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.

[Qiviut]

My neighbor at the Old House has a home based business (sells stuff online) & he gets a lot of packages - UPS, FEDEX, USPS. His house is not within sight of his mailbox & is a bit of a drive so he put out 2 ‘boxes’ for packages. One is the size of a large cooler & the other is 2 or 3 times the size of the smaller one. The various deliveries go in the boxes & no trip to the house is necessary by delivery personnel - packages stay dry. You could put something out for packages, especially during bad weather. I don’t know if packages would be more apt to be stolen if in a ‘box’ as opposed to being on the ground at the mailbox.

Per latest forecast, we are looking at 8 - 12” of snow that starts Saturday evening. We are still in a danger zone for freezing rain although we are probably leaning slightly more to sleet. Sleet would be a blessing for a lot of folks - freezing rain in some areas would be enough to cause heavy damage with recovery taking 1-2 weeks.

A few errands to run today & then it will be “hunker down’ time. I hope the brutal cold you are experiencing will let up sooner rather than later.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We are all in for awful weather this week, aren’t we?

That’s a good idea on the ‘box’ down by the mailbox. We have a HUGE mailbox, but a Chewy box doesn’t fit inside of it.

Order is still out for delivery - so at least I know it’s not buried in a snowbank! The driveway IS plowed, so maybe it will show up on the porch today, after all. But, I want the driver to be safe more than anything. Bad timing on my part, but they weren’t predicting these temps when I ordered three days ago. Things went from bad to worse in a matter of hours.

It has warmed UP to -4, now. It’s a balmy 42 degrees in the greenhouse. I should probably get some spinach started out there today, LOL!

[Liz]

Game Day Table

Game Day Cheese and Charcuterie Board / trays of sweets on the side

Hot Appy: Buffalo cauliflower "wings" soft pretzels chicken tenders Dips and Spreads: Ranch or blue cheese spicy + honey mustards Buffalo hummus guacamole BBQ-sauced chicken tenders chile con queso. Vegetable Crudites: carrots celery cucumber spears snap peas. Chips: ruffled or kettle potato chips corn chips. Cheese: cheddar Monterey jack or spicy pepper jack cheese. Charcuterie: Genoa salami, soppressata, and prosciutto, beef jerky, chicharrones, pepperoni, turkey pepperoni

Instructions Prepare Buffalo cauliflower and chicken tender recipes, and frozen soft pretzels according to pkg. Place each dip in a small bowl or ramekin on the serving board.

Place vegetables, chips, cheeses, and charcuterie around the dips, near the dips or sauces they naturally match, leaving space for the hot Buffalo cauliflower, soft pretzels, and chicken tenders, e.g. Buffalo cauliflower and celery with blue cheese dip, vegetables with Ranch or hummus, corn chips with guacamole and chile con queso.

Set about 1/3-1/2 hot foods in a low oven to keep warm to refresh the board when needed.
Place the Buffalo cauliflower, soft pretzels and chicken tenders in their reserved spots.

[MomwithHope]

Driveway won’t get plowed until it warms up some. Left a note on amazon for the driver just to leave the package (small) on top of the trash bin which is parked a few feet inside our driveway. He will be grateful.

[FamiliarFace]

We were supposed to go on a road trip birthday bash tomorrow morning with some friends to Ohio to celebrate his birthday. Planned on going out to eat and then taking in a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game. We had hotel reservations, but with the forecast and the timing of the snow’s arrival, we figured we’d be stuck there on Sunday. We couldn’t afford two nights away. So then that meant returning after the game was over (at night).

I know I would’ve been too worried about road conditions to have fun, and I didn’t want to ruin his birthday. So we bowed out, and will get together another time. Call it a “snow” check. We travel that route every 6 weeks or so. Even in perfect weather we see major accidents somewhere on the route home, nearly every time - often involving semis, and smaller cars smushed and turned the wrong way.

For anyone traveling during this storm, you’re in my prayers. I want to be safe at home.

[Qiviut]

So my wonderful recipe app that I LOVE ‘Copy Me That’ is no longer free over 40 recipes. I am a bit over the limit with 619 recipes! The price per year for unlimited is $12 which I will gladly pay. I use the app for all my cooking & it’s nice to be able to look a recipe up while shopping if I have a question on ingredients. An example would be today .... mushrooms on sale but how many do I need for a mushroom soup recipe? Looked up the recipe: 3 cups.

I do need to go back through my categories & delete recipes I would “like” to make (so I saved them), but in actuality, the chance of making them is slim to none. That purge should get me down in the 500’s :-)

[Paul R.]

Me too! I have some river sand in covered buckets. Hopefully it has stayed dry!

It’s a bit nasty (gotta take those boots off right at the door!) but, on hard ice, better than falling. This go round, the ice (if any) and sleet will be on top of snow, then we get more snow.

Once it warms a little I’ll toss on some salt. :-)

We are at an intersection, and fairly often when things get nasty, the state dumps so much salt that passing vehicles make piles of it extra: I’ll go out and shovel / redistribute some smooth and snag a little of the excess. One winter, a gal started to slide, hit a salt “dune” about 5” deep and lost control of her SUV. Into the ditch she went. Luckily neither she nor her passengers were hurt. Her car was a bit scrunched up, though.

I wonder if salt in Wisconsin is a different formulation than ours?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I wonder if salt in Wisconsin is a different formulation than ours?”

The ‘New New Thing’ is to use some sort of ‘brine’ made from beets. They’re always trying to ‘Save The Lakes’ and I’ve lived in this area (sans Army Days) since I was 10 years old and the lakes are totally un-swimable now (is that a word?) due to algae growth, so it doesn’t look like they’re winning.

Out here (in Normal Land) they use either sand or salt, depending. There is one road near us that is so densely tree-lined that the sun never really hits it, even in winter with no leaves on the trees! That gets a lot of salt. We have a really good guy that takes care of our township roads, year-round. He’s a gem and Beau is on the Council so is always approving a raise for him every year - we don’t want to lose him! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

*'FROZEN' SATURDAY PING*

-10 at 3am Potty Break for Dolly. -13 at 7am this morning. A balmy 1 degree in the greenhouse and a cozy 57 degrees in the farmhouse - and rising - I just cranked up the heat! Rumor has it that we're past the worst of it now as far as temps go. Snow by Tuesday, maybe. Hope all of you south of me are holding up against the ice and snow!

[left that other site]

OFFICIAL DECLARATION!

I Hearby Proclaim This Weekend officially As A ""SNUGGLETIME" Until Further Notice.

((((HUGS))))

❤️Let All That You Do Be Done In Love.(1 Corinthians 16:14)❤️

ML/LTOS

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Love it! We had a ‘Black & Tan’ Dachshund when I was a kid. My folks got him the same year they had me, so Dad ‘trained’ us together. ;) ‘Otto Heinrich’ was his name. He lived to be 17 years old.

[AFB-XYZ]

We’re having a heat wave here in OK. It’s a scorching 3°F, with a projected high today of 8°F. Becoming more fond of my small wood-burning stove by the minute. Heh. :-)

Last night, the TV weather fear-mongers predicted between 8 and 14 inches of snow in my area. We got maybe 2. Current forecast is 6 to 12 inches of new snow through Sunday. Color me skeptical.

The one thing I forgot to do was to cover the rosemary. Kind of scared to go outside and look at it. Maybe if I cover it this morning, at least some of it will survive. Fingers are crossed.

[FamiliarFace]

Based on your recommendation, I downloaded the app and have started adding recipes to it - ones that I use over and over. Only 5 recipes have been added so far, but I’m going to try to give this a whirl. I am a bit of a printed recipe fan, but it takes up a lot of space, and I’m not well organized with it. So maybe this will help me.

If I can add recipes from my family (photocopies), then this should be great for me. I have no desire to rewrite or type in the ingredients anymore.

Thanks for the suggestion. $1/month is affordable.

[FamiliarFace]

Our temps are still on the positive side, so I won’t complain. Snow should be arriving in a few hours, sometimes light, and then a band or two of heavy, if their predictions are accurate. I have a few quick outdoor chores to do, so about to bundle up, and head outside to deal with the new water feature in the meditation garden. The water is freezing on top, so less is recirculating. It’s been a neat thing to watch this winter. The birds and small animals seem to like it, too. Another place to play!

[numberonepal]

Sunny and 75 in Zone 10b.

[Qiviut]

You can add pictures, but I don’t know if they will be big enough for you to see the recipe. You cannot enlarge the pictures as far as I know - I tried.

On my old recipes, I used the microphone on my phone keyboard & read the recipe in, then went back & edited/corrected. That is a much quicker & easier process than typing in. I took pics of the old recipes or the picture that accompanied a recipe from a magazine, etc. & added them to the recipe in addition to what I read in. If no picture, I will take a picture when I make the recipe & add it.

I prop my phone up in the kitchen windowsill, put on a podcast, pull up my recipe & cook away!

[FamiliarFace]

Thanks for the tips! I’ve already added in some recipes that have been shared here that I haven’t tried but would like to.

If nothing else, this will help me with recipes that I’ve found online.

I have an iPad mini that I use most of the time. I never have owned a pc, but hubby and kids all have them. For me it works and has been a great tool.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Re: Rosemary. If it’s starting to fade on you, take some cuttings and keep them in water near a sunny window. (Strip the lower stems so just the stem, not any foliage, is in the water. Refresh the water every few days. You can use it fresh that way, or if it roots, you’ll have free plants come spring. :)

I’ve got one potted plant in a south-facing window, on a tray of water for humidity. I mist it every few days, too, and water once a week.

I have about 12 stem cuttings in a mason jar - about half have rooted.

My Bay Laurel (potted, in that same window with the Rosemary plant) is putting out a lot of new leaves, though the older ones look like h3ll right now. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

So yeah, the reservoir was getting empty, and it was struggling. Poured 10 gallons of hot water in there to make sure that the reservoir is getting something. It melted some of the ice buildup.

We do have a pond heater inside the reservoir. We could never have made it this long without one. It is supposed to keep the water around 35 degrees and no lower. So far so good. If we have to replace that every season, that’s not terrible.

My other chore was to get a couple of gallons from the rain barrel for the indoor plants. Mission accomplished.

Before we left for Thanksgiving and granddaughter, we didn’t have time to empty the barrel and put it away properly. So I added one of those reflective emergency blankets to it, and we have a pond heater dangled inside there. I can’t let the level get below half way, or else the heater will burn out. Anyway, so far so good. It is still 2/3 full and I can see a bit of ice forming just at the surface.

The spigot has one of those protectors wrapped around it, and so far, that’s held, too. So now I have two gallons of rain water that I can put on my most important overwintered plants.

Speaking of overwintering, I finally decided today to stop spending time on the shishitos. The peppers were few are far between, and never getting more than 2”, if that. I have enough saved up in the freezer. Time to start using those now.
I still can’t wait till Spring and Summer to see if the seeds I’ve saved will produce anything.

It wasn’t unbearable out there until I had to take my gloves off so I could manipulate the reflective blanket back over the spigot. Then it got COLD FAST!!!

Next job is refilling the feeders so the birds have something during this weather.

[Qiviut]

My PC has a bad fan - I have replaced the fan once, just been too lazy to replace it again. I am on my phone almost 100% of the time.