The Garden Thread - April, 2025

April 1, 2025 | 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.

[Liz]

Strawberry Tiramisu / inspired by the much-loved Italian classic
Fresh strawberries, ladyfingers, and velvety mascapone. The ultimate Italian dessert.

Ing 3 c fresh strawberries rough-chp ⅓ c sugar 16 oz mascarpone 12 oz ladyfingers 21 oz can strawberry pie filling 2 c h/cream 2 tsp vanilla ¾ c sifted conf combined 6 tbl vanilla instant pudding (bit less than 3.4 oz box) ¾ cup sifted conf

Steps Stir well berries/sugar. Set 10 min. Then fork/mash berries. Add strawberry pie filling; set aside. Mascarpone whip h/cream, vanilla 2-3 min on med; texture is frothy. Add conf/pudding mixture, mix 3-4 min to stiff peaks. Work in 1/2 mascarpone, Then add rest, mix another 4 min on med.

Assembly Dip lady fingers in strawberry mixture a second to soak up juices. Hold single layer on baking tray. Layer in sprayed 9×9 baking dish ladyfingers, then 1/2 strawberry mixture. Top w/ mascarpone layer, spread evenly. Then repeat layering: ladyfingers, strawberries, and mascarpone. Cover/chill at least 6 hours. Before serving top with fresh berries, whipped cream.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

FYI: I have found live Basil, Cilantro and Rosemary plants in the fresh veggie aisle at Walmart for about $3.00. I bought a few each, then put back the $5 plants in the nursery section. ;)

I must not be the only one, because they stopped selling them there, LOL!

At Jung’s I used to make up ‘Fresh Herb Bouquets’ in water and place them at the check out, with a few flats of the herbs nearby. Irresistible! Worked like Catnip on my ‘demographic’ Lady Customers. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

In my never-ending quest to use up our ridiculous abundance of eggs, I made this casserole for Brunch, today. Beau is off felling some trees for a client, so he’ll appreciate something warm and ‘eggy’ when he gets back on this chilly, rainy Spring morning.

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole*

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/hash-brown-egg-bake/

Will serve with a glass of OJ, English Muffins, and either Yogurt or Cottage Cheese & Fruit.

*All it had for spices was salt, so I jazzed up the flavor using ‘Devilish Dill’ from The Spice House. Lisa Steele, who has a GREAT chicken website (Fresh Eggs Daily) created it for them. It’s really good!

https://www.thespicehouse.com/products/devilish-dill-lisa-steeles-egg-seasoning

[Qiviut]

I checked those $2.98 plants at Walmart today - all they had was parsley, cilantro & basil, none of which I am interested in trying to keep alive until I have raised beds & warmer temps.

What I did buy at Walmart:

2 packages of jalapeño seeds (different brands)
Kelvin Floodlight dahlia tubers for $5.42 (2 tubers in pkg)
1 rosemary plant & 1 lavender plant, each $4.68 (marked down from $5.98)

They did not have oregano, thyme, marjoram, sage, etc. They had basil (half dead from cold) & mint, which I do not want in my garden (will grow in pots at some point).

The Co-op had more like sage, thyme, etc. but they were just under $6 like the Bonnie plants at Lowe’s. The only rosemary they had was a 1 quart size for $11.99 & I was a hard pass on that - found the smaller one at Walmart which was the 2nd stop after the Co-op.

We have 2 butterfly bushes that were just leafing out & the 25° temp the other night got them. They will put out more leaves, but having to do that means they’ll get a slower start. The hostas in pots at the front of the house look pretty good. A couple of leaves were obviously affected, but the rest look great - these are giant hostas & if the deer don’t get them, they will be beautiful on each side of the sidewalk at the porch.

[Qiviut]

BTW, last Lenten dinner was last night. I took baked beans. It was a 9x13 pan - no leftovers! Several people told me how good they were. The lady in charge of the food was one of those people & she also said ‘they’ (other food committee ladies) looked forward to what I was bringing every week because it was all so good. Wow - that made all the work worthwhile for sure & I think I have carved a small little niche out for myself among the cooks at church!

Here is that baked bean recipe:

Anastasia’s Best Ever Baked Beans
https://sweetlittlebluebird.com/anastasias-best-ever-baked-beans/

I drain one can of the beans, but leave the other 4 undrained
I use 1/4 cup of brown sugar - that is sweet enough for me.
I baked this last batch for 3 hours - recipe time is 2-3 hours.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sounds good! At my old church (before they went insane!) I was just to the point where the Church Basement Ladies were going to teach me to make Lefse. Still mad about that!

We used to have a huge fundraiser each year with all Norwegian foods. I got to be in charge of the Pies one season and man did we go through the pies! Hundreds of them - all homemade and all so good! :)

[Qiviut]

No idea what lefse is so I looked it up - here’s what it is for any other non-Norwegians :-)

Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread. It is made with riced potatoes, can include all purpose (wheat) flour,[1] and includes butter, and milk, cream,[2] or lard.[3] It is cooked on a large, flat griddle. Special tools are used to prepare lefse, including a potato ricer, long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves.[Wikipedia]

[jjotto]

Just a Little Lefse

https://youtu.be/erbUkUd65NU?si=oIxMo0CkJPlbOX7E

[Qiviut]

😁

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That’s the stuff! Beau is 99.999% Norwegian, and I’m 99.999% German, but spent 25 years in a marriage with a Swede...who are like, ‘Norski Lite.’

I can’t catch a break, LOL!

I do make a rippin’ good Swedish Pancake though, so not ALL was lost. ;)

[Qiviut]

See the video in comment 208 ... “looks like plastic, tastes like plywood” ... LOL

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Not if it’s slathered in butter! ;)

I get to get off the farm, today! Going shopping with my BFFs of 45 years. Lunch out. Looking forward to it. :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I sheet composted last years leaves in a section of my garden. I tilled it in and am going to put in some Bush Beans, Contender. It has an attractive maturity of 45 days, hopefully before the Japanese beetles and stripped cucumber beetles become too active.

Today I started a presoak for the bean seed and added some Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2 to the soaking seeds. at the rate of 1 oz 3% to 1 pint of water. At the time I Plant I will damp with a bit of water and kelp and bean innoculant. Later today I will set out some irrigation tubing. I might plant this evening.

While its actually a bit early, I think I need to get the beans in ASAP. 85F on Sunday and warm most of the week.

**Here is a technical article that discusses Hydrogen Peroxide and seed germination.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4740362/#B109

**I put a banana peel in the soak water it to see if the ethalyne from the peel would help.

[FamiliarFace]

I have some leftover baked potatoes that I usually turn into hash browns. I think I’ll try this recipe for tomorrow’s breakfast.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It REALLY turned out good! It’s even BETTER a day later - I had a piece for my breakfast this morning, and I see a few more pieces are missing from the fridge, so Beau must’ve had some, too. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL @ your Lefse Video. Cute! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

‘Contender’ is a GREAT bush Green Bean. Don’t forget that you can plant beans in succession. ‘Contender’ is also a great late-season bean, but ANY green bean is better than no green beans. ;)

I plant ‘Saychelles’ which is a green Pole Bean. Slender, uniform pods, doesn’t get woody or stringy if you neglect to pick each week (sometimes each day!) and is an AAS award winner.

https://www.jungseed.com/product/J01186/499

Another fun pole bean is, ‘Lazy Housewife.’
(Full disclosure: ‘Vermont Bean Seed Company’ is also owned by Jung’s.)

“75-80 Day. Pole. 2015 Bean of the Year. This triple purpose pole bean can be used as a snap, shell (90 days) or dry bean depending on when you harvest, and was one of the first to be completely stringless. For these reasons, it is well suited to the ‘lazy’ because there is little work or timing involved. Medium-green pods are 4-5” long with distinctive shiny white seeds.”

https://www.vermontbean.com/product/V01047/208

I’m just telling you this because I’ve pretty much grown them all. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I had this Cucumber Lemonade at ‘The Cheesecake Factory’ today and it. was. amazing! Just wanted to share. Totally blew my taste buds away! And the ‘muddle’ of mint leaves in the bottom of the glass was the perfect touch. They rimmed the tall glass with sugar, but I sipped it through a straw. :)

Cucumber Lemonade (Cheesecake Factory Recipe)

https://www.foodandrecipes.info/cucumber-lemonade-cheesecake-factory-recipe/

[MomwithHope]

Now that sounds delicious. I am not much of a chocolate person at all. But anything with whipped cream, cheese, fruit, I am there.

[MomwithHope]

That sounded good, bookmarked it.