Posted on 01/01/2026 5:52:41 AM PST by 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.
Have you ever considered algae oil? It has a better high smoke point, tastes very, very slightly like butter, but is a tad expensive. Not too much more than good olive oil.
Thanks, I would not mind cooking with it. Not certain how it works for seasoning cast iron pans.
(I tried raw flaxseed to season a pan once, but ended up stripping it out and starting again. Odd taste, low smoke point.
Flax oil— I also used a lot more than I should have.
I’ll ask my daughter. She introduced us to it.
Oh! Hubby seems to think it would be just fine. (He just piped in!)
Awesome Sauteed Kale
Delicious side, which type of kale to use; prevents bitter kale.
Lge bunch Dinosaur kale, coarse-chp 2-3 tbl coconut oil or olive oil 1/2 tsp crushed
red pepper flakes 2 minced gar/cl 2-3 shallots in rings 1/2 c chix or veg stock k/s/p.
Heat coconut oil, saute shallots translucent 2-3 min. Add garlic, red pepper; cook/stir a min. Add kale, broth, s/p, mix well. Cover/cook/toss 5 min. Remove cover; cook away most of the broth. Serve hot.
In this case, no. The entire bottom layer of the PC Board here is an aluminum ground plane, which also provides metal-to-metal contact with the aluminum housing / heat sink. The problem of course then is that loosely setting said bottom layer against the aluminum housing / heat sink leaves a lot of air molecules in the way. Only slight “high spots” make actual contact, but thermal AND electrical contact IS part of the original design. I’m just making it (thermally) better. :-)
These are the new-fangled PC Boards: Well, not really NEW...
I don’t know how familiar you are with multi-layer PCB’s, but 6-layer PCB’s have been around since the 1960’s. Such would suffice here — this is neither complex nor compact circuitry by modern standards*, although miniaturized components are used for some of the electronics.
The component side of this board is actually an (electrical) insulator. The 2nd layer is circuit (presumably copper) “traces”. Then the next layer is an electrical insulator, the 4th is “traces”, the 5th is electrical insulator, and the 6th is bare aluminum or plated copper. This, assuming a 6 layer board.
So... components’ legs or leads only go as deep as the 4th layer. And... this PCB is only about 0.5 mm (0.02”) thick.
Obviously, if any board component here ever fails, replacing it is not practical for a “user” like me . :-(
But, this type of construction, in volume production, is how you get product prices down.
When it comes to PCB design, I’m a Neanderthal. The fanciest boards I ever designed were double sided boards, much like what you had in mind, I guess, although I did do a little work with surface mount components.
*FWIW, 32 layers is presently considered the practical upper limit to hold cost down and reliability up with high complexity, but there are some PCB applications as high as 129 layers! Of course the designs are heavily computer aided: The manual design of an “efficient” layout high components count “mere” 30 sq. inch double sided PCB is a significant task. (Been there, done that.)
I’ll have an update to my “modification manual” soon. Actually modifying one of the “rails” the PCB slides into, with a Dremel tool, turned out to be overly tedious. I left out the screwdriver shaft diameter, too, and in hindsight, securing the one large (7/8” tall) capacitor should IMO be done as soon as one opens this puppy up, with a little more detail given.
I finally got to sleep early, and about 1 a.m. was awakened by the sound of a revving engine and spinning tires... again. The State has still not plowed the state highway that runs past our place, and somebody went off the curve to the east of us, just past our property. A tow truck just showed up, so, I’m leaving it all to them.
The county road that starts at “our” intersection and runs north IS plowed. Not that we have anything to go to in that direction. The state highway should not be too big a problem for our Subie Outback, tomorrow, driven sensibly. The snow has been somewhat packed down by vehicles: It’s slippery, but nothing like ice. Just take the curves slowly and don’t get in a rut off to the side.
NWS keeps pushing out how long this cold lasts. There is no real relief for a week from today. Tomorrow is a bit “warmer”, but windy, then we get a reinforcing shot by Wednesday morning. :-(
Here is the report on the storm from Paducah NWS for our forecast area:
https://www.weather.gov/pah/Jan24-25_2026Snow
Chef Andrew Gruel is a somewhat popular conservative restaurant owner from Cali. Was a judge on some food network show. Wrote a cookbook or two. He’s a regular on the Greg Gutfeld show. He and his wife have a show on youtube, American Gravy irrc but they tend to be rushed and don’t have the written ingredients list. Lately he’s been focused on budget friendly cooking with basic ingredients and teaching techniques.
Yesterday afternoon at 18 degrees, little to no wind and sunny felt pretty nice.
Sounds good. Cream soups are always good. Today its homemade cream of mushroom soup.
Sounds good. Cream soups are always good.
Today its homemade cream of mushroom soup.
Mmmmmm.....anything w/ mushrooms.
The creamy spinach soup recipe is f-a-s-t.......and good.
I have one of those same grinders with pink salt. It IS near impossible to use!
I like the pink salt, but to me it tastes ‘saltier’ than everyday table salt. Supposedly it has more minerals in it or something.
That Dinosaur (Lacinato) Kale really is gorgeous in the garden. A 'statement piece' that you can eat! I've grown it many times.
yeah too bad I went to te store yesterday. Won’t be venturing out again in this cold and snow until Saturday. I have everything except the Stouffers.
McCormick is a much better grinder. I already had a black peppercorn from them and the Himalayan salt works well too.
Funny, I was just now looking at refillable grinders.(oh here he goes again)
All the big name food sites with reviews of them have the same list. Probably based on amazon affiliate payout amount. All of them had a $200 grinder as rated the Best(best payout too I’m sure)
OXO grip grinders get good reviews and are affordable. Adjustable, though some reviews say inconsistent. I’m sure that depends on what you have it filled with. They have salt and pepper grinders. The difference? They come prefilled with either sea salt or black peppercorns. LOL They have the 2 pc set right now on sale for $37.99. Else $27.99 for pepper, $32.99 for sea salt and they don’t sell empty grinders. Must be some profit in those contents.
Gee, I should sign up as an affiliate. Meanwhile, here’s a clean non-affiliate link.
https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Salt-Pepper-Grinder-Black/dp/B001CDP5UO
I guess the ex got our son the Himalayan but he might have picked it out. I cranked some out of the McCormick on my fried potatoes last night and didn’t notice anything but regular saltiness but I didn’t use much.
I can unscrew the top of the Best Choice but don’t know how it would come off on the McCormick, just that it doesn’t unscrew. Would most likely ruin it prying. I was thinking I could refill the McCormick with the contents of the Best Choice.
That’s when I started looking at refillable grinders. Been wanting one for peppercorn forever. I’m not big on seal salt so if my son isn’t either, it will get dumped and refilled with Himalayan.
Some poor guy at the last place I worked brought some into work and a bunch of the other guys laughed at is “pink” salt. Adolescent grunt types.
As far as trace minerals, it appears to be one of those things with half saying yes and half saying no about any benefits. Wikipedia says no benefits so I’m thinking maybe there are some. (trace presence of calcium, iron, zinc, chromium, magnesium, and sulfates) YMMV I guess.
Neither Himalayan or sea salt have iodine added which we do need, (especially in a nuclear war). Neither have anti-caking agents which we probably don’t need. Same with any coarse salt like Kosher and canning/pickling.
Haven’t looked at bulk peppercorns or coarse salt yet but I’d imagine there’s some savings over individual disposable grinders.
The thing that iodine/iodide does for nukes is to fill up the thyroids which is where the body absorbs radiation from fallout. Can’t absorb radiation when they’re already filled with iodide.
FWIW - best supplier - https://www.nukepills.com/potassium-iodide/
Won’t be venturing out again in this cold and snow until Saturday.
I have everything for the Creamy Spinach Soup except the Stouffers.
Just a thought-——you could make your own homemade creamed spinach for the soup.
Kung Pao Beef / Better than takeout
Seared flank steak strips, edges caramelized, peppers, onions, peanuts, tossed in a luscious Asian sauce.
Ing Beef 1 lb flank steak in ¼" thick pieces 2 tsp cornstarch s/p 1 tbl veg oil. Veggies 1 tbl canola oil 1 med red bell pepper diced 1 lge chp yellow onion 2 tbl any type peanuts raw or salted 1 tsp pwdered or grated fresh ginger 1 bunch chp green onions, white/green parts. Sauce ¼ c soy sauce 3 tbl hoisin sauce 1 tbl rice vinegar 1 tsp sesame oil
Combine steak, cornstarch, s/p to evenly coat. Heat oil on med-high. Add beef, sear one min per side. Then plate. Heat 2nd tbl oil in same pan over med. Add pepper/onions, sauté 2 min. Stir in peanuts, ginger, green onions. Cook 2 min. Add beef back. Add combined Sauce ing to pan, stir and cook til sauce thickens. Serve over hot steamed rice.
Thanks to my next door neighbor, the driveway from the car to the road is now dug out. ‘Joe’ was driving by & stopped to offer to get his skid steer & finish what I still had to do - I accepted that offer. It took him 5-10 minutes to plow what would have been another hour at least for me to shovel. We have not met before so chatted awhile & exchanged phone numbers.
There is still no path from the house to the car so I might work on that tomorrow. We have an appointment Thursday in the Big City so some sort of a path would be helpful, especially for mom. Yesterday, I was postholing, but after the frigid night, I could walk on top of the sleet/snow to the car, only fell through 3 or 4 times.
Batch #2 of the Beef Barley soup will be ready for dinner - I love that stuff!
I always pick OXO over every other brand. Love their products. I own many!
Good to know. Thanks
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.