Mike and Roxie's Vegetable Paradise: Tips, Tales & Other Brave Stories About Growing Food in Kansas City

Kansas City Star Books presents a fact-filled, fun book on vegetable gardening in Kansas City ... as told through the humorous experiences of Kansas City Star columnist Mike Hendricks and spouse Roxie Hammill. Mike and Roxie share their dirty little secrets to gardening success. The bottom line? You can do it! They serve up straight talk on choosing a garden site, starting seeds, weeding, watering, harvesting and more, all with an eye on the bottom line and what works and doesn't in this part of the country. ''Over the years,'' says Mike, ''Roxie and I have put our giant brains together and triumphed over some pests, achieved an uneasy truce with others and learned to cope as best we can with one bushy-tailed counterinsurgency that shows no signs of giving up. Oh those bleeping squirrels.''

Mike Hendricks is a longtime metro columnist with The Kansas City Star newspaper. His wife, Roxie Hammill, is a writer and piano teacher. They've been gardening together for 25 years and live in Lenexa, Kan., a Kansas City suburb.