The Garden Thread - February, 2026

February 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.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Liz; Morel mushrooms would go great with rosemary potatoes, and, of course, a Venison roast. (Beef would do too!)

Of course before you start the garden is the time to plan and dream! Here is a video on Growing morels!

Growing your own Morel Mushrooms is EASY "No Commentary"

Of course, to do this you need a source of Morels and have some who have room! (I have not, so consider this purely an entertainment post from me!)

Some things to be aware of: Morels like to grow under dying elms. Their roots produce more carbohydrates than the crown of the tree can use and the morels feed on these. Morels are often found in places where there was recently a fire, especially in places like old apple orchards, where they use carbohydrates from tree roots and from wind fall apples. There is a pair of German bothers who are growing morels commercially and one of the things they do is to incorporate Charred wood into their grow bed. And of course, read information from other sources.

Good Luck, and Good Growing!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I think I fall somewhere in that last week of April. Might be earlier this year.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Police Chief. Grief...this was terrible! I feel for his family.

This is not how it is supposed to work.

[Pollard]

Outdoor mushrooms on logs - https://fieldforest.net/grow-outdoors/on-logs/
Outdoor mushrooms in beds - https://fieldforest.net/grow-outdoors/in-gardens-beds/

Outdoor log growing chart(most grow on oak) - https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-vaypr1abh8/images/stencil/original/image-manager/screen-shot-2022-10-24-at-2.23.07-pm.png

Wine Cap is probably the easiest and is grown in wood chips in mostly shade

Almond Agaricus is one I want to try.

“” The Almond Agaricus is a heat loving Portobello mushroom variety that grows quickly and can fruit as soon as one month after planting. This mushroom pairs perfectly with garden beds, container gardens, or landscape pots as it loves regular watering. We like to companion plant ours in a high tunnel along with leafy vegetation such as bell peppers, summer squash, and tomatoes. “”

Here’s what Field & Forest has to say about Morel.

“” We have been working with Morel cultivation for years. Some trials are successful, but never to the point of honest, abundant reproducibility. This year, we are passing the cultivation baton to you, along with our best to-date instructions. This spawn is not warranted to produce mushrooms, but is a fine bag of hope to experiment with. “”

The Morel video with commentary, ***colorful commentary*** — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL10H1LY2f4

He’s using this method to increase productivity of an existing Morel spot he and his brother found on the farm when they were kids. About 1/8 acre that they would get a couple dozen morels and he now gets over 100. “” YMMV “”

[Qiviut]

One less mouse in the house this morning - yay!

I had asked at the Co-op (back in 2024) if they knew of anyone who was selling topsoil. She mentioned a quickstop/convenience store that sold topsoil & mulch and she also said they had the best fried chicken around. I never found the place & got my topsoil from someone else.

In the last week, mom has been craving fried chicken so I have been looking for a source. KFC & a restaurant known for good fried chicken are both a trip across the mountain. I asked my cousin if she knew of a place & she did ... a quickstop/convenience store not too far from her place. The chicken is so good that the church has gotten it there for church events. Does this place by chance sell topsoil & mulch? Why yes, yes it does! Bingo! We will be in the area tomorrow & will check out the fried chicken & topsoil/mulch. I was not overly pleased with the first load of topsoil I got early last year & the next 2 loads were river bottom dirt, but were 45 minutes (one way) over the mountain & I had to make 2 trips. I would like to find a new source closer to home.

[FamiliarFace]

Results in 2-5 years! Now that’s patience!

[MomwithHope]

Wow I am impressed. And in 5 gallon buckets too. You must like watering! I hope you will repost this on March’s thread and if you can a few pictures. Besides the garden I have 5 very big plastic pot containers. I always dump the soil out in the spring on a tarp, and put a flake or 2 of straw in the bottom of the pot for drainage pressed just like it comes off the bale. It will all be broken down by next spring. Then I add some compos, mix and refill the pot.

[Texas resident]

I live in an area that gets around 60 inches of rain per year, plus I have the containers positioned so that when my sprinklers run, they get watered also. The holes in the buckets are for when we get 4 inches of rain in a day so that the plants don’t drown. I don’t know how to post a picture on this site, so any help with that would be appreciated.

One year, I had more vegetable than I could eat, so I traded with one of my neighbors for some venison meat. I think I got the best end of the deal.

[Pollard]

Last frost is May 2 here but May is also guaranteed to hit the 80s most years.

Almanac uses the 30% chance date. Long time ago I saw a chart or calculator that listed multiple dates and gave a percentage for each. I think early April was 50%.

Of course it all depends on hardiness. I can plant peas any time now. Just started lettuce and leafy brassica a few days ago and they'll be in the shed for a month or so.

Noticed something I had read a long time ago but forgotten. Heat mats are only good for a certain rise in temperature above ambient. Since I'm controlling them with a PC connected controller, I can keep a log of temps. On our recent nights in the low 20s, the tray soil temp got down to the mid 40s so they're good for about 25 degrees above ambient. The heat mats are set to come on at 60 and turn off at 75. With the current temps forecast, they'll be able to keep up with that.

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Got my grow light hung up and wired to the controller/timer. It was the brightest 4 foot LED shop light available from Menard's several years ago. They've changed or renamed brands a few times since but still have an equivalent. With the difusser removed exposing the LEDs, it's very bright. I need a couple more.

They all do this so you can plug them together

Many also have the cord coming out the other end. Both things prevent you from butting them up to each other which I need to do. I built an end to end shelf down the 12' side of my shed that will fit six 1020 trays. Shed is about 136" inside and three 44" lights is 132". The light I have has cord out the end which will be in the way. One I'm looking at from Menard's has cord out the top but the above pic is that model, outlet on end. I'll figure out how to have everything out the top some way, without cutting/drilling into the LED strip modules. Might not be often that I need them all at the same height, butted end to end, but it will happen. Short lightweight ext cords cut in half. Drill small holes in fixture tops. Hard wire cord ends inside fixtures, male on one end, female on other. Also need a relay on each one.

Thinking about a trip to Menard's tomorrow. Couple of shop lights, short extension cords and some tunnel bracing stuff.

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Wire rope and four chain link top rails. Will remove all endways movement which should be done before putting poly on ends. Will still need five more top rails in the bigger diameter for roll ups to roll up on. Also need some uprights on the ends about 18" in from the sides. Not sure what those will be but the bottom will go into the ground. Top will attach to bottom truss chords. Bottom truss chords are a little ways up the outer arches, hence they're not full width of the tunnel. In ground uprights will attach about where they meet.

That leaves me with about a 19' wide opening on each end. Works out because top rails are 21' and full tunnel width is a little over 22'. The 19' opening will give the roll up pipes something to hit against. Might need center uprights too, else the wind would probably bend the roll up pipe. Might need two, one on the inside, one outside. Same with the ends. Sandwich the roll ups so they can't blow in or out. Same with the side roll ups but I already have seven inner uprights on the sides.

What's another few hundred dollars of pipe? Speaking of; few hundred in roll up motors. Few hundred for wiring components. Few hundred for new irrigation items including soil moisture sensors. Only a hundred to fix the rocketbombplane wind sensor. Maybe another hundred to mount that and the rain gauge properly. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but probably only be a few hundred more.

I might go get a truck load of compost tomorrow too. Opposite direction of I-44 from Menard's but only by 15 miles. Good half a day total but Menard's opens at 6am so I can leave a little after 5am. Make it home by 10am.

Hey it's up to 40 and the clouds are dispersing and no wind. Think I'll go look at the tunnel. Make sure I'm not forgetting a few hundred dollars. No wind so I'll burn my dicey spots down by the shed and shop today.

[FamiliarFace]

So sorry to hear this very sad news.

This is the second story I’ve heard about someone retiring, and dying unexpectedly very soon before retiring. The previous one was my husband’s boss, just a year older than him. They had the big party at work for him, and he passed within hours of that. He was a fit and trim guy, but had a heart attack. There was a warning sign that something wasn’t right, but his cardiologist appointed was scheduled for the week after. That was two years ago. It was a big loss. He was a great man.

Hubby is planning to announce his retirement in a couple of weeks. We are planning a family bash in mid June. I try really hard to take care of my sweetheart. We try to get exercise of some sort every day, and we take lots of vitamins.

We try to eat good clean healthy food, but since Thanksgiving have had trouble with desserts, since there have been so many things to celebrate. Our scales are not happy, and since it’s Lent, we are doing our best to give up those sweets, and sugar in other foods is being minimized. Hopefully it gets us back on track soon.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

So it was the Danish, not Germans, that figured out how to do indoor cultivation of morels. (A Swede figured out how to innoculate young spruce with Chantarelle mushrooms.)

Cultivating Morel Mushrooms Indoors All Year Round

"Cultivating Morel Mushrooms Indoors All Year Round: An Almost Impossible Success Story. Step into the world of mushrooms, where Danish innovation has made the impossible possible with “morels growing indoors.”

This groundbreaking project has revolutionized the cultivation of morel mushrooms by successfully replicating the challenging growing conditions that were once deemed nearly impossible to recreate.

With this innovative approach, traditional methods have been completely transformed, offering new possibilities for cultivating this elusive and highly prized wild mushroom."

Danish Morel Projects

A very short video on growing black morels in tubs. Good images showing what they are doing.

The action of Fire on morel growth.....My thought here about Morels growing on recently burned areas is that the burning does several things. First is that it sterilizes the upper couple of inches of soil and reduces competition from other fungi and organisms. Second, it damages the root systems of trees that could support morel growth making it easier for morel to colonize them, the fire also encourages tree root regrowth in that area increasing root surfaces that allow morel growth. Fire burns sticks and detritus on the forest floor making them available for nutrients, and at the same time removes covering material, like old grass and leaves, that would normally sequester rains and allows water to freely percolate down into he soil. One last thing is burning the forest floor clears the ground so you can actually find the morels that are growing in the new grass. The type of burn is a quick burn before a rain that does not clear off mature trees.

**I said that I do not have morels, but this not technically correct. My neighbor has an elm tree with roots that extend down into my yard, and I have on occasion harvested several morels from one of my flower beds. I would be tempted to do a burn off in that area under the elm, or if I had it, an old apple orchard and then attempt to introduce morels using the method in my original post, but I live on a lot in subdivison so I will leave this to those in the country to try. (If you do this, do it early in the spring on a humid day. The "First Peoples" and Pollard's Ozark neighbors have a long time forest management practice of controlled burns to kill off insects, sooo...)

[Liz]

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE PIE

Ing-1 c butter, softened 3-1 oz sq semi-sweet chocolate, melted 1 1/2 c conf 1/2 cup Kahlua (coffee liqueur) 3 eggs, well beaten 1 prepared 9" graham crust (store-bought Keebler is good) Can add (or not) layer of best vanilla ice cream. whipped cream, chocolate syrup, chp sugared almonds garnish.

Method-Whip butter creamy. Add melted chocolate, them mix in sugar. Slowly add Kahlua, then eggs. Pour into prepared crust. Refrigerate 2 hours til set. Add ice cream layer. Garnish and serve.

[Augie]

Morels...

Fire morels are a thing in the US, but mostly (perhaps only) west of the Rocky Mountains.

Morchella esculenta is the variety that folks in flyover country are most familiar with.

We’re about 30 days away from morel season here. I’m planning to take a week of vacation in April. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate with favorable weather. It’s been awhile since any of my spots have given up a bumper crop. Maybe this time...

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thank you! I hope you and Pollard both have good luck with the Ozark morel season.

(I always thought it odd that Oceola thinks of itself as the start of the Ozarks! )

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Interesting!

If Spring conditions are right - rainy and with a nice, gentle warm-up - we are swimming in Morel mushrooms in our woods. They can go for $50 a pound around here - but I ain’t selling!

We also have a few fallen Elm trees that grow the Golden Oyster mushrooms. I prefer the Morels and Beau like the GOs better, so we both win. :)

At my other farm I had a field stone basement that stayed at 55 degrees year-round. The mushroom kits you could purchase (from Jung’s) would grow really great Baby Bella mushrooms down there for weeks and weeks. Of course, I STILL have a field stone basement at this farm...but it’s full of Boy Junk. ;)

Yeah - Beau has SO FEW FLAWS as a Human Being that I have to complain when I can, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"There is life in the ground, it goes into the seeds, and it also goes into the man who stirs it."

~ Charles Dudley Warner

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

There was a place outside of Racine I think, route 20? A couple of large metal sheds. A polish couple who grew mushrooms. Buy direct from the grower. It was great. There was also a pick your own strawberry patch not much farther up the road. (And on the way back home we got Kakauna Club cheese and some bratwurst.)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Kakauna Club cheese...”

I’ve always been an Owl’s Nest Cheese gal, though I can’t get it locally anymore. :( We used to go to their Supper Club on a regular basis. Portage or Beaver Dam area? Maybe Columbus? Can’t remember...

I’ve made this spread a few times. It’s very, VERY good!

Supper Club Grub: Cheese Spread

https://thetipsyhousewife.org/2018/07/05/supper-club-grub-cheese-spread/

[Qiviut]

At last week’s Ash Wednesday pancake supper, the Pastor’s husband sat across from me. We already have a shared love of Celtic/Irish music so we have something to talk about. I do not know how we got on the subject, but he has become quite lactose intolerant in the last couple of years, as have I. He proceeded to tell me about lactose-free cheese, cream cheese & sour cream .... all the “good stuff” I am missing so badly personally, plus it is hard to find casserole recipes that don’t have one or multiple sources of dairy ingredients with cheese being the main ingredient I lack.

It seems that Cabot cheese has quite a few (not all - have to read the label) lactose-free cheeses. The Pastor herself was telling me where I could find the lactose-free sour cream & cream cheese. At the Lenten dinner last night, they gave me a 1.5 lb block of Cabot cheddar cheese, lactose-free! Pimento cheese spread, here I come! The salmon casserole I am making to take to my SIL next week has cheese so I will use the lactose-free in case we stay for dinner. Also last night, the Pastor’s husband had put together a small cheese tray that we both could eat & pointed it out to me - so nice!

With my new-found lactose-free cheese sources, I could make this cheese spread :-)

[Qiviut]

PS - mouse #2 bit the dust last night. I am using a Victor Quick Kill trap - similar to the old timey ‘snap trap’ but it’s super easy to set & they can’t steal the bait. I saw the VQK at the store & decided to give it a try - works great so far.