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.

[FamiliarFace]

*** where you can sip tea and talk with relatives while you shuck the peas you plant next year!***

I’ll change it up some and say where you can sip tea, talk with relatives, while you snap green beans that you plant next year! ;)

Some of my truly TRULY favorite memories are of my grandma, mom, and aunts, all snapping green beans while sitting in webbed lawn chairs underneath the 100+ year old Southern Magnolia, sipping iced tea, trading stories, and watching us kids (lots of cousins) run around barefoot and playing tag. Those were the good ole days, fer sure. (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. My southern accent slips in every now and again when I talk, so maybe it should sometimes when I write, too.)

[AFB-XYZ]

Hahahahha! :-)

[Liz]

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cherry Cobbler
Chocolate chip cookie crumble tops cherry cobbler, add scoop of vanilla ice cream to serve.

Ing Cookie Dough Crumble: 4 tbl unsalted butter, 1 c flour Rounded 1/4 tsp b/soda 1/4 tsp fine salt 1/3 c packed light br/sugar 1/3 c white sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 lge egg 1 c semisweet choc/chips Filling: 6 cups pitted cherries, thawed/drained if frozen 1/4 c sugar 2 tbsp flour 2 tsp vanilla Pinch fine salt

Directions Crumble: Whisk flour, b/soda, salt; hold. Micro-melt butter. Stir in br/sugar, gran/sugar, vanilla, egg. Stir in flour mixture; just combine. Stir in choc/chips. Filling: Toss cherries, sugar, flour, vanilla, salt. Transfer to buttered 9" sq; toss crumble onto filling. Bake 350 deg; filling is hot/bubbly, top is crisp/golden, 50-55 min. Cool a bit. Plate spoonfuls; top w/ scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Cook’s Note Spoon flour into measuring cup and level off excess. (Scooping from bag compacts flour, resulting in dry baked goods. Copyright 2017 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved.

[daniel1212]

Nice pics! Are those cottage cheese containers I

Yogurt, while most are small cheap Chicom cups.

[MomwithHope]

LOL. I have always just set it on a wood table in the garage with a small part of the bottom, and jabbed it good with a large Philips head screwdriver. Besides recycling is a racket.

[MomwithHope]

Looks beautiful!

[MomwithHope]

PS - the small part of the container overhangs the table top so you can jab clean through.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Looks wonderful! Mom and I spread fresh brown mulch across the front, yesterday. Nothing prettier other than a Speckled Pup - which led to the need for fresh mulch in the FIRST place! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Red Breasted Grosbeak showed up at the feeders, yesterday! One male and one female. So, that means more are on the way, and I also need to put up the Oriole feeder like - TODAY - because they’ll be here this coming week for sure. We’re to have rough weather on Monday, so they’ll be ‘blown in’ if nothing else. ;)

I got the 40, 1/4” burgers pressed/made for our cook-out this evening so putting up the feeder is my ONLY chore today.

(Yeah, right, LOL!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m not THAT old - but it’s getting close, LOL!

And I finally remember why I had such an affinity for the female driver in ‘Foyle’s War!’

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Chocolate & Cherry or Chocolate & Orange are my favorite flavor combos. Those are the FIRST to go in a random box of chocolates! :)

[Liz]

Chocolate and cherry.....scrumptious.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Besides recycling is a racket.”

Amazingly, we just GOT actual Recycling Containers a few years ago out here in the Boonies; up until then, no one ‘separated’ their trash!

Yeah, there’s not a recycling center anywhere in the entire COUNTY, and I doubt the Township is using dollars to drive/ship our recyclables anywhere. But everyone ‘feels good’ about this system - which I find laughable.

With just the two of us, we generate very little waste. We compost what we can, burn what we can (it’s legal here, except tires of course) crush and cash in aluminum (I love my Can Crusher!) and scrap metals go to the same place. The chickens and Ithaca get their fair share of vegetable scraps, too.

I’ve lived like this for-ever. I hate when the ‘Holier Than Thou Greenies’ try to tell me how to live. ;)

[Qiviut]

I think I found some dark brown edging stones that will blend with the mulch rather than standing out. If Lowe’s has them, I will be taking a drive, probably tomorrow. Mom has at least one carload, maybe two, of her friends from our previous church/ladies groups coming to see her Friday - she wants everything to look beautiful, so guess who gets to make that happen? :-)

My brother is driving here today with mom’s golf cart, the trailer it pulls, a fairly tall step ladder, & maybe some tomato cages & hooks for my pegboard. He & my SIL will be here for lunch, then traipsing back across the mountain (different gap) to deliver birthday presents to the newest 2 year old in the family. Mom is very anxious for her cart & trailer - she sees LOTS of tree trimming she wants to do .... I don’t see the necessity of a lot of it, but she loves to snip & clip.

In the 40’s last night. I didn’t bring the porch ferns in, but took them down & put them up against the house, out of the wind - I think they did OK. Warmer next week - maybe I can get some herbs & jalapeños in the ground, plant dahlia tubers & zinnia seeds. Noodling on how to foil deer predation on my raised beds!

[Liz]

Pour vous.

Chocolate Orange Truffles / makes 20
A delightful homemade treat w/ burst of citrus goodness.

Ing 1 c milk choc/chips or preferred type ¼ c butter zested med orange 3 tbl h/cream ½ tsp orange extract ¼ c cocoa powder

Instructions Melt butter w/ orange zest. Stir in h/cream and scald (to just before boiling point). Pour thru fine-mesh sieve over choc/chips. Add orange extract; stir smooth. Cover/fridge til firm enough to handle, 30 min. Scoop heaping tspoonfuls and form into balls. Roll in cocoa powder. Refrigerate at least 30 min before enjoying them.

[FamiliarFace]

Both grosbeaks, hurray! I still haven’t seen the female. She may be out there somewhere and I’ve just missed her.

Enjoy your cookout! Sounds like it will be a large group if you made 40 burgers!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

No, not about Age, that would be my Mother's age!

Royalty ranks, but they do have to do things to convince everyone they are doing their part. (Photo op Princess or real mechanic? I do not know, but she probably had help nearby if needed!)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Diana! Have a Great cook out! Keep the dogs in their kennels! (Don’t let Chuck see what you are doing!)

[Paul R.]

Yeah, unfortunately, pan frying doesn’t work well at all for catfish...

Catfish generally need marination and the benefits of the Maillard reaction.* Deep frying with batter spiced up with, for example, Tony’s Creole seasoning (the regular version, not “Hot” or “More Spice”) somehow furthers the cooking chemistry.* The marination can be skipped if the catfish is fresh and out of really good water, esp. for blues and flatheads in the 2-5 lb. range.

*Why this chemistry works well particularly for catfish lies somewhere deep in the culinary science, I suppose. It’s not a masking of flavor / texture, it’s a “development”. And, certainly, not all fish are best deep fried.

*Tons of info. on the Maillard reaction is online. One can go PHD level if they wish, and I wish I could - the chemistry looks fascinating, but I unfortunately don’t have that much free time! I just go with what works. :-)

Just out of curiosity, what’s your favorite fish (to eat)? Mine is walleye, but we don’t have them around here. :-(

[Paul R.]

Berkley Power Bait!! :-)

But, the longer the hatchery fish have been “in”, the better corn or even garden worms work. Usually. But, sometimes artificial flies work well too.

There are always “surprises”. My Dad caught a 26 lb. channel cat in a small farm pond, fly fishing for bluegill. He said the only reason he was able to land it was that the pond was so small he could run around it, not letting the fish run out the line!