The Garden Thread - May, 2024

May 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening Thread is a 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 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/removed from our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a MONTH Ping List, but we DO post to the thread all throughout the month. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Qiviut]

The Chicken Marbella turned out very well. My only issue was time managment ... I had planned on dinner around 7 & we didn’t get home until almost 8 (visiting next door with the recent graduate & his parents/sister). The chicken was in the fridge marinating (from the night before) so it was cold. I should have left it out an hour or two to get closer to room temp. I did crank the oven from 350 to 375 and it took almost 2 hours for the 8 thighs to get to the point the meat came cleanly off the bone.

That being said, the smell while cooking was wonderful and the chicken itself was quite delicious. My mom really liked it ... thought it was a rich dish that you would only get in an expensive restaurant (probably true). The hardest part of making it is chopping the garlic - the rest is measuring & dumping ingredients in for the marinade.

I would recommend Chef John’s version of this recipe. Silver Palate (the original) & Ina Garden (updated) have versions, but Chef John uses chicken thighs so the pieces are all the same size & finish roasting about the same time. Also, chicken thighs just don’t dry out like breast, drumstick meat. His instructions are also better, IMO.

https://www.allrecipes.com/chef-john-s-chicken-marbella-recipe-8350241

One other recipe of Chef John’s I’m probably going to try this week as a test run for having company to dinner at the new house is this one:

Slow-Cooked Green Beans
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/233794/slow-cooked-green-beans/

My company will be country folk used to simple fare/comfort food & these beans look like they will fit the bill as a side dish. If you read the reviews, people just love these beans! This dish looks very similar to Greek Green Beans with Tomato (Fasolakia Yiahni) which was always my favorite dish at the Greek Festival that’s held here every year.

[FamiliarFace]

I wish my husband liked olives. I love them and I can’t imagine how this dish would taste without them. He picks them out of everything when they’re included. I’ve never understood it. He’s not a picky eater by any means.

I guess we all have something that bugs us. I hate peas and carrots mixed together. Separately is fine.

I wonder if there’s anything I can substitute for the olives. It sounds amazing!

[Augie]

It was a rough week here in Central Missouri. The weather wasn't bad, but the cortisone injection at L4/L5 that was done on 5/2 had me fairly well gimped until the 10th. It feels better now but UGH!

I felt good enough on Saturday to mow the yard. Should have stayed on the couch. I ran over a flake of old hay and that stuff jammed the mowing deck so hard it snuffed the engine and smoked the PTO clutch. It won't even try to spin the blades now. Two weeks minimum to get it in and out of the Kubota doctor. Not good when the grass is growing an inch a day. UGH!

But it wasn't all bad. I'm mostly finished moving dirt to the new garden patch. I've got quite a bit saved back that I'll use to smooth things out after the winter freeze/thaw cycles settle it in, but there's enough out there now that I can put my tomato and rhubarb plants in the ground and stick some seeds in the dirt.

If we get a few more timely rain showers the wild blackberry crop is going to be tremendous this year.

[Qiviut]

Capers are considered a “fantastic substitute for olives”, but they are already in the recipe! Personally, I think you could probably just leave the olives out. If you search ‘substitutes for olives’, I don’t think I see anything else I would use (pickled onion, mushrooms, pickled carrot, etc.). I did see jarred artichoke hearts a few times & they would add some salty, pickled goodness, if you like them.

For my recipe, I used a can of ‘just olives’ - green with no pimiento. They were really ‘flat’ - next time I’ll use some in a jar that have some pickling aspect.

Some folks hate the prunes ... for those, I saw people substituting apricots and also dates (I love both, but like prunes, too).

[FamiliarFace]

Thank you, I think the artichoke hearts might be an option. He’s fine with capers, too. I’ll give it a whirl sometime and let you know how it goes!

[Augie]

Also started ‘strategically’ placing tomato cages so I can plot out who goes where and so I don’t OVERDO IT

I heard that!

Last year I cut back from my usual 24 tomato plants to 16. Even after losing half of them to blight I still had more tomatoes than I could give away.

This spring I bought 12.

[Qiviut]

I am taking a card table with me when I go to the new house today .... we have a 2-person ‘bistro’ table up there, but I want to have some relatives over for dinner, a particular cousin & his wife. We’ll have more room with the card table. This won’t happen this week, but I’m working on getting to a point when I CAN have some folks over ... mom packed all the plates, glasses, etc. & they’re in the garage in boxes “somewhere” so I’ll be looking for them this week, mowing grass, & trying to get a raised bed together. It will be a busy week - going to hear a book author speak Saturday (he wrote a book about my first cousin 3 times removed, Civil War era) & then Sunday is a small family reunion at a state park that was originally in my grandmother’s family & where a CW battle took place while they lived there - the state park folks invited us. Whew! Trying to get a foot in the path by 4:00 .... :-)

[Liz]

Green beans and bacon.......what could possibly go wrong.

[FamiliarFace]

Sounds like work and fun!!

[Paul R.]

I think in this case, the strawberries needed better drainage. Clay soils around here...

[Paul R.]

Anyone know what’s the purpose of putting Epsom Salt in the bottom of a large pot for a citrus (Calamansi) plant?

(I saw that in a couple You Tube vids about potting citrus plants.)

[FamiliarFace]

Bacon makes everything better!

[Liz]

No question.

[Pollard]

When I got to the lower end of the tunnel where the nestle started, it was impossible to dig them out without leaving roots which will come back, so I bought some 2, 4 D herbicide this morning and will spray what’s left individually, starting with the biggest. More leaf surface area = more poison intake.

Read more than one article that said that the roots are weakest just after flowering. That’s kind of a short window before going to seed.

Sometime this week, I’ll go out and pull more grass/weeds out from around them so I don’t lose track of them. It will also help with spot spraying just the nestle. I’ll put something on the ground surrounding them so that I’m only spraying them. Trying to be organic here.

Got the rest of my greens/lettuce in the ground this afternoon. Will do the peppers/tomatoes tomorrow or the next day whenever it’s not raining when I get home.

Looks like 30-40% chance of rain both days this coming weekend. Should be some breaks to work on the tunnel frame. Gonna be switching to more property clean up soon while I save money for the the rest of the tunnel. Always plenty to do and much of it is nearly all labor.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

So sorry for your ‘physical’ troubles. The new garden area looks great!

That soil looks good enough to eat with a spoon! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Green beans and bacon...what could possibly go wrong.”

My Aunt Alice, who used me as Free Labor on her farm each summer as I was growing up, taught me to make Green Beans & Bacon and I will forever be grateful. Alice will be 89 this year; still farming organically, still a pistol! She and her husband had the first ‘Organically Certified’ farm in Wisconsin...before it was cool! ;)

Between THAT recipe and my ‘Tater Tot Casserole’ I’ve had more marriage proposals than should be legal, LOL!

Seriously, Girls! (In general...) If (BIG ‘IF’) you WANT a Husband, learn to cook! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Epsom Salts provide additional Magnesium that citrus plants need. It boosts fruit production, so that makes sense in a potted citrus plant.

You can use it in your garden in many ways, but correct DOSAGE per whatever you’re planting is the key:

https://plantglossary.com/epsom-salt-in-the-garden/

[Liz]

Your recipes are always keepers........waiting for
Green Beans n Bacon and your tater tots casserole recipes.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Green Beans with Bacon. Calls for a cast iron frying pan, which is best, but a regular pan works just fine.

https://www.eatingonadime.com/green-beans-with-bacon/

Tater Tot Casserole:

https://www.spendwithpennies.com/classic-tater-tot-casserole/#wprm-recipe-container-217309

BFF Lynn always made her Tater Tot Casserole with only green beans; she only got ONE marriage proposal...though that marriage is already 30+ years, two daughters and three grandbabies old. ;) *HEART*

[Paul R.]

Noted and thanks!

Maybe it’ll help my sore feet, too...