Recipe: Make cherry tomato focaccia with pizza dough
Cherry tomatoes usually are the rugged survivors of the summer vegetable-growing efforts, even when the rest of the plants have given up the ghost.
If like me you still have plenty of little tomatoes, you might want to make this herby focaccia. It uses pizza dough as the base, but don’t worry, there’s no messing around with yeast here. A 1-pound bag of premade dough is easy to find these days in the deli sections of supermarkets as well as at specialty food stores. The recipe works with whole wheat dough just as well as regular wheat; I haven’t baked it with other varieties, but if you’re on a gluten-free diet, give this a try with your favorite alternative.
The type of cherry tomato doesn’t matter, although the focaccia looks great with several colors and shapes. This recipe works even with grocery store cherry tomatoes, so grab a pint basket of them if you’re out of your own — something to try in the dead of winter when our 2018 gardens are mere memories. Use chopped fresh basil or thyme to taste if you’re not a fan of rosemary.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* 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.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* 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.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.