The Garden Thread - January, 2026

January 1, 2026 | 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.

[Blurb2350]

When I was a kid and my older female relatives had a houseful of people to feed, they made something called jello cake for dessert. It was a large, plain sheet cake — usually yellow — that they’d bake, then poke full of holes with a fork, and pour jello mix over (hot water plus regular fruit-flavored boxed gelatin). And I think it would go back into the over for a short time. It was fabulous.

[Blurb2350]

Say, I placed a seed order with Pinetree just the other day! I added a bottle of castile soap to get the free shipping.

[Albion Wilde]

Beau is just glad saving him didn’t involve a steer enema, LOL!

Oh, my word! What an adventure. Glad Stewie survived.

Brings back memories of riding in the back seat of my college roommate's dad's car beside the stainless steel tank of bull semen as he did his rounds. I was a city girl; but he was a large animal vet.

The first time I sat beside the tank, I asked "What is that?"

He said, "That's some of my daughters in there."

[Augie]

Cold and humid for the most part here in Central Missouri this past week. Not bad for January so I can't complain.

I rendered the Christmas turkey carcasses a couple days ago. That pot is warming on the banjo cooker in the barn now. I've got a pot of veggies softening on the kitchen stove to add to it, and a couple cans of cheap biscuits for dumplings. There isn't anything much better on a cold day than a bowl of turkey dumpling soup.

I caught our orange tabby cat Oliver - one of the two that I saved from starvation a few years ago - peeing blood in Mrs. Augie's favorite chair yesterday afternoon so we dropped him off at the vet clinic this morning. Hopefully it's nothing serious. They're keeping him over the weekend so we should know what's up with that on Monday. Howard is laying on his cushion next to the space heater gnawing on his jumbo size Beneful wishbone and looking quite content.

Got the MRI done on my thoracic spine on the 31st. Everyone was expecting to see bulged disk/bone spur/arthritis type stuff, but that's not what they found. I don't know yet if it's good or bad comparatively, but they *think* what they're seeing is a pair of non-lipid hemangiomas - one on T2 and another on T12. My follow-up appt. with the spine doc is a couple weeks out so for now it's just waiting and trying to manage the pain.

If it feels halfway decent this afternoon I might try to do some pruning on my orchard trees. I bought a pole lopper so I don't have to play on the ladder to reach the higher branches. I didn't prune them last winter and it needs to be done before they get too far out of control. We'll see I guess.

[Bon of Babble]

Last year, my family got me a Bird Buddy bird feeder - the one with the camera inside (not cheap, but they went in together). One of the great pleasures of my evening is to review the footage from my feeder at the end of the day - the Bird Buddy identifies the type of bird - and has a feed so you can see other people’s feeders from around the world. I really love it - and bought the hummingbird one for myself - unfortunately from a cheaper brand, the fish-eye camera is too large for the area, I have four types of hummingbirds that visit my feeder!

You can add a suet holder to the Bird Buddy if you have those types of birds (I do not) - or a water bowl, I just have the basic equipment and use bird seed from Costco. Looking forward to spring when I get the really unusual birds that fly through our area, otherwise it’s mostly house finches, sparrows of all types and the occasional cow bird.

[MomwithHope]

We are fortunate to have you on this thread.

[MomwithHope]

Sounds interesting. I’ve seen some nest box videos that are a hoot.

[Liz]

We are fortunate to have you on this thread

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blush

[AFB-XYZ]

Will be printing and delivering this one too, many thanks!

Whaddaya gals trying to do, make me fatter than I already am? Heh. :-)

[Liz]

Whaddaya gals trying to do, make me fatter than I already am? Heh. :-)

---

Nah.

[MomwithHope]

It’s all about portions...........

[MomwithHope]

Wow check out what I just found. Being a long time canner I have gravitated to these reusable jars with red metal lids that are completely reusable. Some I have used 4 or 5 years in a row. They contain Polish pickled veggies and the label is Old World Market. I buy them at Menards. I like them because I don’t have to buy lids and the jars are not as big as a quart but bigger than a pint. Perfect for me. So I watched a youtube just now on making homemade sausage in a jar. The jar lids were gorgeous and I caught a name on the jar lid and look. The most beautiful jar lids ever, especially for gift giving. I am amazed. https://www.pannochka.pl/?srsltid=AfmBOoqCzmLkMKUJzLx4icMwZoHNxnIPC7EQjbUyDh93e4gC8jim2Uzc

[MomwithHope]

Plus they have a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pannochkaPL/

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Same concept. Cake & Jello = MAGIC!

They have a whole series of ‘Poke and Pour Cakes.’ Not sure if the Jello people ‘invented’ them, but most probably so.

Marketing 101!

“It’s a Floor Wax! It’s a Dessert Topping! Wait! It’s BOTH!” LOL!

(Old SNL skit - back when it was FUNNY!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"I added a bottle of Castile soap to get the free shipping."

That stuff NEEDS to be in my pantry; it has about 100,000 uses around the house.

OK. 15. Maybe a few more. ;)

15 Castile Soap Uses You've Never Thought of Before

https://www.countryliving.com/home-maintenance/cleaning/a27534079/castile-soap-uses/

2026 is the year I batten down the hatches and make even MORE things from scratch, versus buying retail...which KILLS me, LOL! I've made a good dent in it, because I do use a lot of homemade products (cleaning products, homemade laundry soap, bake bread, make soft cheeses and yogurt, make my own candles, can Salsa and V-8 Juice, cook from scratch 99% of the time, 'pickle' or dehydrate anything that moves, grow and dry herbs for cooking, hoard/freeze bacon grease, raise our own beef, keep laying hens, etc.) but there's ALWAYS more we can do to become more self-sufficient even if your family members think you're CrAzY - though they ALWAYS take a pound of hamburger or a roast when offered and never say no to fresh eggs or FREE tomatoes!

This book is a great place to start. She did all the 'maths' and figured out what was less expensive making yourself and what was still worth buying in terms of time and money.

Sorry, Jennifer! I STILL like making butter. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep. Our nearest neighbor is a horse breeder. I have to go past her farm to collect our mail. One day I was returning from the mail call and she was running from the barn to her house.

I waived and stopped her and she said, “I can’t talk now! I have to get this ‘specimen’ into the freezer ASAP!” LOL!

If her college-age sons don’t know where ‘babies come from’ by now, they’ll never get it, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oooo! Bookmarked for morning Coffee! Thanks!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“...non-lipid hemangiomas...”

OK! Non-Cancerous - but still painful in some cases. Hope they can get this figured out for you, ASAP!

I always loved how ‘Grandpa’ was washing the window, then would put his hand right through it, LOL!

[Albion Wilde]

Eewww! LOL

[Liz]

Peanut Butter Pie
Made from scratch; will have diners coming back for seconds. Sooooo good.

Ing Crust: 14 whole chocolate grahams 1 tbl light br/sugar 7 tbl unsalted butter, melted Filling: 8 oz cream cheese, room temp 3/4 c conf plus 2 tbl, 1 c ea Jif creamy p/butter, h/cream 1 tsp vanilla. Topping: Melted p/butter, melted chocolate; Garnishes Chp Mini Reese’s cups, P/butter chips

Method Crust: process/chp crackers/sugar fine; add butter and pulse til moistened. Press into bottom/up sides of 9" pie plate. Bake til fragrant, 325 deg 10-12 min. Cool completely on rack. Filling: elec/mixer beat cream cheese, 3/4 c conf, peanut butter til light and fluffy, about 3 min.Separately elec/mixer/whisk heavy cream thick and light. Add 2 tbl conf, vanilla, and whip to stiff peaks. Gently fold cream into peanut butter mixture. Pour into pie shell; freeze 3 hours or fridge at least 6 hours.

Place melted peanut butter and melted chocolate in piping bags. Squeeze slightly to drizzle over pie. Top with mini Reese's cups and peanut butter chips. Serve frozen or refrigerated. Store in the fridge, covered, up to 3 days, or freezer up to 1 month.