Weekly Garden Thread - January 9-15, 2021

January 9, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.

If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.

This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.

It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[hoe_cake]

Woohoo!

[MomwithHope]

5b almost to 6

[MomwithHope]

I was surprised this morning. I was putting up a pot of sausage and sauerkraut to slow cook on the stove top. Went to get the last 2 garlic heads out of a large stash I acquired last fall. Best garlic ever, BTW.
I saw something I have never seen, being in west Michigan. When garlic in our storage gets old it just dries out. Have never seen sprouted garlic before. Stunning to me at least. So I am thinking about planting them up in a big pot for indoors until the grounds unfreezes (late March)? I have two 6 foot rows in the garden I planned cloves last fall but nothing has emerged yet and now it is all covered with snow.
I am sure it is fine down there, but I can't resist putting these cloves in a pot. Feel like a kid on Christmas morning!

[hoe_cake]

Where is this, please? I could GIB (google it b*tch) but I’m lazy. So, not so much difference in our gardening techniques?

[MomwithHope]

west Michigan - about 30 miles east of Grand Rapids. Dang cold here.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Exciting!

I bought one of those containers of lettuce that has the roots still attached - we ate the lettuce in a salad last night. The roots are in water right now, going into soil today, once I can get my rear in gear and head out to the greenhouse for some dirt.

Now we BOTH have a reason to live, LOL!

[Oshkalaboomboom]

If you ever need seeds send me a private message and an idea of how much heat you can handle.

[hoe_cake]

Your gardening techniques/rules are so much different from mine. We are thinking of moving, maybe to the Alabama coast. I would move my landscape business, which means I’d have to learn how to plant for tropical, different soils, different shrubs.

Here in Georgia we have that dreaded red clay. And bad drought and heat. In my neck of the woods, we also have deer which are quite pesky.

[MomwithHope]

Dad (RIP 1995) was the best gardener. Way way back when hydroponic lettuce came into the grocery stores maybe late 80’s, he went into his local store in Chicago. There was a bin of hydroponic lettuce that had gotten old and some rotted. About a dozen heads. Probably people in that neighborhood had not seen hydroponic lettuce before. Anyway he was like a food inspector in the store, always pointing things out to the workers when produce or meat looked bad. Actually one time they thought he WAS the food inspector. Anyway he called over someone and said these are all rotten but I would buy them for 4 cents a head. They were happy yo mark them and get rid of them. It was summer and he sheared off all the tops and planted the roots. He got new heads off every single one.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

A long time ago I was at school in North Chicago and a car full of us decided to take a ride to Milwaukee. We had a great time but on the way back our car broke down. It was late at night and bitterly cold. One of the guys suggested we go to sleep and look for help in daylight. I told him if we go to sleep we’ll never wake up, so that we got out and started walking. In spite of the cold cars passed us by and nobody stopped to help. We were even passed by a Wisconsin State Trooper but by then there was a rest stop in sight. We went inside and they brought us blankets. After a minute in the warm room I started shaking uncontrollably. My whole body was shaking. My eyelashes were probably shaking, that’s how bad it was. I made a vow to myself to never move to a part of the country where you have to carry survival equipment to run to the store for milk in January.

[Ellendra]

My chickens are declaring it springtime, too. Which is good, Mom was getting tired of store-bought eggs!

I plan to try waterglassing this summer, when we have more eggs than we can eat.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Before we moved to Spain we lived in Forsyth County, Cumming to be exact, near Lake Lanier. I still vote as a Georgian via absentee ballot. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine Georgia turning blue.

[hoe_cake]

yes, it is sad. Abrams worked hard, didn't she? But she didn't get on Biden's cabinet, even after all the thievery she implemented.

[hoe_cake]

Heavens, and all I worry about are deer! I shall consider myself lucky.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Those steps are amazing! I can’t imagine climbing them with a full load of fish on my back!

That is just one section. There are sections steeper than that, about 440 for that walk from the seafront to the top. There is a program called Wikiloc, which lets people upload walks, bicycle routes and swims so people can follow their trails. I uploaded one called the Walk of 1000 Steps. It is actually about a 10km circle but you go up 3 different sets of stairs that are 1000 steps in total. Great workout for the legs. You might also recognize some of the other parts of the walk I highlighted, like the Promenade where it begins and ends.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Last night at work, I was the only Sgt for both the early and late roll calls and there was no LT so I was in charge on that entire section of rhe city.

10 minutes into the 1st roll call a drive by shooting occurs in my area and we had to run out of roll call to handle it (make sure the previous watch could go home on time.)

While investigating that shooting we have a “walk up” complaint of a robbery with the same suspect....so now we are at 2 felony investigations.

Then another report of a shooting in pur area, a guy threatening to jump off our bridge (false alarm,) several domestic violence incidents in progress, “a 100 cars racing and doing donuts in a busy intersection” and more DV incidents, a pervert looking into windows.....and some stuff I forget even happened....not to mention the usual admin stuff (sarge can I have thebq8th and 19th off?)

A very busy night.

But I did still find a 15 min window of time to take a break and diagram the layout of my garden and greenhouse on a big sheet of butcher paper!!

Now I just need to tape the backside of it with clear packing tape (essentially laminating it on one side) which will protect it from tearing.

I will then be able to write in every plant species and variety to maximize the garden.

I did this last year but on a piece of cardboard which wasn’t big enough for my needs.

This way is going to be more efficient because I will still be able to roll it up while having it be large enough.

I will most likely be starting some seeds in the greenhouse next week.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That sounds like something my Grandpa on Dad’s side would do, or Grandma on Mom’s side!

I’m excited to see if I can get this root stock to re-grow.

Started flats of lettuces and spinach under grow lights, today. I had to let the dirt warm up for a few hours, once I brought it in from the greenhouse.

[MomwithHope]

I’ve told a couple of friends about this and she tried it and it worked for the 2 heads she bought. I’m too cheap to pay for hydroponic lettuce besides we like romaine. This year I cut off my romaine heads with a scissors leaving the roots in the ground and got some nice secondary growth. Not like a full head but I was grateful.

[Liz]

Recipe serves four but if you had a hard day in the garden, triple the recipe
then serve it as a dip with tortilla chips......Also good wrapped in tortillas.

Seven-Layer Taco Salad

PREP Prepare Black Beans and Rice as per pkg then combine beans with rice.

ASSEMBLY (single servings): layer in four salad bowls tortilla chip pieces, rice and beans,
layer of canned corn kernels, guacamole, salsa and lettuce. Season w/ pinch ks/p, a good squeeze of fresh
lime juice and a light drizzle of olive oil. Top with cheese.....feta or queso or shredded Cheddar/Jack, black olives.

SERVE immediately.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Really nice (and pretty complete!) Indoor and Outdoor Seed Starting guide, here. (When to start what, when.) Printable.

I tore the one out of the Botanical Interests seed catalog years ago and made copies and have used it every year since, along with the charts in my Square Foot Gardening book.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.botanicalinterests.com/downloads/Edibles%20Sowing%20Guide.pdf

Sewing and Growing Guides for all the basic veggies and flowers, here:

https://www.botanicalinterests.com/category/sow-and-grow-guides

Doesn’t it seem that this all used to be a mystery, or some huge secret? I love seed catalogs now with their recipes and guides and SO much more information than they used to share.

I’ve always been an advocate of SHOWING people how to USE your product, no matter what you’re trying to sell. Marketing 101, Baby!

And, Always Be Closing (the sale)! ;)