New! Fruit enhances an orange-scented puffy German pancake
New! Spring cream of spinach soup with scapes
New! Salt and vinegar give plain potatoes some personality
New! Berry-berry parfait with strawberries and blackberries (or blueberries)
New! This orange chicken is healthier than fast food
Recipe: Spinach scones with cheddar cheese and garlic chives.
New! Chopped veggies, peanuts provide plenty of crunch
New! Citrus salsa with fresh orange, mandarin, kumquat and lime
New! Vegan soup is loaded with vegetables and spices
New! Cabbage rolls stuffed with rice pilaf, mushrooms, raisins and lemon
Blood oranges and navels with a lavender-lemon syrup
New! Meyer lemon squares with candied almond crust
New! Cream cheese filling enhances a winter treat
New! Persimmon date-walnut tea bread uses super-ripe fruit
New! Brussels sprouts-apple slaw with pomegranate, pistachios and Meyer lemon dressing
Classic! These thumbprints are a twist on a traditional favorite
New! When ripe, the fruit is more juicy, floral than tart
New! Bakery-style mandarin muffins with raisins
New! Premade crust, herbed soft cheese can speed up the prep work
New! Persimmon-raisin scones with fresh Fuyu persimmon
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Food in My Back Yard Series
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of March 30
Your garden doesn’t mind April showers. Get busy now to enjoy those future flowers.
* Get ready to swing into action in the vegetable garden. As nights warm up over 50 degrees, start setting out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. (Soak beet seeds overnight in water for better germination,)
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.