Pumpkin and herbed greens fill appetizers fit for a party
Gnocchi roasted in the oven is a revelation
Layer fresh Mediterranean vegetables for a colorful salad
Upside-down treat is perfect for brunch or dessert
Fresh tomato soup uses only five ingredients
Savor the taste of late-summer produce
Turn those early apples into an almost-fall treat
This creamy dessert won’t heat up the kitchen like most fruit pies.
Melon-avocado salad with lemon vinaigrette
Fragrant fruit melds well with peppers, cilantro
P.A.T. Chutney combines plums (or pluots), apricots and tomatoes
Tender corn and fresh tomatoes star in a no-sweat dish
White Linen cocktail with fresh cucumber and lemon
Summer treat makes use of frozen puff pastry
Pluot-spinach salad with fig balsamic vinaigrette
Shredded squash adds texture, moistness
Tutti frutti clafoutis uses mix of plums, apricots, blueberries
Use very ripe fruit in this dish for best flavor
French toast gets a flavorful fruit topping
Green beans, simple dressing keep salad light
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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