The Garden Thread - February, 2026

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.

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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.

We also had ‘George Cooney’ and ‘Rocket.’ Both have passed from natural causes. Both lived to be over 10 years old which is ANCIENT for a raccoon.

Jennifer is closing in on 10 years this spring.

Signs seem to aggravate some people & they are more apt to turn around in your driveway ‘because’ you have a sign. I spent a good amount of time online this morning looking for options & that’s where I saw negative comments regarding signs.

Our road is 2 lanes, deep ditches on both sides & maybe 6” of ‘shoulder’. It is a main road into town so very busy & it is hilly/curvy & you never know who is popping up over a hill - you cannot see them coming. Doing a 3-point would be tricky & dangerous. The SUVs, long PUs & trucks for sure couldn’t do that - SO much more convenient & safer to use our driveway.

I should have burned this afternoon but I was unloading compost and untangling some high tech foil shipping wrap that a $500k machine came in. It was all balled up on top of an almost full dumpster at work. Gonna use it between the rafters and purlins on the tunnel shed to prevent that head heat you get under a low tin roof.

My ongoing conundrum. Roll up sides. I hate em. They seem like something someone came up with as a temporary thing and everyone adapted it as a permanent solution. Revised design. Anti billow rope. It was a fix. It got windy one day for someone, their sides blew outward and flopped around, maybe ripped, so they came up with the rope thing.

Roll up sides would take 4 ½ minutes aka 270 seconds to go from fully open to fully closed. That's just how slow they are, cheap ones or high dollar. Linear actuators would take 24 seconds. If I'm out there and it gets crazy windy so I hit the close button, it would be an excruciating 4 ½ minutes.

Late last night, I went down to the shed and grabbed the one linear actuator I have. Found a deal on ebay. Couldn't remember how long it is. It's 100 mm (3.94"). That's ⅓ of the 300mm (11.81") I was planning on using for my bifold design. Bought a few sticks of EMT conduit today and will make a ⅓ scale prototype so I can work out the pivot points and frame attachment of them.

This is true.

The point I was trying to make was that this isn’t war or an attack or an assault. Since 1979, Iran has been waging war with the US, Israel, and so many others.

This has been a rescue mission for the people of Iran, and the entire Middle East as well.

I’ve got a question on ginger.

Will it grow after being refrigerated?

I was going to pick some up at the store today when we went shopping but I forgot. But I did have some in the fridge and wondered about using that.

Does anyone know?

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