Dear Nona: Do you think we’ll get the crops in early this year. They’re talking about a ton of rain on its way. We need it, but we need to work the dirt!

Sheesh!

Soggy Sodbuster Dear Soggy: Sheesh, I know what you mean. Nona used to always have a whiz-bang of a garden, but I no longer have the knees or back for pulling all those weeds. Plus, the city came through the trailer park and they made the owners of Lublin Estates get rid of Petey the Packrat’s trailer. There was stuff stacked all over the place. Well, one day someone commented that there weren’t any new cars in the front yard or piles of stuff on the porch anymore. The mail was piling up, but stuff was always piling up.

One day, we elected Nosey Nellie to try to make contact with Petey. She was dying to find out if he, umm, how can I say this delicately: She was dying to know if he died. Good news was that he didn’t, at least as near as we could tell from shifting around the piles of debris. Tina the Travel Agent finally fessed up that Petey was in love. In the back of one of those magazines that are sure keeping were piling up, he read about gals up in Alaska who were paying to marry guys just like Petey. Off he went, and no one even noticed that there was one less car in the yard.

Pretty soon, the town property enforcement officer taped a notice on the door. People started looting through Petey’s stuff. Now, instead of one doublewide with 20 cars in the yard, there are 10 that have two junkers, plus ones they already had. All in all, Petey’s place may look better, but the overall scene isn’t pretty. Then the bulldozer came and Petey’s place was gone.

In its place, Green Thumb Thelma got permission to grow a garden like you wouldn’t believe. She can’t grow the kind of stuff that bought her six months in the Taylor County Jail, but her cash crops sure kept us all in produce here in the trailer park. It kept us all from having to grow our own garden too.

Now, the only thing we’re hoarding out here is fruits and veggies, and Thelma is just itching to get that garden growing this spring. She said it has to dry up soon, or she’s going to have to try to grow something “different” again this year for money.

It’s a little late for Easter for this dish, but plan it for Mother’s Day!

Four-Cheese Scalloped Potatoes Ingredients 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for brushing 1/2 clove garlic 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/3 cup shredded asiago cheese 1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese 2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 2 cups heavy cream 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 4 fresh bay leaves 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese Directions

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees. Generously brush a large skillet with butter, then rub with the garlic. Combine the mozzarella, asiago and Swiss in a bowl.

Heat the skillet over medium- high heat. Add half of the potatoes, spreading them out. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt, half of the cut-up butter, half of the shredded cheese blend, and pepper to taste. Arrange the remaining potatoes on top. Sprinkle with 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Pour the cream over the potatoes, then add the nutmeg and bay leaves; simmer 3 minutes. Dot the potatoes with the remaining cut-up butter.

Generously brush a shallow baking dish with butter; slide the potatoes into the dish; arrange with a fork, if desired. (If your skillet is ovenproof, you can skip this step and bake the potatoes in the skillet.) Sprinkle the potatoes with the parmesan and the remaining shredded cheese blend. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Discard the bay leaves.