I'm thinking it may be another lazy summer, gardening-wise. I have cleared the upper bed and planted some watermelon seeds--more on that later--but the lower bed remains a tangle of bug-destroyed winter greens and weeds. I just can't get up the energy, or find the time, to deal with it.

On the bright side, I managed to start my tomato seeds pretty early, so my son and I were able to spend last Saturday transplanting small plants into large containers. Container gardening much easier to manage than in-ground gardening if you simultaneously need to watch a curious 2-year-old. My son could wander around, filling small pots with soil, digging in containers with a shovel and playing in a water bucket I set up for him, while I filled 5-gallon pots with a mix of compost and garden soil.

I managed to get five tomatoes transferred to large containers. All will produce cherry-sized fruit of various colors, which my son will be happy to devour in a month or two.

I have quite a few more tomato seedlings still growing in small pots. I might plant them in the ground somewhere, or maybe I will give them as gifts to friends and neighbors. I'll probably end up with enough to do both.

I also planted some Spacemaster Cucumber seeds in a large container a few weeks ago. They took a little while to germinate, probably due to the colder-than-usual April weather. But recently they have sprouted, and I am hoping to get them to climb up a tomato cage and bear some crisp fruit this summer.

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I also planted some okra seeds in pots at the same time I planted the tomatoes. Despite a compost-rich soil mix and dutiful seed-scratching, not a single seed sprouted. I recently re-planted some of the pots. Maybe the warmed weather will help this time. Or maybe I am doomed to never successfully grow okra. How tragic for a gardener from Texas.