The Garden Thread - September, 2025

September 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]

Buttery Almond Pistachio Thins /
Save this for your holiday cookie file. Makes a lot.

Ing: 3/4 c butter, softened 1/2 c conf 1 egg 1 tsp almond extract 1 1/2 c flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 c sugar 1/2 c white baking chips or vanilla almond bark 1/4 c roasted/salted pistachio nuts, coarse-chp

How To: Combine butter and conf, elec/mixer/beat on med til creamy. Add egg and almond extract beating well. Reduce speed to low, add flour/salt. Beat well. Saran bowl, fridge firm (1 hour). Shape into 1" balls, roll in sugar. Place 2" apart on (ungreased) cookie sheet. Flatten to 1/4" thickness. Bake 350 deg 8 to 10 min; lightly brown bottom. Cool completely. Drizzle cooled cookies. Immediately sprinkle w/ chopped pistachios. Let stand til drizzle is set.

Drizzle: Place white chips in resealable baggie. Micro on med kneading
every 15 sec til melted. Snip one corner, then drizzle cookies.

[Paul R.]

Ok, I have a modest thread started here that anyone with a Win 10 computer probably should read through:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4341085/posts

The “killer” is that it appears Microsoft is trying to “snuff” old machines via updates. For sure, the latest updates can kill a Win 10 machine, and since the recovery drive / disk, if you have one, once started, contains an “old” version of the OS, the machine will immediately try to update. If you download the latest copy of Win 10 for a bootable USB flash drive, it will have the update, and it may kill your computer anyway.

This post has the most damning accusation:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4341085/posts?page=38#38

and ordinarily I’d say “no way”, but, the evidence on my end fits.

I’d recommend pausing any updates for as long as you can, immediately, for anyone with a Win 10 machine, and do a backup immediately. But, even then, you may not be able to use the computer online for long, as Microsoft forces you to eventually do an update. The max pause is currently 35 days if you’ve had an update installed recently. If the machine starts to download an update, I’d say disconnect from the web quickly, before it can begin installation. I believe a notification can be turned on for this. If it starts an update installation, you may be in considerable trouble.

I’d also export all your bookmarks to a flash drive, and also try to save any custom dictionary files you may have.

Microsoft, it appears, has gone from very annoying to insidious. :-(

I’m “lucky” because the laptop machine I’m on now is a Win 11 Pro, and I have a Win 11 Pro desktop that I’d just begun to put programs (apps) on, and I have a “data” drive separate from the OS and Programs drive, and then a copy of the data drive, in the old Win 10 Pro desktop. IIRC I’d copied over my favorites from my Win 10 Pro desktop to the new machine, but, some time ago, so I’m going to have to find a way to snatch those out for the recent stuff, even though I can’t boot from the C: drive any longer. (If I stay offline, I can boot from an old copy of the OS that is still on the data drive, but, then, almost none of the apps are on that data drive, of course.)

Agghhhh!!

All this may be my last straw with Microsoft, and even if not, I may well have to go to Linux on my older machines, or just never connect them online.

[Paul R.]

If I do that, the machine will immediately demand to be updated, with the maximum pause being 7 days. In my case I just had a bootable USB flash drive, and it wouldn’t work. I made a new one (downloaded from Microsoft today), but it has the update that kills the computer (likely by breaking a driver.)

For more info., see the thread I linked to just above, in my comment just above. :-)

[Paul R.]

Great!

[Paul R.]

Diana, sorry to “dirty up” your garden thread with “computer manure”, but, this problem is one I think anyone with a Win 10 computer needs to know about. It’s much worse than Microsoft simply ending support. :-(

[Liz]

French Toast Sticks / your breakfast awaits

Ing 1/2 c milk 2 eggs 2-4 slices white bread each cut into 4 strips
1 tsp br/sugar 2-3 drops vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon granulated sugar

Dip bread strips in egg batter; saute each side golden brown.
Roll strips in sugar. Drizzle w/ maple syrup. Add fresh berries.

Egg Batter Beat two eggs well. Stir in milk, br/sugar, cinnamon, vanilla.

[MomwithHope]

Thanks Paul I have 2 windows 10 machines and think I have uppdates turned off. I will double check.

[Qiviut]

We got a good rain yesterday (0.83”) and it wasn’t in the form of “downpours” so maybe the ground was able to soak up some of the moisture. I am going to try to plant some things in the next couple of days and softer ground would help with digging the holes.

Miserable driving on the interstate yesterday for our 2.5 our trip - couldn’t see the lane lines at times with big trucks throwing spray everywhere. We made it to all the appointments on time and had a decent trip home with no rain, just some very heavy mist the last half hour or so and after we crossed the mountains so that was a big relief. Driving in the dark with rain is the pits.

Metal raised bed #4 has made it to our place! My brother dug it up & had it waiting for me. It’s too long for the PU bed, but we propped it up on the tailgate & tied the top down to the trailer hitch so nothing was bouncing around. I had some moving pad cloths & that kept the metal bed from rubbing paint off the tailgate or messing up the cover. I still had my backup camera, but the view was a little off. I did not have visibility out the back window so looking for cars in my blind spot was a little nerve wracking on the interstate. Once we got off & were on country roads where passing is all but impossible, that visibility problem went away.

The next couple of days should be lovely weather so I can get the bed set up & filled and work on getting other plants in the ground. At that point, I think I’ll be cleaning up zinnias & getting some cold weather/winter prep done. I need to get my jalapeno pepper jelly canning done somewhere in there. The year is fast closing in on Christmas - scary how fast this year flew by.

[Pollard]

Replied to other thread. Try the Hiren’s BootCD, carefully.

MS is evil.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"...scary how fast this year flew by."

The project I started for myself yesterday was going through ALL of my recipes that are on paper or cut from magazines...and neatly tossed into a basket and then forgotten about! I have all the magazine recipes culled and semi-organized, but there is a stack of paper about a foot high that needs to be looked at. In reality, I'll bet I could just shred and burn it all and use some for scrap paper and nothing bad would happen!

I know how to cook; most of my favorites I know by heart anyway and I can always find things on the internet or in my various cookbooks. The canning recipes I use each season are clipped together as one for easy access, as are my favorite bread recipes. I have TWO 'homemade' cookbooks full of recipes as it is, not to mention DOZENS of cookbooks that need to go to the Library Sale.

Not sure why I've made all of this work for myself! I am more into,'Let's Make Life Easier' mode with each passing decade! Once the cooler weather hits and I can get to more cleaning out of garden beds, I am SO looking forward to re-vamping and downsizing my plans for the next growing season. Not sure what triggered it this year, though turning 65 may be a HUGE CLUE, but I am just not as PASSIONATE about all the WORK I've put myself through these past 10 growing seasons.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That’s OK. It’s good info for the changes (read: PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE) coming up with Windows, etc.

And I just posted about my, ‘Recipe Collecting Obsession.’

So, anything goes around here, LOL!

[Qiviut]

Today, I was pleasantly surprised to see new growth way down at the bottom of the lavender I cut back. It was previously dying from the bottom up. It has new growth up top, too. It might live! It obviously likes its new home better. The other one, which was in better shape & blooming, has more blooms, new growth & appears to be a happy camper :-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Good to hear! My potted Lavender is blooming her head off again. Going to clip and dry those, I think.

The three Rosemary plants that I moved to the porch the other day are responding well to some TLC; water from the rain barrel and a shot of ‘Tiger Bloom.’ :)

Temp dropped by 10 degrees when it clouded-up this afternoon. Looks like some sprinkles overnight. I’ll take whatever Mother Nature is giving. We are bone dry.

Hey! Aren’t I the same woman that whined all of April, May and June this year about TOO MUCH RAIN? LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

These are SO GOOD!

I make something similar for Christmas. A ‘shortbread’ that is rolled into balls and baked with a ‘thumbprint’ in the center, versus being flattened and then filled with a pistachio filling and the same ‘drizzle’ when cooled. Always well received. :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Good Evening!

Nice looking shortbread cookies!

Pistachio Filling;

Walmart is selling a Pistachio nut butter from Italy in their peanut butter area, at least in my area. Its great on toasted bread. I imagine you could use something to thicken it and use it for a cookie filling. (Bettergoods is the brand.)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

For your recipe collection! If you have someone to hand this down to and want to save them, put them in something like this:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/MaxGear-200-Count-Sheet-Protectors-8-5x11-inches-for-3-Ring-Binder-Top-Loading-Clear-Page-Protectors/3532305051

and put them in 3 ring binders.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

YouTube video of edible fruits that are no longer widely grown. (Rhubarb, gooseberry, currents, mayhaws, pawpaw, medlars, eldeberry, and mulberry are some of these fruits.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdlolIJ5u9U

The same group does this on "Vegetables" illegal to grow, things like Giant Hogweek and and Japanese Knotweed, Kudzu and Purple Loosestrife. ("Vegetable" Here is used very loosely... A lot of these are waterweeds of dubious edibility (to my thinking) that will quickly turn ponds into sphagnum beds!

25 Vegetables illegal to grow

[WhoisAlanGreenspan?]

Hey Liz, I searched high and low for the chart you posted on storing fruits and vegetables but came up empty. I'm a bit of an old man and in large part a new cook. I thought I could go back and print it later but found this one instead

Thanks for all the recipes.

[Pollard]

Some of the fruits I researched for possibilities to plant here. Some are either standard agroforestry fruits or being researched for agroforestry.

* Elderberry
* Aronia
* Black/Golden Currant
* Honeyberry
* Juneberry aka Serviceberry
* Persimmon
* Plum
* Mulberry
* Paw paw
* Hardy Kiwi

And of course all the commercial berries. Got lemons? Make lemonade. Got acidic soil? Grow berries.

Things growing wild on this property when I got here: Blueberry, Deerberry, Serviceberry, Cherry. Things growing wild within a 5 mile radius: Blackberry, Persimmon & Plum. Paw paw grows wild in MO but not close by that I know of.

I got to eat exactly one ripe fruit of each, blueberry, deerberry and serviceberry. Birds and deer generally got them all before ripe enough for human consumption and the goats killed off the blueberries and deerberry.

[MomwithHope]

I am all over that just went to the site and found it and put it in a cart. Thanks for mentioning the brand too. I dislike peanut butter and almond butter but I do like pistachios so I will give this a try. Thanks Pete.