For the first time in more than five years, I missed the spring plant sale at Woodland Community College and feel bad about it.

I didn’t realize my mistake until this past weekend while driving the backroads of Yolo County and saw neat rows of young tomato plants greening a 300-acre field along County Road 27. A few miles away were young shoots of corn.

In the past, our family coordinated spring planting with the sale from the Master Gardeners at the college. We would make the trip and stock up on tomato starts, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash and whatever else we could get into our backyard pots and garden beds.

And although my wife has passed away, my daughter and I have continued the tradition and gone to the college. This past fall, we got plenty of lettuce, collards, and other leafy greens. All grew very well.

My basic nature, always has me planting too soon in the spring, usually before the last of the overnight chill had worn off. I’d usually get the starts in the ground within a week, rather than waiting a little longer for the weather to warm.

As a result, my plants (notice how I said “my” plants when it’s a family affair) always seemed to have a rougher start. Tomatoes took a little longer to grow. The zucchinis remained stagnant until mid-May when they suddenly exploded.

So, this year will definitely be different and depends on when I can swing by ACE or Home Depot, or check out a farmer’s market.

There’s also the inevitable inner conflict of having a small garden where we’d use a lot of water and garden soil to raise crops that actually cost comparatively little at Raley’s, Food 4 Less or Grocery Outlet.

I know, for example, that I can save the ends of onions, plant them and have a crop of onions in a few months. Ditto carrots. But why bother when onions and carrots are relatively cheap, at least before the tariffs went into effect? I’ll have to wait and see what countries our vegetables are coming from in the future. Blueberries from Mexico may be off the menu.

Then again, prices at the Woodland and Davis farmers’ markets may be more in line with those of imported produce. Wouldn’t that be something!

We also try and use our little garden as a “safe haven” for bees. The garden is divided into three sections — north to south — with the center portion reserved for perennial flowers that the bees can visit. The flowers had other ideas this year and “moved” from the center to the northern bed. I don’t know why they did this, but they seem happy and are growing fast.

This year I also decided to focus more on planting dwarf fruit trees in several big pots as well as along the backyard fence. I won’t know the result for a few years, but the “ultra dwarf” d’Anjou pear, “self-fertilizing cherry,” along with the Santa Rosa plum and nectarine have all sprouted bright-green leaves and seem to like their new homes.

Growing vegetables and fruits has never been a strong suit for our family. My late wife would take time every now and then to weed and water, but generally it has been up to me to do the real work.

I’m not very good at gardening, but it’s nice to see the final results — and occasionally enjoy a tomato right off the vine if I’m lucky.

Jim Smith is the former editor of The Daily Democrat, retiring in 2021 after a 27-year career at the paper.