. I think I'll go to the nursery.