Where's the rain for cryin out loud? This is the first spring in memory where I've had to actively water my peas, lettuce, carrots and other young, tender garden seedlings. There's something about rainwater that makes them flourish in a way that faucet water just can't.

My indoor seedlings have been hardening off nicely. Today I moved the lettuce and broccoli from the side yard, where they were hardening off, and planted them in the veggie garden. My 5-year-old daughter, Franzie, helped. We also built a red brick strawberry mound along the edge of the vegetable garden. Franzie planted 'Alexandria' alpine strawberries, which are said to produce sweet little berries all summer. We're both excited.

The Tulipa orphanidea just stopped flowering...do I really have to wait another year? Its blooms look almost imaginary like orange tulips illustrated in a children's book. Pure flower joy.