The Garden Thread - November, 2025

November 1, 2025 | 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.

[Qiviut]

The trailer is unloaded. After dealing with getting the Army table out of the trailer & into the shop, I don’t know how I managed to get it out of the generator shed & into the trailer in the first place.

[MomwithHope]

I've been struggling with a heavy table for more than a week. Still needs a new spring for underneath. It was my grandmothers then fathers work table. These enamel tables that you see are a treasure. They were baking tables. Grandma used for rolling strudel dough, making noodles, Dad too with the noodles and making sausage. This one was made by Tepco 1950, Hearts and Flowers, design on top from a great silhouette artist who made a deal with Tepco. His name was Ugo Mochi and his tiny signature is on the top in the design. It's been in the barn for almost two decades after I refinished the legs. Really wanted it up in the house. It has one leaf on the right, I just need a new spring. 24" long and 1/4 inch diameter extension spring to match the old spring. Having a hard time finding one.

[Qiviut]

That’s a beautiful table! I hope you can find a spring. There are a couple of people on the garden thread who seem to be very good at finding odd parts/things - maybe they could help.

Mom is very fond of the Army table. It is solid wood, 6’x 30” & very heavy. Dad got it at an Army surplus store early in their marriage and it was used for their dining room table until they could afford a dining room set. It’s been in various places/sheds & I wanted it for the shop. Now (somehow, because I wrangled it by myself) it’s here :-)

[MomwithHope]

Lots of memories in those old tables. Comforting for me along with more than a few older things I still have. Like my mom’s original hope chest from the 40’s and her cabinet sewing machine that I learned to sew on. I refinished both and took the lock off the hope chest and found a lock business nearby that made a new key.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

So, traction tomorrow, then? LOL!

Pitching hay and all the water-carrying I’m doing for the critters this week have me using muscles I don’t normally use. But it feels good to feel a little ‘burn’ - as long as my back holds up! :)

[Dr. Franklin]

I keep some tomatoes in pots so I can bring them in for the winter. If I can keep them alive all winter, I can have tomatoes in March. The problem is killing the aphids. I have sprayed and even dipped the plants, but the aphids keep returning. It’s a constant fight to kill the spawn before they can mature enough to reproduce.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The problem with over-wintering plants that are out of sync and out of their desired environment IS dealing with the insects. Usually aphids and white flies. Fungal gnats, too. All tiny but persistent little buggers!

I read somewhere that when a plant is stressed, it gives off some sort of hormone or vibration and the bugs just come in droves to help it over ‘The Rainbow Bridge.’ ;)

And if you’re a houseplant lover, an aphid, white fly or fungal gnat infestation will effect every plant in your house.

Be careful out there, People! ;)

(’Hill Street Blues’ TV show)

[FamiliarFace]

Beautiful table! I was supposed to get Grandma’s kitchen table after Mom passed, but my brother is in the house now, and I haven’t the heart to tell him since (1) he’s using it, (2) it seems to go with the house, and (3) I’m not sure where I’d put it in my current home. Your table is more decorative, but yes, it was enameled, and one of my favorite pieces in Grandma’s kitchen. The rolls she rolled out on that table! 😍

[Qiviut]

No traction LOL. I am fortunate in that exercises for sciatica or piriformis syndrome work pretty well for me. You have to get on the floor to do most of them, but I am still limber enough to get up & down even with my surgical knee (cannot kneel on it). Knock on wood, both of my knees have been holding up well.

It’s 4:30 AM & obviously I am not sleeping but in the meanwhile, I have figured out how to manage Thanksgiving so all I have to do is get the turkey in the oven by 7 AM & heat up everything else. I will do some prep work Tuesday & have everything put together Wednesday. The kitchen will stay clean on Thursday, too. :-)

I have found that Styrofoam ‘coolers’ or even a regular cooler, is great for keeping dishes warm for 2-4 hours. Mom has ordered from Omaha Steaks & I have their coolers large enough for 9x13 pans & 8/9x11. I cut cardboard to fit just over the Pyrex baking dishes so I can stack them which also retains heat. When we got newspapers, I used several layers in the cooler bottom so the hot dishes don’t melt anything, but with no papers, I cut cardboard.

I use the coolers all the time - transport hot food to church potlucks & to relatives houses for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners. Since we moved here, we have had 60 guests (mom counted!) & I have made meals for all but 2 so I have figured out how to prepare food ahead of time & keep it warm ... coolers for casserole dishes & crockpots for things like Chef John Green beans, cinnamon apples, Bavarian sauerkraut, etc. When we have overnight guests, I make breakfast casseroles the night before & just pop them in the oven in the morning.

For breakfast casseroles, there are good ones (& other recipes) here at this site for bed & breakfast inns:

https://www.bbonline.com/recipes