Considering the number of seeds that have gone into the ground already, the fact that seven peapod plants are up is not impressive. The rest of them, not to speak of the lettuce, the onions and the leeks, are not signaling to me yet — or else they’ve made a tasty hors d’oeuvre for the most gourmet of my platoon of squirrels or my legions of variegated birds.

I’ve put out cracked red pepper as a discouragement, but I think I need to try cayenne. Do any of you ingenious gardeners out there have other suggestions?

Tomorrow I want to add some perennial sweet peas and some more lettuce, and that’s about it for the cool season crops. Then, after “danger of frost is past,” I get to start on the organically shaped plot in the sun in the middle of the back lawn. There I foresee a jumble of warm-season plants climbing all over each other. Corn (for support more than cobs), Italian beans, zucchini (I warned you!) and a nifty little heirloom watermelon. And then when the farmers market opens with all those little plants, maybe some poblano peppers – and how can I resist at least one tomato, even though the beasts have won that round every time before.

My most successful herb has been Greek basil, which grows thick and tasty every summer. Must do that, but my favorite for eating is oregano, so I’ll have at least two herbs. They grow happily in pots that have long since lost their bottoms.

Oh, and have you ever planted rhubarb? I have two new clumps in a kind of shady place. Any advice?

Last but not least — I think we all need to hold each others’ gardens in the Light. I don’t know about you, but I keep thinking of the quote that I just added to my e-mail signatures:

Hoe while it is spring, and always enjoy the best anticipations. It is not much matter if things do not turn out well.
— Charles Dudley Warner