Grow baby, grow!

Just made a margherita pizza with homemade sauce and way, way, WAY too much basil from my patio garden. It was deliciously awesome (yet somehow, also awesomely delicious).

Alice Waters suggests first-time food gardeners consider starting with tomatoes. They grow easily and abundantly and can be used fresh in salads and sandwiches, as well as cooked in sauces such as this.


BUCATINI PASTA WITH TOMATO SAUCE WITH BACON AND ONION

Start to finish: 30 minutes

Servings: 4

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 slices bacon (or pancetta), cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

6 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (or 8 whole canned t… Continue

The Reporter-Telegram's annual spring "Home & Garden" section appears in today's paper. Check it out if you get a chance. It was my turn to design it here in the newsroom, and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

--John

By Lee Reich

'Tis the season when everyone gets the urge to plant. And if you choose to grow vegetables, there's no need to relegate them to a far corner of your yard, where they are sure to suffer neglect.

A vegetable garden need not be an eyesore. It can be an oasis of beauty, pleasing your eyes as much as your palate.

Just visit or find a picture of Villandry, the famous French potager ("kitchen garden") near Tours, France, with its patterns of geometric beds filled with growing veg… Continue

Dean Dosdick
For The Associated Press

A look at some kinds of severe weather and how to prepare for them:

- Hurricanes: Use plants that are wind and salt tolerant. Natives are best for wetter areas, such as palms, cypress and magnolia trees. Containerized plants can be moved indoors quickly. Prune overhanging limbs from large trees; stake smaller ones. Pick up or secure any garden debris or ornaments that can become projectiles in high winds.

- Flooding: Lawns take a beating fro… Continue