John Boyd's Blog (10)

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). Continue

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 Continue

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

By Dean Fosdick For The Associated Press Effective storm proofing borrows a page from football: Offense is the best defense. A little well-timed prevention goes a long way toward reducing weather-related damage. And landscaping is the place to start. Although many tasks are storm-specific, some pruning, raking, planting and picking up will save property owners big bucks when any kind of gale blows through. "It's all about the plants," said Leslie Chapman-Henderson of Ta… Continue

The Associated Press recently did this consumer piece on mowers. Thought SOMEONE might find it helpful. Gas, electric or push: a look at lawnmower options Melissa Kossler Dutton Love it or loathe it, lawn care season is upon us. And after decades of making lawnmowers bigger, more powerful and easier to push, manufacturers now are touting self-powered mowers and electric models just big enough to get the job done. Why? Many customers want to cut the grass without cutting… Continue

Columnist, occasional NPR personality and dear friend Ed Cullen writes about the Obama's new vegetable garden for this Sunday's edition of The Baton Rouge Advocate: The Obamas' Garden President Obama only THOUGHT he was getting hammered by economic cardiac arrest. He had to go where no sane person goes who wishes to avoid criticism — gardening. And not just the short row of tomatoes beside the tool shed most of us called a first garden… Continue

The following release was sent to us here at the Reporter-Telegram, via our PRNewswire: Texas wildflowers Still in Bloom Despite Recent Drought AUSTIN -- Brown and green could dominate as the colors most visible along many Texas roadsides this spring, rather than the preferred pastels of wildflowers Texas motorists are accustomed to seeing this time of year. Even though this may be the case, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) predicts roadways will not be completely without… Continue

I checked in on my patio pepper plants this morning before leaving work and saw something I didn't notice during last night's after-dark watering: three tiny little buds on each plant. I was pretty excited, especially considering I just brought them home from the store a couple of days ago. Needless to say, the development is likely due to good specimen selection rather than any gardening magic I've cast over them in the past 48 hours. But still, I'm a little proud. It's amazing: give a plant f… Continue