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.

[MomwithHope]

Easy to make turnovers with puff pastry. Just cut each sheet into 4 squares. Don’t use too much filling. lightly close the triangles and do this all just as the dough is thawing and really cold. Bake depending on your oven 15 minutes or more, just keep an eye. Easy frosting use powdered sugar and add drops of evaporated milk a few at a time. Just keep stirring until its the right thickness for drizzling.

[FamiliarFace]

Oh geez! Three of my all time favorites in one appetizer! Puff pastry, Boursin, and bacon jam!

Ok, this one is going to be tried, and soon!

(By soon I mean in the next 6 weeks.)

[FamiliarFace]

If you ever want to make puff pastry from scratch, this recipe is very easy. Can’t mess it up. Keeps well, too.

https://bakingamoment.com/easy-homemade-puff-pastry-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-79247

Easy Homemade Puff Pastry Recipe

4.75 stars (114 ratings)

Leave those frozen sheets on the store shelf! This is the best tasting, easiest homemade puff pastry recipe ever! Comes together in just 15 minutes.

Prep Time
15 minutes mins

Cook Time
25 minutes mins

Chill Time
3 hours hrs

Total Time
3 hours hrs 40 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, DessertCuisine: AmericanKeyword: Homemade Puff Pastry, puff pastry, puff pastry desserts, puff pastry recipe easy, puff pastry recipes, puff pastry sheets
Servings: 8 Calories: 418kcal

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks), cold
1/2 cup cold water

Instructions
Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Cut the cold butter into 1/4-inch slices and add to the flour mixture, tossing to coat.
Stir in the cold water until a thick dough forms.
Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk-shape, and wrap in plastic wrap.
Chill for 1 hour in the fridge, or 20 to 30 minutes in the freezer.
Unwrap the dough, dust the work surface with flour, and roll the dough into a rough rectangle shape.
Fold the dough in thirds, like a letter.
Turn 90 degrees, roll and fold again.
Repeat about 2 to 4 times, wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and chill for 2 hours or overnight.*

Notes
Tips for Making Homemade Puff Pastry
Brush the pastry with an egg beaten with a couple of teaspoons of water before baking for a beautiful sheen.
When you’re ready to bake the pastry, make sure it is COLD and the oven is íHOT.
Bake times will vary based on exactly what you are making, so follow your recipe!
The dough can also be frozen. It will keep for several weeks in the freezer, tightly wrapped. Thaw in the refrigerator.
This recipe makes approximately 24 ounces, or 685 grams, of dough.
More Classic Pastry Recipes to Try!
Pate a Choux
Homemade Danish
French Macarons
Nutrition
Serving: 1pastry | Calories: 418kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 296mg | Potassium: 43mg | Vitamin A: 1065IU | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1.5mg

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks, FF! That DOES look amazingly easy.

2026 is the year that I make even MORE things from scratch around here.

Busted out my new bread machine just today. :)

[FamiliarFace]

All you need is to not be rushed. It’s a great recipe for making ahead.

Early in the lockdowns, you may remember my family started a family food challenge. It was a way for us to interact weekly with something all of us love to do - cook, bake, mix things up, try new recipes. This recipe was my winner for homemade apple turnovers.

A few Christmases ago, I used this recipe for our Beef Wellington. It was second to none!

It’s super easy, and uses ingredients I know you have on hand. The reason I used it for the Beef Wellington was that the store had run out of it during Christmas. Thankfully, I already had the recipe in my back pocket, and I knew it would be great. The kids still talk about that meal from time to time.

[Liz]

Steak Tacos / Homemade Taco Seasoning
An easy quick family meal enhanced w/ spices in your pantry.

Taco Spices: 2 tsp chili pwder 1 tsp ea grnd cumin, smoked paprika, Himalayan salt, gar/pwder;
add heat w/ 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes or cayenne; 1/4 tsp ea dried oregano and onion pwder.

TACOS Spice 1/2” steak strips; let sit. Heat 1 Tbl avocado oil; sauté/cook thru 3 sliced bell peppers/1 onion. Liftout, set aside, then toss/cook thru steak strips. Add back peppers/onions; heat thru. Serve in taco shells w/ lime wedges. Can also serve as lettuce wraps, w/ homemade pico de gallo and guacamole.

[Liz]

Grilled Swordfish Italiano / serves 4
Buttery lemon and herbs atop perfectly-cooked flavorful swordfish.

Ing 2 lb fresh swordfish 2 lemons, zest and juice divided 1 tbl fresh minced garlic 1/2 c best quality evoo 1 tsp dry oregano 1 teaspoon k/salt/pepper 1/4 c minced fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, 4 tbl cold butter

Method Use two equal 1 ½" thick pieces. Marinate in gallon zip lock w/ half of combined lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, oregano, s/p. Seal bag; set one hour at room temp.

Marinade mix lemon zest, garlic, olive oil, oregano, s/p to marinate. Later add about ¼ c lemon juice and parsley and set aside to serve w/ cooked fish.

Place swordfish pieces on hot oiled grill. Brush w/ marinade as it cooks. Cook two min; make one quarter turn to get cross hatch marks. Cook two more min then flip. After two more minutes turn one quarter turn and cook two minutes. (Total of eight min.)

Fold sheet of foil four times and place on grill's cool side. Folded foil should hold swordfish. After eight min searing both sides, move the swordfish to foil and close cover. Keep a consistent grill temp of 350 deg. Now cook for 1-6 more min based on steaks thickness. 1 ½ inch swordfish steaks cooked six more minutes; grand total of 14 minutes. If steaks are thinner, last cook time on foil will be less; check internal temp of 145 deg. Do not overcook. Place cold butter pats over top to melt as you plate. To serve, halve each piece to yield four servings; serve sauce made earlier over each portion.

Note: Fresh swordfish is crucial. Should be white and have a slightly salt water smell.......not "fishy."

[FrozenAssets]

We are dreaming that it may get up to zero. 44 below in town this morning and 26 below here. They want it to warm up Thursday. I hope that doesn’t mean snow!

[FrozenAssets]

This morning’s experiment...
Brown ground beef, bacon, and onion. When they get brown add some good home made marinara.

Meanwhile...
Brown thin sliced potato

Eventually..
Spoon the meat and marinara over the potatoes. Add shredded cheese. Pour beaten egg over the whole thing and add more cheese. Then throw a lid on the skillet and let the eggs cook and the cheese melt.

Grap a cup of hot coffee and enjoy while you thumb your nose at winter!

[FrozenAssets]

Winter skin 911

Put a bunch of solid coconut oil in a small double boiler. When it all melts, add a couple table spoons of lanolin. Add a healthy glug of glycerin.

whisk the whole thing as it cools. Keep whisking as it cools. Don’t stop. You get a creamy sort of glop that will keep your skin moist in the worst weather. And it is not greasy.

I make a finish for wooden bowls the same way with beeswax shaved into heated walnut oil.

[Qiviut]

I wrote a thank you note this morning to a friend who sent us a gift of her canned ‘Sweet Spiced Pickled Figs’ & Blueberry Lime Jam.

I LOVE pickled figs, one of my favorite things. We put them on our New Year’s charcuterie board when we had family for the day. They were a perfect addition & something out of the ordinary. We haven’t opened the jam yet, but I’m sure it will be delicious.

Meanwhile, I have been thinking about a fig bush & how to get one. Two figs (& I am sure there are more) are mentioned as hardy in zone 7: Chicago Hardy & Brown Turkey. I am connsidering buying a cutting rather than attempting to do it myself ... I don’t know if I will be back at the Old House at the proper time for taking a (Brown Turkey) cutting.

The big issue when I have a successful cutting is where to plant the fig. I have plenty of open ground that is south or southwest facing, but the fig would not be protected from the incessant wind. There are no micro climate spots like against a building. The more sun the better & against the barn wall is more northeast & not enough sun.

Anyway, lots to think about. Here’s a link with 2 videos on cuttings:

https://offthebeatenpathnursery.com/pages/rooting-fig-cuttings

Also fig tree care & instructions which I found very helpful - if in a pot the first 2 years, I could put it up against the garage which would be perfect (sun, micro climate), I just can’t permanently plant it there.

https://offthebeatenpathnursery.com/pages/fig-tree-care

Two items on my “Want to can one day list”: pickled figs & pickled watermelon rind.

[Augie]

Electrical problems are no fun, especially during cold weather.

Howard says he'd be happy to get up from his nap to help, but lacking opposable thumbs he's afraid that he'd only be in the way so he's going to stay on his cushion instead. lol

I got a good chuckle out of him earlier today. A reel came across my feed of a hound that had a grown coon bayed in a shallow water hole. Howard got curious when he heard the barking and came to investigate. He could see the other dog, and he could hear the other dog, but he was absolutely confounded by the fact that he couldn't SMELL the other dog. Dude is a constant source of entertainment. lol

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I think you meant to say, ‘Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine...” :) (Love that song!)

I used to order the Brown Turkey Figs for my customers up here in Zone 5a and I had no returns on them through the years, so they must’ve thrived.

Many planted them in pots so they could be moved to the perfect spot in the summer months, then they were wrapped well for the winter and moved into a garage or other outbuilding for their dormant period. You’d need a caster with wheels or a dolly to lug it around, but it could be done.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Grab a cup of hot coffee and enjoy while you thumb your nose at winter!”

We’ve hit 51 so far today, but very windy. Blowing in rain, then maybe snow. And then, the party’s OVER because we go down to 17 tonight...and stay in the teens for the rest of the week. :(

-1 Monday night with NO snow cover. My fruit trees, roses and perennial veggies are going to have some ‘issues’ this spring with this HUGE fluctuation in winter temperatures. They do have mulch, but it’s like Mother Nature keeps poking them with a stick and waking them UP when they should be fast asleep for months on end. Grrrr!

Is it too much to ask for one nice BIG, fluffy snowfall right before Christmas, then daytime temps at 25 each day until March 1st? Ugh!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*66 DAYS UNTIL SPRING*

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Chief (RIP) and Dolly (15!) were supposed to be outside dogs, too - but for a couple of stone-cold rabbit hunters, they adapted pretty darn quick to life indoors!

[Qiviut]

The Chicago Hardy plants are supposed to be good in containers & that would work well since I have good spots for containers, but not for in-ground planting (buried water pipes & electric lines in the way).

[Liz]

Reading a medical book about the metal poisoning of factory workers, 1970’s actress Allison Hayes recognized the symptoms described as being similar to her own.

Hayes began to question the ingredients of a calcium supplement made from bone meal she had been taking for a long time. When she employed a toxicologist to test a sample of the product, he determined that it had an extremely high content of lead and concluded that Hayes was most likely suffering from lead poisoning. Hayes mounted a campaign to have the FDA ban the import or sale of the food supplement.

An invalid, Hayes moved to San Clemente, California, and her health continued to deteriorate. In 1976, she was diagnosed with leukemia and was treated regularly in La Jolla, California. While at the hospital receiving a blood transfusion, her condition unexpectedly and rapidly deteriorated as she experienced chills, flu-like symptoms and intense pain. She was transferred to the University of California Medical Center in San Diego, California on February 26, 1977, where she died the following day, at age 46.

In a letter that arrived after her death, the FDA advised her that amendments were being made to the laws governing the importation of nutritional supplements, largely as a result of her situation.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Qiviut; Figs. Pots Versus In Ground. In the winter what is your lowest temperature?

Temperatures here in winter get down to perhaps -20 every few years. Generally gets down to -10F to -15F for some period of time. (I am located on the KS MO Border zone 6B 1050 Elevation, next to Kansas City. )

I currently have 3 figs growing in ground, Chicago Hardy, Olympian, and Nero 600. I get figs from the Chicago Hardy ( same as Purple Bensonhurst) and the Olympian. I have a hardware cloth collar around the stems to about 16 inches out to protect the roots from vole damage. In the winter I cut the tops back to about 5 inches above the ground and throw some bags of leaves over them to protect them from cold. In the spring they become big weeds once they start to grow. I prune off the shoots and allow 3 strong stems (ladders) grow. The figs will form in the junction of the stem and the branches. It branches vigorously and you need to keep pruning or it will get away from you.

My observation is that Chicago Hardy is a marginal eating fig. Its virtue is that it grows where other figs will not. (Chicago...New York.) The squirrels seem to prefer them to the other figs so are something of a "Trap" Crop.

The Olympian was originally collected in WA state and is hardy. (Picture of mine below.) It is probably descended from a European Brown Turkey. It produces a much better tasting fig. I think I got about 100 figs that ripened; I may have managed to pick about 60 that the squirrels left. Ate split in half with goat cheese a drizzle of honey and some cinnamon, or, or quartered and in salads.

The Nero 600 was collected from a tree located at at 600M / 1800Ft Elevation in Northern Italy. It produces figs but so far they have not ripened before we get frost. They would be the best tasting. Again, these grow in-ground on my lot. (Picture of the Olympian Fig)

Potted Figs; My better/best tasting figs are the figs I grow in 5 gallon white pails that I can bring in in the winter. I have about 12, but I am looking to reduce this number. (I am the only person in the household that eats them.) I could provide some suggestions on some of these varieties. Please let me know!

[Qiviut]

I am interested in what varieties you grow in the 5 gallon pails & how many figs they produce. I have plenty of room to bring pails in during the winter. We have our porch ferns in our unheated attached garage & they are still green. The shop garage (shop is unheated) would be colder.

Per weather info I looked up, we rarely get below 12° although we did get into single digits last month during the frigid cold outbreak. If we ever did get to zero or a bit below, it would probably only be for a couple of days.