The Garden Thread - December, 2025

December 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]

Just don’t slice too thin. Fantastic
with a tiny drizzle of real maple syrup.

---

ok——will do

[Augie]

It was a chilly weekend here in Central Missouri. Warming up a bit today. 35°F almost feels balmy compared to what we had on Saturday.

So far, so good keeping pet and livestock water from freezing.

I should have harvested the spinach from my greenhouse before this last cold snap. I think it’s dead now. Turnips in the raised bed are folded up. I might be able to save the roots.

My back has been so angry lately that I’ve been very careful with what I try to do. I’m in PT twice a week, which is helping a bit with the pain. MRI on the 23rd. ugh.

Howard is learning to ask out by ringing the jingle bells on the house doors. He already understood that good dogs get a cookie when they come inside from a potty break. So now we’re at the stage of ringing the bell, going out, then coming right back in for a cookie. Sorting the requests between ‘need to potty’ and ‘want a cookie’ is the difficult stage of bell training. Yesterday he peed on the floor in my grouch cave because I didn’t let him out for the fifth time in half an hour. My fault, not his. Couple more weeks and I think we’ll have it figured out.

[Augie]

Alton Brown says:

If Alton Brown really said this:

"Most people think of ham as a big cut from the back end of a pig, but you can make ham from any cut of pork roast."

He needs his man card revoked. I realize that it's a dumbed-down article that's pointed towards city folk, but that statement is so fundamentally wrong that I stopped reading right there.

Ham comes from a hog's ass. Period.

You can certainly cure other cuts of pork, but curing a pork belly doesn't result in ham. It results in bacon. Curing a pork loin gives you "Canadian bacon", or if you happen to be a Canuckadan, it gives you "back bacon", etc.

You might have guessed that calling things what they aren't is one of my pet peeves. lol

[Augie]

After watching the farmer try to catch a calf that was ‘only’ a couple of weeks old, then try to ‘steer’ it to the gate by the tail (where it got away from him), they aren’t adorable nor easily manageable for long .... it was a rodeo!

The day of our herd dispersal sale was one of the happiest days of my life.

I miss just two things about owning cattle. Watching the babies play, and putting a properly grain-fattened steer into the freezer.

Now when I feel the need for either of those things I go see Good Neighbor Dave.

My days of getting bull-stomped are over.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beau’s first wife was a Crazy Cat Lady of EPIC proportions, LOL! He had built a number of cat boxes for them to use outside, and most were long and low so the cats didn’t have a lot of head room, as body heat was the priority.

Here’s a bunch of ideas:

https://naowthecat.com/15-diy-outdoor-cat-shelters-cheap-easy-ideas/

The ‘tote inside of another tote’ seems to be the Gold Standard:

https://www.alleycat.org/resources/how-to-build-an-outdoor-shelter/

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those are both so pretty!

[Qiviut]

I’m leaning toward using an old cooler we have & cutting a hole in it for a door. It would be insulated already & stuffed with straw, it should be cozy. If she doesn’t let him in any more, I think he’ll choose a cozy straw cooler bed rather than a cold porch swing (where he sleeps in milder weather). I am going to check out some bins tomorrow before I make a final decision.

[Qiviut]

Both sets of my grandparents had cow herds - both had beef cattle & one also had a Grade A dairy. While I have never owned cows, I did help the grandparents so I do have some appreciation of the work involved & how easy it is to get hurt ... stepped on, kicked, head butted & I personally have been chased by bulls (yikes!).

Fortunately, the two things you miss, I can currently enjoy: watching the babies play in the field across the road & my niece bought a large 4H steer that she recently processed so I have access to good beef plus the neighbor next door will also gladly sell me a cow to process :-)

[Liz]

White Chocolate Ganache Filling / a great Chocolate Cake Frosting

To make 4 cups 7 oz white chocolate (28% cocoa butter), 1 ½ c 35% h/cream, divided
1 vanilla bean or 2 tsp vanilla bean paste 1 tsp vanilla extract For best results, use kitchen scale.

Finely chop white chocolate; set into lge bowl. Or use couverture white chocolate chips. Heat/infuse cream. Pour ½ c h/cream into a 1-qt pan w/ scraped vanilla bean seeds (also add scraped pod; there's lots of seeds left). Cook to simmer on med. W/ vanilla bean paste, just heat cream to simmer.

Immediately pour simmering cream over chp chocolate, cover bowl; let stand 2 min to gently melt chocolate. Uncover and whisk until chocolate is completely melted, smooth and silky. It is important that the chocolate is completely melted at this stage. If it is cold in your house and the heat of the cream isn't enough to melt it, micro about 30 sec on med-high power and whisk again. Once smooth, cool 5 min then pour in remaining 1 cup cold h/cream while whisking.

Cover the bowl and fridge 4-24 hours til completely cold. It must be thoroughly chilled before next step. Refrigeration not only cools it down, it allows melted cocoa butter crystals to fully re-crystallize which will stabilize the whipped ganache.

Once thoroughly chilled, add vanilla extract (and the vanilla bean paste if not using the vanilla bean) and beat w/ elec/hand/mixer or stand mixer fitted w/ whisk attachment on med til thick, airy, fluffy and stiff 2-3 min--dont over-beat, will become grainy. Use immediately or cover and refrigerate a few hours.

Use the White Chocolate Ganache Filling to make this show-stopping Chocolate Swiss Roll.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It's looking more and more as if those plastic totes are the solution to just about all of life's problems!

I love using them in the greenhouse for growing salad greens and extending the season on either end. And you don't really need a greenhouse to use them, either.

[Liz]

French Chocolate Shortbread / Filled w/ Chocolate Ganache
Tender buttery filled cookies dusted with cocoa powder for chocolate fanatics only.

Ing Cookies: 2 oz bittersweet chocolate 70% cocoa coarse-chp 1 c flour ¼ c cocoa powder ⅛ tsp b/soda ¼ teaspoon salt ½ c unsalted butter ½ c sugar 1 lge egg yolk ½ tsp vanilla pinch salt Filling: 5 ½ oz dark chocolate fine-chp ⅓ c 35% h/cream 1 tbl unsalted butter pinch salt cocoa powder for dusting

Method: Melt chocolate gently over a saucepan of simmering water or micro. Cool slightly. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt; whisk to blend evenly. Cream butter and sugar light and fluffy. Mix in yolk and vanilla. Stir through melted chocolate. Fold in flour mixture to just incorporate. Form into an 11-12-inch log and wrap in saean. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Slice chilled log into 16 equal portions. Roll into smooth balls and place on sheetpan 2" apart. Use your thumb, wooden spoon handle or ¼ tsp measuring spoon to indent; move it around inside the well to make room for lots of filling. If the dough cracks, press and patch w/ fingers.

Chill dough balls 20 min. Bake 350 deg 10-12 min, then transfer trays to a wire rack and lightly press down on the centers again with a ¼ teaspoon to reinforce indents. Let cool completely on trays (cookies are delicate when warm).

Filling: Heat cream w/ butter then pour over chocolate. Add salt. Cover/let stand 2 min then stir in concentric circles starting in center and working to the edges to create a smooth, glossy emulsion. Spoon into cooled cookie indents and let set. Dust w/ cocoa powder.

[Qiviut]

Our shop garage has one side that is all big windows & they face southwest, more south than west. The garage is still cold, but noticeably warmer than outside just from sunlight coming in. Right now, all I have room for is my little potting bench - we still have 2 old recliners from the previous house & boxes that need to be cleared out from the window side. Once that happens, I can foresee a bin setup similar to the one in your pictures. You can mostly see the 4 big garage windows in this picture:

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That is a gorgeous outbuilding - and those windows would provide a great ‘Salad Station’ for you and Mom. :)

I splurge on the Miracle Grow dirt because it has a lot of added fertilizer and lettuces, spinach, baby kale, etc. are quick growers but also heavy feeders.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL @ you and Alton Brown. I will let OTHER professionals cure my ham, thank you!

We had the first Pork Chops from the hog we just bought and Beau even ORGANIZED THE FREEZERS so everything will be easy for me to find.

I nearly FAINTED dead away!

When my Garrett was little, he always wanted ‘PORT Chops’ for supper. Or ‘Basketti.’ Makes me smile to this day. (We lost him in 2008, but he’s still here with me. Always.)

My Beagle is convinced that ANY time the kitchen door is opened, and then closed again, SHE deserves a treat. Don’t let Howard fall into THAT bad habit!

Dolly doesn’t fool me...and I WATCH her on her ‘last potty break’ of the evening before we head for bed. She’s deaf, so I’m sure she doesn’t even HEAR me when I say, ‘You KNOW what I WANT, Girl!’ but I think current frigid temperatures prod her along. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

When I was in high school, I challenged myself to make a Buche de Noel for the French Club meeting in December. It was work, but I think it turned out. It was a labor of love and just so pretty.

To this day, I have never made another, though every year I tell myself that this is the year I’ll do it. Will this be the year?

Perhaps after Christmas. I feel like I’m scrambling to get “everything” done that needs to be done.

Thanks for the visual, though. One more thing on the to do list.

[TheConservativeParty]

Re: the recipe website “insanely good recipes”
I made their “Copycat Crumbl Sugar Cookies” and they were fantastic!
😀

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Good to know! I’m glad people put the time and effort into the ‘Copycat’ recipes for us. :)

Once I perfected the ‘Cheddar Bay Biscuits’ from Red Lobster, I never had to go back there, again, LOL!

The basic ‘tossed salad’ from Olive Garden is also really good and I make that from time to time.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I met a new-to-me breed of Hound this week at Walmart of all places!

'Hanoverian Scent Hound.' His name was Max and he was wearing an 'In Training' vest. I saw the dog and handler in the store, but we were both loading our trucks at the same time and I went over an introduced myself and asked about his dog. To me, it looked like a cross between a Blood Hound and a Plott Hound.

Nope. The dog is being trained to find injured deer in the field and also as a Service Dog. Seems to be the 'New New Thing' with bow hunters - it's easy to injure a deer while bow hunting (over gun) and people are now using them to track the deer so they can end their suffering, and then, of course, eat them, LOL!

EVERYONE feels bad about leaving any injured game in the field! Hunters really DO care!

"The Hanoverian Scenthound was developed from the Liam scenthound since the Middle Ages, and the breed was developed further by the Hanoverian Hunting Estate in Hannover. (Germany) It took until 2017 for the breed to be added to the Foundation Stock Service of the AKC. These dogs tend to pick one favorite person in the family. They also remain puppy-like for a long time because they take years* to mature."

*That describes EVERY Labrador I've raised!

[Qiviut]

The other ‘new new’ thing is using drones. A friend of my brother shot a decent buck two weekends ago. No blood trail, but he was sure he hit it. A guy living close by offers drone deer finding services .... $150. He did a grid search & also has heat detection. It took him quite a while, but he did find the deer.

Dogs are more fun :-)

[Liz]

CREAM OF POTATO SOUP WITH BACON

Ing 3-5 lb peeled potatoes in 1" dice. 1 chp med onion, 2 chicken bouillon cubes 8 slices crumbled
crisp bacon 1 can cream of mushroom soup 2-3 qts milk cornstarch roux S/p chp scallions

Method Boil potatoes tender, w/ onion and bouillon cubes in just enough water to cover. Add mushroom soup, milk. Thicken w/ roux. Garnish w/ chp scallions, crumbled cooked bacon.