Weekly Garden Thread - February 24-March 2, 2024 [Leap Year Edition]

February 24, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly 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 Weekly 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 our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We DO post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Good morning Diana! Leaping into spring, springing into Leap year!

Thanks for the new Garden thread!

[Liz]

Chocolate Mud Pie w/ Coffee Ganache / Flo’s V8 Café at Disney Park California
Craving some delicious comfort food? Whether you’re making this to celebrate Leap
Year or as a special treat, its loaded with home-style deliciousness. Makes 8-4" pies

Ingredients CHOCOLATE MUD FILLING 2 cups unsalted butter 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 10 eggs 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup sugar

CHOCOLATE PIE DOUGH 2 tablespoons sugar 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

COFFEE GANACHE 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips 1 cup heavy cream 1 teaspoon coffee extract

TO MAKE CHOCOLATE MUD FILLING: Melt butter and chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low heat, mixing until smooth; take off heat and set aside. Whisk together eggs and vanilla in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together flour and sugar. Add flour and sugar mixture to egg and vanilla mixture, whisking to combine. Use an immersion blender to thoroughly combine until completely smooth. Add chocolate and butter mixture; using immersion blender, mix until smooth and completely incorporated. Refrigerate, covered, for 24 hours.

FOR CHOCOLATE PIE DOUGH: Mix sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Add flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture. Slowly add eggs and vanilla extract until dough holds together and is no longer sticky. Dump dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap on the counter; press dough into a rough circle and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

FOR COFFEE GANACHE: Place chocolate chips in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan; pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in coffee extract.

TO ASSEMBLE: Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll chocolate pie dough to ¼-inch thickness; if making mini pies, cut into eight 6-inch circles. Press dough into 9-inch pie tin or eight 4-inch pie tins; sides should reach the outermost part of the lip on the tin. Fill large shell ¾ full with filling or scoop ½ cup chocolate mud batter into each mini shell. Bake approximately 40 to 45 minutes for a large pie or 15 minutes for mini pies. Cool to room temp. Add a tbl coffee ganache into centers before serving.

=======================================
This recipe has been converted from a larger quantity in the restaurant kitchens. The flavor profile may vary from the restaurant’s version. All recipes are the property of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S., Inc., and may not be reproduced without express permission.

[Qiviut]

Cloudy & 40’s today, rain this evening, maybe a snowflake or two since temps will be in 20’s overnight.

I’m spending time at the new house after hauling a load. I took the time yesterday to check out where I think I am putting the new garden. I have 4 raised beds (3’x6’) that I can bring with me - galvanized metal. The wooden beds are too heavy & old - getting some rot. I know these 4 beds aren’t going to satisfy my urge to grow flowers & herbs plus I need room for 2 tomato plants & some jalapeño peppers. My task/dilemma is to figure out how to site the beds and make adding more beds easy - an arrangement that works for tending the beds & looks good, too.

The site is at the back of the shop, with a southwestern view - lots of sun & warmth. There is a hose outlet a couple of feet away. There are some partial old cinderblock steps that look awful, but I can build a wood platform over them easily & use it for pots or my double wash tub where I grow herbs. The ground where the beds will go looks like it might have been where an old concrete slab or foundation were previously, but now grass. I need to do some exploratory digging/probing to make sure it’s dirt, not something covered with a few inches of dirt. I’m getting excited!

Visited the county co-op store yesterday morning (5-7 minutes away). What a great place! It probably has all the hardware & tools I will ever need, plus they get in plants (probably baby chicks, too) & I saw mulch - might have topsoil to help fill my beds. The folks there are SUPER friendly, always a ‘plus’.

Got my driveway & back door alarms working yesterday. The HVAC tech arrival & departure yesterday tested them out - working! The driveway alarm (I have it set to a barking dog sound) went off at 4:30 this morning, which was a little scary. The self defense plan is to flip all the lights on around the exterior of the house & ‘armed’ with phone & firearm, check out what I can see. In this case, nothing. I suspect it might have been the deer herd that hangs around - they could easily set it off.

I was supposed to go home this evening, but with the wet weather in the forecast which is not great for traveling, I’d like to spend one more night - plenty to do around here to stay busy!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

To link back to the Weekly Garden Thread - February 17-23, 2023 [Best Flowers to Plant with Vegetables Edition]
Click on any green or flowering plant in this amazing flower garden picture!

Pollard's F/R profile page is the location of his Prepper links and Data Base and contains the Gardening Resource files. Click anywhere on the ivy covered books link to his homepage!

[Bon of Babble]

LOL, I have a dear friend whose birthday is the 29th of February - he tells everyone he’s turning 14 this year.

[Bon of Babble]

I'm glad to have the extra days to fight weeds in my yards!

I've been busy getting bucket fulls of free mulch and compost from the city and spreading it out on areas that are the weediest - with all the rain we received this past month (So Cal) weed season is ON!

On a happier note, I learned how to take care of the six cymbidium orchids that I inherited between 2013 and 2015 - they had been sitting since that time and only one ever bloomed - and that was once. Started 18 months ago, and thanks to You Tube videos, I re-potted and fertilized them regularly - there are three different types of fertilizer depending on the time of year - I've been rewarded with seven stalks of flowers that are just now opening. I am now an orchid grower!!

Can't wait to see what the other orchid flowers look like.

[FamiliarFace]

Good morning!

People can always tell that I really am a Florida girl when it comes to spring temps in the mid 60’s. I won’t wear shorts until it’s mid 70’s. Flip flops wait until the 80’s or higher.

I remember being in college in Atlanta, and the girls from the North went outside to sunbathe in bikinis when it was high 60’s. I just chuckled when I walked past them. They sure were hopeful!

But, yeah, the temps are going to be unusual this next week here, too. We had a dusting of snow overnight. Tomorrow will be high 50’s and Monday and Tuesday we should have temps in the mid to high 60’s. So we will see. Maybe I’ll break out my capris instead of jeans down to my shoes.

We bought a new fire pit for our deck in early November. We used it a good bit then before real winter hit. Now that the temps have been going up again some, we’ve been having our cocktails outside on the deck near that most wonderful addition. Tonight we hope to see the full moon out there. It’s supposed to be clear enough tonight. Fingers crossed.

Also, I’m delighted to see foliage popping up where I planted my tulip bulbs from Walmart late last year. I can’t wait to see if they really bloom.

[leaning conservative]

Beautiful 🤩

[Augie]

Beautiful weather this past week here in Central Missouri. Shame we didn’t get to enjoy it. Mrs. Augie and I both have been on the couch with Influenza A. It’s a rather unpleasant strain - severe respiratory symptoms, headache, body ache, fever, ugh. We’re on the back side of it I think but still pretty weak. We’re going to get out today and at least take a walk around the place to get the blood moving.

If I have any gumption left after that I might get on the tractor and move some dirt. I need to at least try to get something accomplished outside while the weather is nice.

[FamiliarFace]

Those look great! Very cheerful!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Augie, sorry to hear you have the flu! Take it easy and rest! (You know we will get snow and cold sometime in March!)

(Are you going try Cabbage Kaitlin this year? Maybe an early placed row cover would protect them from loopers!)

[Pollard]

I’ve got two different brands and they both feel the same on either side and neither one say this side up so I’m going with printed side down. I don’t think it really matters.

Got my racks set up with the mats and lights. Then I realized I haven’t put any thought into what I’m growing. Too much of a variety of seeds to grow some of everything and I don’t know everything I have off the top of my head so I get to go through seed packets now and make the torturous decision on what not to grow.

Quickly pulled cool weather stuff out and there’s 17 different things. Why do I have 6 types of bok choy?

I get to use my new automation controller to run the lights. Just need to snag a relay from work. The typical cheap plug in light/lamp timer I used last year had a couple of weird spots where it would turn off for about 5 minutes when it was supposed to be on. Drove me crazy seeing them turn off out of the corner of my eye every night.

[FamiliarFace]

Hope you and the missus are gaining your strength back every day. I hate being sick, but sometimes, despite our best efforts, it happens. Taking a walk outside when it’s nice will be helpful, I’m sure.

[FamiliarFace]

Looks yummy, Liz!

[Liz]

Chocolate top to bottom.......nothing else to say.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Qiviut; Alarms going off. Maybe an inexpensive Trail Cam like this will identify your "threat"?

[FamiliarFace]

I was a little surprised by the number of eggs. 10 just for the mud filling. I presume that’s not a typo or a conversion error.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Liz....Chocolate mud pie! (Should I even look for the Keto Version???)

(The mud pie...sort of looks like something drained out of a crankcase! But then again, its supposed to! Gas, Oil, Coolant, and Grease! Yum!)

[Liz]

Hope the web site I got it from is right.....I dble checked
the same recipe at other sites.....all say 10 eggs.

Says it was a “downsized revision” of the restaurant recipe——

Other recipes i’ve seen for the filling call for 4 eggs w/ similar amt of sugar and chocolate.

Dont know what to tell you.

[FamiliarFace]

Someday I’ll have to give it a whirl.