Spring has arrived. Have you started planting your garden yet?

I have — because my eye doctor insisted on it!

For some time now, Dr. Doug Huff of Barnesville has been telling me something I already knew. I wait until too late in the season to start planting my crops, especially things that do well in the chilly spring soil. He decided to put a stop to that and got me started planting this year by providing me with a large container filled with fresh, young lettuce sprouts.

After I picked it up, I followed his instructions, I simply disturbed the soil and set the little plants in the divots then pushed soil up around them. In a few cases, their roots were tangled, but Dr. Huff told me it would matter if I planted two together, so occasionally I did. I set them 2-4 inches apart and stepped back, ready to watch them grow.

So far, they seem to be doing well. They are taking hold and looking stronger each day.

I am really looking forward to having fresh, tasty lettuce for salads all summer long, as Dr. Huff promised I would.

That is all the progress I have made so far on this season’s garden, but I have lots of plans. Getting started early has motivated me to keep going. By the end of this weekend, I hope to have several more rows planted, focusing on other greens and vegetables such as beets, green onions, sweet peas and maybe even corn. All of these crops tend to do well when the soil is cool.

But there are other garden tasks to attend to as well. Getting a good fence back in place is at the top of that list for me. And I plan to experiment this year with plants that should help deter animal invaders — fragrant flowers such as marigolds and lavender are said to discourage deer and rabbits.

We shall see how well that works.

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My husband, Mike, and I have gotten behind on experimenting with the recipes in our “Bob’s Burgers” book, but we tried a different type of meal this past week that turned out surprisingly well.

I am not a fan of fried potatoes, so I rarely eat french fries, hash browns or tater tots. Mike, on the other hand, loves tots. So, I decided to find a recipe to make for him that would include them. I came up with a casserole that I found online.

Using a pound of hamburger from the quarter beef we bought a few months ago, I browned the meat and then added some diced onion and minced garlic. I topped that with a can of cream of mushroom soup, followed by a can of cut green beans. Those got topped with 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and a lyer of tots finished it off before I popped it into the oven on 375 degrees for about 40 minutes.

The end result was really good. I didn’t even mind the tots!

It’s a simple dish that I think many families — especially ones with kids who avoid their vegetables — would enjoy.