Posted on 03/01/2026 5:58:25 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.
Sitting here looking at a Menard’s receipt and confused. Says valid 02-15-26 Thru 03-01-26 and right below that says You have one year from purchase to mail in rebates.
Which is it? 15 days or a year?
Well, I must confess I didn’t make “yours”, but one of my wife’s friends makes excellent baked goods and from what I recall of the recipe it is the same or very very close. They and a small cup of milk make a good “almost anytime” snack or dessert. :-)
Thanks, yeah, we put onions in all sorts of foods / recipes, so I really need to be more careful with that / scraps for the birdies. Doubly so with stuff my wife brings home from her friends.
Avacado, of course, we use much less.
A couple days ago I slow cooked about 24 oz. of leftover canned pinto beans* with almost a cup of sliced yellow onion, a bit under 1/4 cup of brown sugar, maybe 1/4 cup of diced leftover ham and roughly 1/5 cup of “Hunt’s Cherrywood Chipotle” BBQ sauce.
(Menards blew out 41 oz. cans a while back.)
Ooh, la la!
None of THAT went to the birdies!!
Amounts are estimated - I didn’t measure carefully / just threw it together.
The purchase must be made in that time period. You have a year from the date of purchase to send in the rebate request.
I have several to send in, myself.
“Severe” gets here early Wed. morning & may last well into the afternoon. Heavy rains are possible for us. Hopefully the intensity will not be too bad, since daylight heating won’t be fully cranked up. Down around Nashville, we shall see. The really rougher stuff (Level 3 risk) looks to be mainly in a swath north of St/ Louis and eastward from there.
Wifey will prolly’ want me to drive her to work.
I just checked my gardens. Crocuses and daffodils are opening. I see sprouts for tulips. Lenten Roses are opening! Tarragon has sprouts (yay!)
The robins are here looking for worms. The bluebirds are courting! Looks like Spring is heading my way, and soon!
We are supposed to get sub freezing temps again in a few days, so I hope things will hold off a little bit. Have I mentioned that it’s almost 70 degrees today? Short sleeves and capris for this girl! (I know some of you hardier types are in flip flops, but I’m not quite there yet.)
“Says valid 02-15-26 Thru 03-01-26”
Check the flyer. That’s most likely the dates of the current rebate window for the 11% off.
You DO have a full year to send in your rebate forms, but we always do it right away...because we’re there at least once a month and turn that rebate over into something else.
Our j@ck@ss DA (Josh Kaul, D for d-bag!) just SUED Menards from some stupidity. I think they paid a fine and flipped him off, LOL! Menard’s is a VERY conservative company. Kaul’s mother (RIP) was also our AG at one point, but she had to ‘retire’ because she was caught driving around DRUNK AS A SKUNK in a state vehicle. Very bad form, Peg!
Her nick name was ‘Peg, The Keg.’ He’s even WORSE than his mother - not with the drinking, but with the Lawfare. *SPIT*
Depends on how much I can grow. I really want it as a wall of sorts. If there's more to harvest than just novel chaw or two I'll buy a little press. Maybe even boil some of it down for for syrup. I hear you can make flour from the grain, but that sounds like a lot of grain and a lot of work. I'll have 4 different locations for single rows acting as a screen and hopefully a little shade for some of the other plants in the garden.
I forgot to mention: Having over the years accumulated quite a number of orphaned 5 volt (mostly USB) “wall wart” chargers / power supplies, and quite a few LED flashlights and other lights with corroded contacts, switches, and so on, essentially what I’ve ended up with are a lot of small LED light modules that still work fine, except for their (battery) power supplies (etc.), and I have a pile of power supplies that are looking for a job. Add to that a few USB cables which almost all have a good “A” end, but there is a conductor break at the other end (usually a USB-A “mini” or “micro” type of connector), plus a few with manufacturer / brand specific connectors that no longer have a working mate.
IF the light used a nominal 6 volt supply, say, 4x AA batteries, a 5 volt USB supply will usually power it just fine. (Many flashlights, etc., will lean toward constant current draw until the battery is over 1/2 discharged, anyway, as alkaline battery voltage decreases with use.) That’s what I did with the light over our “dark kitchen counter” to the left of the sink: I clipped off the bad connector and wired the delivery end of the USB cable right into the battery wires of the light. It works great!
However, MANY flashlights and such run off of 3x AA or 3x AAA batteries. A 5 volt supply may be a bit much for them. In this case, you can drop the voltage with a simple, cheap, 1N4001-series diode. (The lowest I have on hand are 1N4003’s - a much higher reverse voltage rating than needed, and plenty good up to .5 amps or even slightly more if heat sunk.) That is what I did for the motion sensing light by the door to the outside, in the kitchen. (This light is INSIDE, illuminating the entrance (inside),a key rack, hooks for a couple “head” flashlights, a portable emergency light*, and “some other stuff” typical of a country living rear door - including my .22 1000+ FPS Pellet Rifle, or, on rare occasions, something heavier... :-)
Most USB Wall Warts will deliver at least 700 Ma , in fact all mine are 1 amp or better: That is plenty for most small LED lights. But, do keep the current need(s) in mind. If a light runs of of, say, “C” or “D” batteries, or one of those big 6 volt dry cells, you may need to step up to a 3 amp or even 5 amp diode, and a heavier duty power supply. USB supplies can be found up to 4 amps, and larger 5 volt supplies are easily found online.
*Said emergency light is solar rechargeable or USB chargeable, can act as a 2-port USB power “distributor”, and has a true SOS function in addition to other flashlight functions and being a hefty “battery bank” / power supply for anything USB powered — including this light that makes it easier to see! (Between this and the chargers on the power strip, at any given time there are 5 or more devices getting USP power or recharge — within a couple feet of the rear door that leads outside. If the chickens raise a ruckus at 3 a.m., I can be headed out to the coops with a freshly charged head flashlight on, and with my pellet rifle or a large wrench, in hand, “stat”. Just gotta get the shoes and maybe a jacket on and not fall over my own feet, groggy!)
BTW, as may be suspected, I like that emergency light: They were $8(?) at Rural King on clearance last year. The true SOS is what really sold me. Such a deal! I got 4: One for my daughter, one for our rear door, one for our front door, and one goes camping with us. :-)
Well, I hope it's not the fan bearings going bad. That will annoy you! :-( The processing in the grain silos across the road to our west gets really noisy, esp. in the fall. I'm glad then that this is a masonry house, with heavy oak roofing. Until the New Madrid Fault lets go big time, that is...
Now, THAT's funny!
It is also reminding me that the carcass of the large dead doe in the ditch on the far east end of our property never got removed last fall, to my knowledge. I'd called it in but the county never came and collected it. If the skull is still there, I'm tempted to "post" it somewhere similarly - except that some busybody will probably report me for harvesting a road kill deer without reporting it. :-( We have a zillion Black Walnut nuts. I'm tempted to plant some way over on that end of the property (over 200 ft. from the garden, and almost always downwind of the garden area.) I'll never see the benefit, but, maybe my daughter will?
BTW, I’m going to give a shout out to my Wally World “Tool Shop” “20v Max” (really 18 volts!) cordless drill. No, it won’t do when you need a good DeWalt (etc.), but, it’s been good for lighter work, it is compact and fits my slightly smaller than average hands well, the batteries have held up for several years (and it appears I can get inside the battery pack to replace them, if need be - nice, as I have a batch of 18650 Panasonic lith batteries I recovered from some surplus medical gear battery cartridges, and they test great!), AND... The LED light is in the base of the handle (just above the battery pack) and illuminates what you are working on better than any other cordless drill I have.
“Somebody was thinking”!
Up on a ladder in a dark spot for some quick work: This thing is great when you need something “more manageable” than my hefty DeWalt cordless drill.
The cordless reciprocating saw it came in a kit with is still going strong too. Again, it’s often my 1st choice for some quick, lighter work, and does ok with good blades.
Something on Chickens and colors they like!
What color makes chickens happy?
It's important to remember that a chicken's enjoyment is influenced by more than simply the color of their environment. In addition, other elements like temperature, light, and space are also important to their general wellbeing. For a chicken to grow and be content, it needs adequate space to walk about, access to natural light, and the right temperature.
In conclusion, a mix of sunny, brilliant colors and soft, soothing hues may produce an atmosphere that is both visually engaging and emotionally uplifting for hens, even if there isn't a single color that makes them happy. We can guarantee that hens live long and happy lives and continue to give us with delicious eggs and companionship for many years to come by giving them a happy and healthy home.
Liz, very nice! Looks delicious!
Paul...Well, Thunderstorms Training over us right now in KC! Hopefully just rain when it gets to you and Pollard!
Hope the potluck goes well! (You have a lot of them!) Hope the Deer leaves your herbs alone!
Liz, very nice! Looks delicious!
An easy breakfast pastry.
Thanks! That seems most likely (weakening) overnight for us. Tomorrow afternoon - we shall see. It really doesn’t look awful, at this point, and we really need the rain.
Kankakee County, IL, got whacked today, though. :-(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdfWJJ_Jr44
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.