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.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I like the dressing that’s on the Broccoli Salad that I make from time to time. I use Craisins versus the raisins in the recipe, and omit the nuts.

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup white sugar

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or something BOLDER if you like!)

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14280/fresh-broccoli-salad/

[FamiliarFace]

I haven’t made this recipe in a while, but I remember I liked it just fine. I think the dressing added champagne vinegar and minced garlic with most of your other ingredients. Also I have used pears in my Christmas salads before, too. There are so many variations and great substitutions in a Christmas salad.

https://www.smalltownwoman.com/christmas-salad/

[Qiviut]

Thanks everybody for all the good suggestions. I will be doing some experimenting with various dressings because I plan on making the salad again. It’s ‘ok’ as is, but I think a different dressing would suit my tastes better.

The salad is a super easy make-ahead. You blanch the green beans, asparagus & sugar snap peas & then keep them in the fridge until putting the salad together with a dressing, feta & dried cranberries. It’s visually appealing, too.

[Augie]

Howard won’t hunt. I’ve called him off the chase twice when he’s jumped the deer herd in my woods. He’ll sit on top of his dog box and watch the squirrels dig for nuts in his dog yard. Sometimes he’ll chase a bunny rabbit, but only until he loses sight of it.

He can smell a milk bone in my pocket from halfway across the yard. He could probably be taught to track scent.

But I think I’ll let him just be a lap dog. Right now he’s quite content laying on his cushion next to the space heater in my office.

[FamiliarFace]

*** He can smell a milk bone in my pocket from halfway across the yard.***

We walk our neighborhood almost every day. Lots of people in this neighborhood have dogs, and although many have invisible fences, there are times when a dog will go past the invisible boundary. Now, we love dogs, but when they come racing towards you barking their heads off, and getting past their line, we have learned a trick from our mailman. We bring a pocket full of milk bones with us. We toss them each one, but for the more aggressive seeming dogs, we toss the bone AWAY from us, and not close to the dog.

Now, all the dogs in the neighborhood anxiously await our walk, and most behave very well! I am certain they can smell those bones before we show up. It’s kind of funny to see the different personalities. The homeowners think it’s pretty cool, too.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“But I think I’ll let him just be a lap dog. Right now he’s quite content laying on his cushion next to the space heater in my office.”

That’s just like my elderly Beagle, Dolly. She was a GREAT rabbit dog in her day - won many awards, etc. Friend Robbie had me take care of her a few times through the years, and sometimes she was in the house and sometimes in one of the Doggy Condos, depending upon the time of year.

When it came time for Dolly to retire, he asked if I’d take her. He was changing the hunts he was attending and it was no longer really HUNTING rabbits, but a huge, complicated route of tracking them through some sort of maze system. Dolly was too old to keep up any longer.

Anyhow, I give her every luxury perk I can. She was a hard working gal for 12 years of her life. I want the rest of her life to be plush...and she totally agrees! She’s 14 now, going on 15.

She’s 100% deaf but can still see pretty well and her sniffer can STILL find all kinds of gross things to roll in and dead things she should NOT be eating! She’s spry and isn’t in any pain; I have her on Glucosamine. She can easily jump up on the bed in the Guest Room - which she has claimed as her own. ;)

[Liz]

Iced Italian Christmas Cookies / makes a lot
Flavor batches w/ almond, lemon or anise extracts.

Ing 4 eggs 1 c sugar 1/2 c butter 2 tsp vanilla 3 1/2 c flour 4 tsp b/powder.
Icing 2 c sifted conf, 2 tsp vanilla 6 tsp water

Method---sift flour, b/powder, set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs singly, mixing well. Mix in vanilla then flour mixture. Knead til dough is firm, not sticky, adding more flour if necessary. Refrigerate 1 hour. Scoop out dough, roll into balls, bake on greased cookie sheets 375 deg 8-10 min (bottom is lightly browned, tops remain light). Remove to wire rack and cool completely before glazing. Icing Combine ing til just smooth; more thick than thin, but still runny. Dip tops into glaze, then set on wire rack, letting glaze drip down sides. Top with sprinkles, while glaze is still wet.

[Qiviut]

My SIL posted this on FB this morning - I laughed ‘til I cried. It’s SNL when there was still some creativity & humor in their skits:

Best Christmas Ever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WvwX18oMR4

We kids at least waited until 6:00! :-)

[FamiliarFace]

OMG, I’m pretty sure I need to share that with my family. 🤣 It really hits close to home!

For our kids, we had the same rules I had growing up, not hubby’s family rules. Stockings ONLY until after Christmas Mass! When I was a kid, that meant no gifts until Christmas morning, after we got home after 8 am Mass.

For our kids, we went to Christmas Eve Mass, so after stockings at 6 am, they had to wait until breakfast was made. Oftentimes it was cinnamon rolls with fruit. Where was the protein to carry you through the day? Oh yeah, served with lunch. There were a couple of years when we had Bloody Marys for brunch (just me and hubby). A crispy slice of bacon made a nice swizzler.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That was awesome! Loved it! 100% TRUTH!

Little Sister could NEVER wait for a later Christmas Morning Wake Up. I had to talk her off the ledge a time or two through the years. ;)

When we were Toddlers and Mom was trying to break us of our ‘thumb sucking’ and our total dependence on our raggedy-@ss ‘Blankies’ she told us that Santa NEEDED our ‘Blankies’ for the newborn BABY Reindeer, so they would be safe and warm at the North Pole. Wait...WHAT? What little girl wouldn’t surrender her ‘Blankie’ for the sake of a baby animal!?!?

So, of course, I went FIRST, being the oldest, then Sis followed suit a few years after, and we ‘surrendered’ those ‘Blankies’ for the sake of the Baby Reindeer.

And, of course, Mom could NOT part with them, so when we were teens, we found our ‘Blankies’ in the very top shelf of the linen closet!

We blame Mom for our TRUST ISSUES to this DAY, LOL!

But, seriously? How BRILLIANT was that? She got us off of our ‘addiction’ to both thumb-sucking and our ‘Blankies’ in a heartbeat!

Maybe I should build an Addiction Rehab Center? Not sure anyone else has tried this PROVEN METHOD for addictions, LOL!

[FamiliarFace]

Ok, my turn for the audience lifeline.

Does anyone have an amazing veggie lasagna recipe they use? Son’s GF is somewhat vegetarian. Not totally strict but doesn’t eat beef or pork. They have been together for 4 years, and we hope they decide to make it official anytime of their choosing. They are so right for each other, but I digress.

If anyone has a recipe that they’ve tried and liked, I’m all ears. Thank you in advance!

[Qiviut]

I used to LOVE Stouffer’s Vegetable Lasagna. Not ‘real’ food & certainly ‘processed’, but if you get desperate ....

Nagi has a white lasagna with chicken that gets rave reviews (I’ve been looking at it for potential company fare). Check it out - you could get organic or free range chicken which would probably make the GF happy, too.

White Chicken Lasagna
https://www.recipetineats.com/chicken-lasagna/#comments

[FamiliarFace]

Your blankie story reminds me of my sweetest ever little sister. I am #5 in the sibling order, and she is #6. Anyway, she had a security blanket just like you and your sister. I am almost 3 years older than she is, so of course, I was always older and wiser. 😎

Anyway, that blanket was in shreds by the time she was 7, and it went everywhere with her, except school. One summer, we went on a LONG tent camping car trip vacation, and space was limited in that station wagon. 6 kids, 2 parents, a large canvas tent, and camping supplies out the wazoo. No room for a shredded blanket.

However…my sis was crafty. She took out her tiny travel pillow, which had a pillowcase, and substituted her beloved blankie in the pillow’s place. No extra room needed, and she had her security with her! (You should’ve seen Mom & Dad’s faces when she pulled that blanket out from its hiding spot!)

Not a Christmas story, but definitely a blankie story. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

Thank you, looks great!

[Qiviut]

Check out the various lasagnas at this link - there’s a mushroom lasagna, a ‘marry me’ & also a seafood lasagna. The Recipe Critic has some good recipes so I checked her site.

https://therecipecritic.com/#search/q=Lasagna

[FamiliarFace]

Oh wow, lots to choose from! Thanks for these! I already see some yummy looking recipes!

[Qiviut]

Sibling blankie story:

Our family was driving to Vermont to visit my aunt. We were in our station wagon & it had a back window that would roll down. No AC so we had the side windows & the back window down to get some airflow. We were also on a new stretch of interstate highway in Vermont - very little traffic & exits were very far apart, something like 20 miles.

My youngest brother was in the very back of the station wagon with his blue, very worn but still intact, blue blanket. I’m guessing he was about 2 at the time. Somehow, that blankie got sucked out the back window & he started screaming. By the time we figured out what had happened, we were too far down the road for dad to back up & retrieve it. Dad said he was NOT going back for it due to the distance. The screaming & tears continued, my little brother’s face got redder & redder - he was hysterical & inconsolable. Many miles down the road & at the first exit we came to after losing ‘blankie’, dad relented & turned around. After a long drive south back to an exit where we could get back on the road headed north & get to the spot where the blankie was lost, we finally spotted it. We were lucky it hadn’t blown off the road & out of sight. It was lying in the road & had a big black tire mark on it where a truck had run over it. My little brother didn’t care how dirty it was - he was exhausted from crying, but had a death grip on that blankie the rest of the trip.

When we finally got to my aunt’s, she & mom insisted blankie get a good wash. I can remember my little brother sitting in front of the dryer, waiting for it to come out. I can’t recall when he finally gave it up, but it certainly wasn’t on that VT trip!

[FamiliarFace]

Great story! ❤️

[MomwithHope]

Great stories! We didn’t have blankies but one Christmas Eve, we were probably 5 and 7. We went to bed as usual and them after mom and little brother were asleep Sis and I snuck downstairs and hid behind the sofa, determined to stay up and see Santa. (no fireplace). Dad was working the 3-11 shift at the steel mill. He usually came home and went straight to bed. He came home. We thought we were being really quiet and then after about 10 minutes he just barked Go to BED. We scurried upstairs. Haven’t thought about that for like forever.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Here’s one to keep in your back pocket next time you need something meatless and DELICIOUS!

Grandma’s Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/14021/grandmas-slow-cooker-vegetarian-chili/

I have made it a number of times and even ‘Mr. Carnivore’ loves it.