Farmer Phil did all the hard work in April, then we had 96-degree weather for a while, and then the temperature dropped 40 degrees and we had wind and thunderstorms. But in the past couple of days, I finally got the right parts for the drip system, put it together, and planted the seeds!

This photo shows some of our challenges. The grass in the foreground is salt grass, which is so tough and aggressive I have seen it growing through the sole of an athletic shoe. We applied RoundUp and laid down newspapers on the bases of the planters before adding soil and compost, but I'm not hopeful the grass won't pop up in the beds in the near future.

Another challenge is watering—I still need to connect my drip hoses to the old lawn risers. I'm making multiple trips with a watering can for now, so I'm motivated to get that taken care of.

Let me tell you what I've planted:

Bed 1—sunflowers, carrots, spinach, mixed lettuce, beets, broccoli.
Bed 2—corn, onions, cantaloupe, watermelon, potatoes, more carrots, nasturtiums.
Bed 3—beans, peas, potatoes, lots more carrots (each seed is only one carrot, right?).
Pots on patio—tomatoes and strawberries surrounded by marigolds.

I haven't actually planted all the broccoli, greens, beets, and carrots yet; I plan to plant a few more each week so they'll be ready to eat at different times.

I planted seeds for everything but the tomatoes and strawberries (and "seed potatoes"). I have never succeeded in growing anything from seed before, so it's hard to believe much will come of this. I have so much to learn. But it feels good knowing everything's planted. And I might, just might, have gotten the timing right. Our weather seems to have settled into a normal pattern for this time of year.

I guess I'll be obsessed with the weather now—just like a real farmer!