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.

[Albion Wilde]

Owie, poor Dolly! Glad she’s getting better. And face it, who doesn’t want an excuse for a new rug?

[Albion Wilde]

I sound like Officer Margie from ‘Fargo,’ LOL!

One of the most brilliant performances ever!

[Paul R.]

Big highway pileup in snow in MI:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw0Rlczy7BM

[Paul R.]

And BIG snow in eastern Russia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF3vTdN0DwQ

[FamiliarFace]

I had to look that up. I never have watched it.

Here’s a clip.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kPHbIyDTPHU

[FamiliarFace]

Oh, man! Saying prayers for those folks!

[Paul R.]

My wife made it once, using lemongrass, which we grow lots of in the summer, but we never have enough freezer space for lots of lemongrass, in the winter. I’m not sure if she boiled the lemongrass 1st and then removed it, or not. In many recipes she just leaves a bundle in - like the egg drop soup she made yesterday: I just dumped some rice in after the fact. Sometimes I add a little left-over or pre-cooked chicken. :-)

Either way, the lemon-rice soup is good stuff. Snow, more wind, and colder (highs in the teens) are due next weekend. I suspect I could stand some more about then...

The You-Tubers are going nuts. At present that weekend snow looks to be about 5” of pretty dry snow — no big problem, but you’d think we’re gonna be Kamchatka. Or Buffalo. ;-)

The biggest problem is likely to be water for the chickens - the heater for it doesn’t keep up @ temps under 12 deg. F or so, depending on the wind. So, I’ll probably have to keep taking warm water out for them.

[Paul R.]

More soup, that is...

My wife brought home mung bean soup from a friend’s b’day party yesterday. It’s only “fair” — not nearly as good as wifey’s. I think they forgot the salt, or soy sauce, entirely. I had some salty-ish chicken nuggets and mixed them in. Much better (both). :-)

[Augie]

The weather here in Central Missouri has been decent over the past week but if the weather guessers are right we’re headed for single digit temps later in the week along with the possibility of some snowfall.

I put round bales out last weekend and put a bundle of idiot cubes in the hay stall yesterday. I need to put a bag of corn chop in the bulk feeder later today. With those things done I’ll be as ready for bad weather as I can be, at least in terms of keeping the critters fed.

Mrs. Augie cleaned out the chicken house yesterday and tossed the poo into the raised beds out front. That should be all of the soil improvement they need to be ready for spring planting.

Follow-up appointment with my spine doc is on Thursday. Hopefully she’ll have some treatment options lined up for me. I’m really tired of being Big Chief Broken Back.

Howard is close to earning free rein in the house while we’re indoors. We have a baby gate that’s hinged like an accordion that is working well to keep him out of the kitchen. He could jump it with very little effort but so far he hasn’t shown any interest in doing that.

[Liz]

Roast Beef Rollups

Ing 2-8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened 3 ½ tbl horseradish 3 tbl Dijon 12 lge flour tortillas 30 spinach leaves, 1 ½ lb thin-sliced deli roast beef, or use leftover roast beef 8 oz shredded Cheddar

Directions Beat cr/cheese, horseradish, Dijon to combine. Spread thin layer on tortillas; then spinach leaves on top. Top w/ roast beef slices, then sprinkle w/ Cheddar. Gently roll up into tight tubes. Foil or saran to keep them tight. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Unwrap, serve whole or slice into 2-3 pieces (or diagonally into 1-inch sections for appy). Bake in moderate oven to brown tops and melt cheese. Serve w/ a ranch dip.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep. Caring for critters in this kind of weather is a lot of work.

Counting my blessings that Beau is home during this. We just cancelled dinner plans for the weekend and a hunting gathering due to the weather. Raccoons and pretty much anything else (including me!) are NOT going to be moving in this kind of weather. Ugh!

I’m ordering from Chewy and various seed catalogs, today. Fun! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I sure hope you can get some relief! Pain is no fun. My ‘right lower quarter pannel’ likes to go out from time to time - there is NEVER any reason for it, which is annoying - so when that happens I am on ice and stretching exercises and deep tissue massage for a few days. Never any fun. :(

Good on Howard! Love that guy! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I make those wraps fairly often - I get kind of ‘creative’ depending upon what is on hand at any given time, but they’re so good with a cup of soup for Brunch! :)

[Paul R.]

Well, actually... The BIGGEST problem is our old male cat. He’s total sweetie, but otherwise useless (doesn’t chase / catch mice), and he’s long ago fixed but these days still pees all over the place, even when presented with a completely fresh litter box. He’ll be walking along and then just suddenly squat - usually (but not always) in a place he’s done so before.

In warmer weather we can reduce the problem by putting him outside as much as possible, but below 20 deg. F, I just don’t have the heart.

A couple years ago there were some pretty rough medium size coolers at a yard sale — I prolly could have picked up a couple for maybe $4 each and converted them into heated shelters. Really need such for a rooster we have to keep segregated most of the time too... But, I’d already pretty much blown my budget for yard sale stuff. Guess I should have bought the coolers anyway and forgone, well, something else, maybe a project I’m unlikely to get to...

Getting old and slowing down @ the same time so much stuff just keeps getting more complicated* is really a pain in the rear.

*I’ve had to give up on having my very nice but long-in-the-tooth Canon MF8280CW $600 color laser printer networked. Each Win 11 Pro update made it more problematic, until I can’t get it working on the network at all, even after literally days of troubleshooting and attempted fixes, re-installs, etc. Last night I deleted all that and simply connected it via USB to my “main” desktop machine. That works, and if wifey needs to print something in color, she’ll just have to e-mail or “sneaker-net” it to me on a flash drive.

It’s much the same trying to record music off the web: It appears that my best alternative is to play it on the new (Win 11 Pro) machine and feed the audio into my old XP machine, where I can run it through an app called “Wavosaur” for actual recording. I’ve looked at Audacity, but it’s much more complicated than what I need.

I often think I was happier in the good ol’ days of a small mixer, a nice Technics parametric eq., and my Nakamichi cassette deck! But, I gotta admit, the music selection now is bigger. If I want to be reassured my situation still isn’t too bad, I can play this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dFFh4Idl24

[Liz]

I get kind of ‘creative’ making those wraps depending upon what’s on hand.

---

Yup, recipe is a perfect “tweaker.”

[MomwithHope]

Made your Greek lemon rice soup today, added a few chopped green onions on top. Just delicious.

[Liz]

Made your Greek lemon rice soup today, added
a few chopped green onions on top. Just delicious.

---

So glad you liked the recipe.

[Liz]

Broccoli Pasta
A nice side w/ grilled salmon or rotisserie chicken.

Ing Kosher salt to taste 2 lb broccoli, cut into florets w/ stems chopped 3 tbl evoo 2 thin-sliced gar/cl 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1 lb fave cooked pasta 1/2 c Parm 1/2 c pasta cooking water.

Method Cook broccoli fork-tender/bright green, 4-6 min. Infuse garlic in heated ol/oil adding red pepper flakes; then set offheat a min. Add cooked broccoli, fork-mash into small pieces, keep pan on low heat. Cook, stir, keep warm. Add cooked pasta. Now add Parm and 1/4 c pasta cooking water. Turn heat up to med-low. Cook, stir to melt cheese; mixture absorbs almost all pasta cooking water. (Add more pasta water as needed to make creamy sauce.)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Losing the Human Touch in Food (A short Article)

"Snip...Population health begins with a food system that honors biological integrity at every link. Food isn’t just calories, fat, and protein—just as soil isn’t just nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Real caretaking requires human effort. Machines or AI microchips can’t do it alone.

Agrarian icon Wendell Berry wisely said that care requires love, and love requires intimate knowledge. You can only know land, animals, and plants by walking among them—by engaging with them. Food isn’t like a car factory, and our microbiome isn’t a motor. It’s a teeming universe of microbes awaiting connection with their outdoor cousins through the gateway of our mouths.

The most revolutionary step our nation could take—for its farmland and its health—would be to increase the number of farmer-caretakers. We need more people growing our food, not fewer. A better “eyes-to-plate” ratio would restore fidelity to our food and health." More at link

Joel F. Salatin is an American farmer, lecturer, and author. Salatin raises livestock on his Polyface Farm in Swoope, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Meat from the farm is sold by direct marketing to consumers and restaurants.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

This looks good, we will probably do this! Thanks!