The Garden Thread - May, 2025

May 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.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“It would be good to have lettuce later in the season than basically Oct.”

Look up how to use a Cold Frame to extend your lettuce growing further into the fall.

Also, ‘Year Round Vegetable Gardening’ by Nikki Jabbour is a terrific book on cold frames and extending the growing season. I think she gardens in Canada.

[MomwithHope]

Dear FRiends - I am overwhelmed in a good and loving way by all the message you have left. I’ve only read several so far. This is the longest I have ever been away from FR and the internet in general. I have a lot of catch up to do! Just wanted to know how much I appreciate all your love and support and prayers. And friendship over these many years. I am starting to navigate today really (LonePalm) and am not going to disappear as far as I know. We have lost so many. MWH
PS- Seriously thinking about not putting in a garden this year at all.

[metmom]

I’ve been talking to mr. mm about that.

We never know, of course, just what the temperatures are going to do. Sometimes we barely dip below zero. Other winters we hit -10 to -15 a few times.

All we can do is try.

[FamiliarFace]

Good to hear from you. Praying for you going forward.

As far as putting in a garden, here are some thoughts. If it brings you joy to be outside and have your hands in the dirt, then do that some. If it feels overwhelming, let it go for a while.

That goes for almost everything, not just gardening. You’ll know what you can handle.

Know that your FReeper family is here to support you however we can. ❤️

[SaveFerris]

✝️✝️✝️🙏🙏🙏🛐🛐🛐

[FamiliarFace]

Last night for dinner, hubby grilled some steak. We had some fingerling potatoes on hand, and the dill in the herb garden was beckoning to me. So I took a quick glance for recipes and found this one from Ina Garten. I often think of y’all when I use her recipes and tips.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/dill-fingerling-potatoes-recipe-1946703

I usually roast fingerlings but wanted a change and this was perfect. We topped the steak with sautéed mushrooms and onions with Worcestershire, and had steamed broccoli with horseradish to round it out. It’s been a little while since we’ve had steak, and it was so yummy.

Hubby found that steak at the farmers market two weeks ago when I was out of town. He’s anxious to go back and get more, but that’s not until Saturday!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for checking in, Mom! I like FF’s advice about doing what brings you joy and letting the rest drop for a while.

If it’s within our collective power to do so, you know we’ll help you out in any way that we can.

((MWH))

[Qiviut]

Good to hear from you. If a garden is too much, maybe just plant some flowers, something easy like zinnias. Being outside, watching flowers grow, watching the butterflies & bees visit .... the connection with nature may be a peaceful respite and fresh flowers in the house can be uplifting. Continued prayers for you & your family. ~Q

[Qiviut]

Simple recipe & I love fingerling potatoes. Was the 20-30 minutes in the recipe sufficient to cook your potatoes? Quite a few of the comments were saying not enough time.

We have some newly discovered cousins who attend the church where we are now going. Mom wants to invite them for lunch after church which is a good idea - one of the cousins would have a decent drive to our place, but if she’s coming to church, she’s halfway there.

There are several other relatives we want to invite, another 4 or 5 ‘after church’ Sundays. I am looking for good recipes since I have to do all the cooking. Casseroles seem to work well - I bake them just before we leave for church & hold them in my casserole carrier- it is still very warm, if not hot 2 hours later. I have one casserole (potatoes, ham & broccoli) that has been a big hit with everyone so far (but I need more). It is a combo of 2 recipes - I will put the two together in a format I can post.

I am open to suggestions for dishes that are easy & company worthy. Mom loves a slaw recipe I make so that is a frequent side dish. Cinnamon apples are a big hit & Chef John Green beans are good. Both the apples & green beans can be made the day ahead & warmed up.

Our previous house was not conducive to having company, but the new house is great so we are enjoying having people over.

[FamiliarFace]

I had two potatoes that were larger than the rest so I sliced them in half lengthwise. I stirred or shook the Dutch oven roughly every ten minutes (maybe less). After about 20 minutes, those two were nearly ready, and the others weren’t, so I took the remaining ones out and sliced them lengthwise at that point, and returned to the pot. They all softened by the 30 minute mark and were nicely browned in the butter. I oversalted a little bit but not too much, so I added a dollop of sour cream on top of the taters. I was using a shaker with kosher salt and went a little too heavy.

Let me look over my recipes and see if I can find something that might suit your entertaining purposes. I have some that are great, but aren’t necessarily easy. When you have a group coming, EASY is the name of the game. It sounds like you have some good ideas already, but I’ll see if I can whip out anything else for you.

Oh, something just came to mind! Diana’s Ranch mushrooms in a crockpot! I have changed up her recipe to suit the two of us. I halve or quarter button mushrooms, sauté in butter that has a bit of Ranch dressing/dip mix in it. That’s been very simple as a side.

[Liz]

Spaghetti Pie
Transforms simple box of spaghetti into a glorified company dish.

ing 8 oz thin spaghetti, broken in half, cooked/drained (4 cups) 1⁄3 cup green onions w/ top, fine-chp 1⁄4 c chp fresh parsley 2 minced gar/cl, 3 oz fresh parm, divided 15 oz container part-skim ricotta 1 egg, lightly beaten 3⁄4 tsp salt 1⁄2 tsp bottled italian seasoning 1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided (4 oz) 26 oz jar spaghetti sauce 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes, drained chp parsley garnish

directions Hold 1/4 c Parm and 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella. Set aside. Sauce: Mixgreen onions, garlic,chopped parsley, 1/2 cup Parm, ricotta, egg, salt, Italian seasoning, 3/4 cup mozzarella.

Layers: Mix cheese/egg mixture, cooked spaghetti and place in shallow casserole. Pour in combined spaghetti sauce with tomatoes. Sprinkle reserved 1/4 cup Parm and 1/4 cup mozzarella. Bake 30 min at 350 deg. Set on counter, garnish w/ chp parsley. Serve. Pie will feel firm to the touch.

[FamiliarFace]

OK, I found some of my easy favorites.

This first one is from Liz from late Dec. 2023. Creamy Tortellini Soup
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4206749/posts?page=14#14

https://pinchofyum.com/tortellini-soup for full write up and reviews

I’ve also made this Reuben Casserole and it was a hit. Took a little more time on the cooking side, but that gave me time to do something else like setting out beverages or plates and utensils. I’m fairly certain that I purchased deli corned beef for that event. You can get away with 1/2 -2/3 pound of the meat for this.

https://www.spendwithpennies.com/reuben-casserole-2/

One more, Chicken Bacon Ranch casserole. Maybe you gave this one to us? Maybe Liz or Diana? When I make this, I use two recipes and combine what I like from each one. Pretty sure I used rotisserie chicken for this.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-bacon-ranch-casserole/

https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a40437260/chicken-bacon-ranch-casserole-recipe/

Good luck, and happy entertaining!!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Paul; I have seen broccoli and cauliflower leaves do some funny things when they have holes in them and start something like a new branch, so I could see this happening. Keep experimenting!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

PS- Seriously thinking about not putting in a garden this year at all.

Mom. No garden but perhaps a few nursery packs of colorful flowers to look at.

[Qiviut]

Found this recipe in a church cook book (LOL):

Elephant Stew
1 elephant, medium size
2 rabbits, opt.
Salt & pepper to taste
Lots of brown gravy

Cut elephant in bite-size pieces. This will take about 2 months. Add enough brown gravy to cover. Cook over kerosene fire for 4 weeks. This will serve 3,800 people. If more are expected, add the 2 rabbits, but only if necessary, as most people do not like hare in their soup!

[FamiliarFace]

I have that same recipe in one of my cookbooks! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

So cute! I saw a similar one, but using a whale. It was in an old ‘New England’ cookbook. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Looks like I have WON the WAR with the raccoon. Three nights ago he/she raided the garden - pulled up ALL NINE PEPPER PLANTS and FIVE of my tomatoes. Luckily, they were just freshly planted, so he could yank them out without hurting either the roots or the stems. I'm sure it could smell the bone meal I used when planting and had to investigate. I re-planted them all and watered them in again and so far they look just fine. He/she has been leaving the bird feeders alone, so that is a sign that they've moved on to pester someone else! Finally!

Taking a break from Farm Life today and meeting my BFFs for lunch and some shopping at Duluth Trading Company. Yay! We're also celebrating all of our birthdays, so there will be presents and probably some CAKE involved. Happy, Happy!

I plan on stopping at a few Garden Centers that will be on my way home, so that should be fun. Sort-of sunny day, high of 70. This really has been a lovely Spring here - for a change. We usually go straight to Hot & Humid.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I stopped using straight Blood meal fertilizer and bone meal. Was not exactly sure what was ending up in the garden, wanted to avoid garden visitors!

I have been using emulsified Fish/Kelp fertilizer and fish bone meal and shrimp shell fertilizer. Worms do well with shrimp and crab shells apparently. Their castings have lots of Chitenase which gets taken up by plants. Bugs suck out the chitenase along with plant liquids and it weakens their exoskeletons making them vunerable to disease and predators.

"FISH IN THE HOLE!" The Squanto method. Unfortunately you need access to lots of fish and the sound of dynamite in the water attracts the wrong kind of attention. You would also need to plant your "Fertilizer" pretty deep to avoid attracting packs of raccoons!

Distributing free bread...imagine the chaos if it were free sardines!

(Wow! Is this an "animal story" representation of the Biden open border immigration policies! Ship them around in the middle of the night, give them free stuff to come and create chaos!)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Another reason not to use Round Up...

New Study: Glyphosate Damages Ovaries & Uterus and Lessens Chance of Pregnancy