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.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Those are some LOVELY Turnips! WOW!

I’m not sure it was possible, by Howard keeps getting more and more HANDSOME as he ages. :)

[metmom]

Well, looks like the party is over weather wise.

[MomwithHope]

“Yes, Daddy can I sleep inside tonight? I don’t like the snow.”
Your garden picture is spectacular. Does my heart good to see such a nice green garden and those beautiful turnips. I chopped up a bunch of celery greens and even vac sealed them for soups, egg salad, etc. Everything here in west Michigan dead and frozen and snow on top too. Diana will be sending a lot of snow this way over the lake later today.

[MomwithHope]

"Beau chain-sawed down the asparagus patch for me, "
Now THAT sounds like something hubby would do.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! You know, every YEAR I know it’s coming and every YEAR I am in DENIAL until the very. last. minute. - which was YESTERDAY!

Snow continues to come down. I’m not shoveling again until tomorrow and if it ends up being a LOT, I’ll just take it slow with lots of coffee breaks for energy. ;)

My cat Eva is not very happy. She looked out the kitchen door at the snow then looked up at me and said, ‘Mama! Make it SUMMERSTIMES again!’

It’s going to be a v-e-r-y- long winter for her. And then, of course, for me. Broken crockery - clawing on any of the GOOD furniture, fighting with cat brother Boyd, batting Dolly the Beagle if she makes the GRAVE mistake of coming anywhere NEAR Eva, 4 AM Wake Up Calls, etc.

She may end up in the barn until Spring, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Diana will be sending a lot of snow this way over the lake later today.”

I’m dialing you in on my Weather Machine as I type! :)

P.S. Ignore that woman behind the curtain!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Worked like a charm on the Asparagus. I really AM getting one of those battery operated hand-held hedge trimmers so I can do it myself next year.

Man, I LOVES me some Asparagus (had a 40’ row at my other farm) but Fall maintenance on the stuff can be a PITA. (Made it in under the wire, just yesterday!)

Did I tell you I’m dedicating another 4x2 bed to Asparagus next season? Yeah. I am. I’m going with more perennial veggies in my never-ending quest to make my Golden Gardening Years much easier on myself. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Crock-Pot Chicken Noodle Soup - Could also sub leftover TURKEY!

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/a55661/easy-crockpot-chicken-noodle-soup-recipe/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

[TheConservativeParty]

❄️❄️❄️
☃️☃️☃️
🌨️🌨️🌨️
round one of snow plowing is done
round 2 tomorrow
😅

[Albion Wilde]

Here in the suburbs, my largest "crop" is my fescue lawn, in which I've been investing lots of time and money over the past three years due to an invasive weed. The woods that surrounds our rows of townhomes contain several oak trees. The nearest one, behind my Nextdoor neighbor's house, is always the most glorious, huge yellow display—but also the very last tree to drop its leaves, often a month after most of the others. Over the years we've been here it has grown enormous and fills my yard half a foot deep with fallen leaves. Squirrels rush around burying acorns in my gardens and also in the lawn—literally up to 300 per season.

We've had windstorms, so even the first two blowings and rakings ended up back on the lawn from the nearby woods. Allowing leaves to stay on the lawn overwinter will kill the grass I've spent these years weediciding and regrowing. And even the rake won't dislodge many of the acorns that have already sprouted a root—got to dig at them with fingers or a tool.

Hallelujah, the neighbor finally, finally agreed that we should cut that oak tree back—but only after it dumped a monumental amount of leaves and acorns this year, more than ever. After the holidays, assuming there will be a few days above freezing, I'm going to fire up my 14-ft extension chain saw and lop every branch I can reach from an 8-ft ladder. I have a new 50-ft rope to help the process.

Since all the neighbors in our street have blown leaves back into the woods for the past several decades, a hillock has formed at the edge of the woods that one must blow this years' leaves over—it's getting harder and harder to send them back where they came from. Even dragging a tarpful over the hump is getting too hard. So this year, I've filled eight 32-gallon paper leaf bags—so far—for the bi-weekly leaf collection this Friday. We have to set the bags outdoors in a designated place up the street, and God help me if it rains and the recycle truck is late again. If the bottoms of the bags get drenched and split open. the County men won't even try to scoop up the mess.

And I'm only two-thirds done; but this week is the final pick-up of the season, so my leaf torture is not yet over. Will purchase another 5 leaf bags tomorrow after church.

One year I had a crew of guys with several blowers come to do the leaves. They blew my lavender plants and several other perennials right up out of the gardens, so that was the end of that,

I'm getting too darned old for this.

[Albion Wilde]

Beautiful! I see you had a kiddy table, or teenagers. So fun!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I hope you can get your neighbor to cooperate!

At a house I owned in the past, there were two Silver Maples in the back yard. Just two. But I can relate to your layer of leaves up to your butt! Ugh! What a chore that was to get them all out of there!

Drove past that house a while ago - I see that those trees are GONE...

Mom has those same two trees in her very TINY front yard. So far she had 30 bags of leaves at the curb. If they weren’t picked up on time, they are now under SNOW! I keep telling her that they should both go - it would let a LOT more SUNSHINE into her house and she wouldn’t have to deal with the leaves. And Silver Maples are scrap trees! The most likely to fall ON your house in a bad storm.

She’s 88! Time to give it up, Mom! Hire a tree guy! Think about your resale value and my future inheritance, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m on Snow Shoveling STRIKE until morning. Beau is going into Madistan to plow; leaving at 5am...and I get to deal with ALL THE ANIMALS in the snow. :(

[Albion Wilde]

You get it, completely! Especially getting them up before the snow. And I’m not 88 yet, but if I don’t get that darned tree cut back I won’t make it that long!

Thanks for this wonderful thread, btw, Diana in Wisconsin!

[Liz]

White Chocolate Bread Pudding / topped w/ White Chocolate Sauce

ING 3 c h/cream 10 oz white chocolate 1 c milk 1/2 c sugar 2 eggs 8 egg yolks 1 loaf French bread in 1/4" pieces, dried in oven 2 tb chocolate shavings SAUCE: 8 oz white chocolate 3 oz h/cream

Method: Heat cream. Add white chocolate to melt; set offheat. In dble boiler, heat milk, sugar, eggs and yolks til warm. Blend egg mixture into cream and chocolate. Place bread slices in pan. Pour 1/2 egg mixture over and let bread soak up mixture. then top with rest. Bake foiled 1 hour at 275 deg. Remove foil; bake 15 min to golden brown top. Serve hot or cold with sauce, chocolate shavings.

SAUCE: Melt white chocolate over hot water. Offheat mix in h/cream. Spoon over bread pudding.

NOTE: Can add Grand Marnier, nutty Frangelico®, raspberry Chambord® or coffee-flavored Tia Maria. Can swap white chocolate w/ milk chocolate.

[Qiviut]

Actually, it was just an extra table - I sat there with 2 young adults: college grad who is in pharmacy school & a college sophomore. We have a separate dining room, but I wanted everyone together in the same space so we could talk & enjoy each other’s company. The arrangement worked out well - we’ll do that again.

[Qiviut]

Last winter was the first in our new-to-us house. We have a giant sycamore in the middle of the front yard, a big old oak at the corner of the house, a half dead large leaf maple between the sycamore & oak & 2 or 3 other small leaf trees. The result is lots of leaves in the fall. We are rural so no leaf pickup.

The sycamore has large, tough leaves plus it shed bark during the summer. We cut the half dead maple down in Septemberso that source of leaves is gone. The oak at the corner of the house is loaded with acorns this year & still has quite a few leaves which are also large & tough - they are tending to end up in our landscaping hung up in the boxwoods & on the front porch.

Anyway, last year we did zero raking - I got the mower out (zero turn) & ran over the leaves until they were chopped up & ‘disappeared’ into the grass. This year, mom has had to rake leaves out of the (new since last year) bushes, but I have had 2 mowings to chop leaves. So far, the mowing is effective & saving a lot of work. Once the oak drops the last of its leaves, one more spin around the yard should do it. Mom is 92 & I am no spring chicken plus I have a touchy back so we are doing our best to avoid raking.

Hope your leaf torture ends soon!

[Albion Wilde]

Lovely! The settings were like from a magazine!

[Qiviut]

All mom - she did the decorating & I did all the cooking.

[FamiliarFace]

Hello, everyone, I am finally able to report great news! Yesterday our daughter started her labor, and was admitted, and then our precious granddaughter was born right around 2 am local time (Pacific) this morning. Glory hallelujah!! All went well, and I thank you for your prayers. Baby girl is small, 6 lbs, 3 oz and just the sweetest, most perfect little human ever. We just got to have our first visit an hour ago. She is so tiny and sweet! Dark hair (like both parents) and not sure what color eyes yet. Healthy but they want them there for 24 hours after the birth, and then she needs to hit certain markers (blood sugar level, think). So we hope they can come home tomorrow night.

It’s been a whirlwind around here. They have two cats, and one is under a vet’s care twice a week for a neurological condition she has. So we had to take that cat to the vet for a quick checkup and procedure. Then brought the kids dinner from a food truck near the hospital. Yummy Asian/Hawaiian type food. So after we left the kids, we went back and got food for us. I don’t even know what to call what we had. One was a tuna dish, and mine was a pulled pork dish. Very good, and a fun change!

I am still not used to Pacific standard time. It gets DARK here by 4:30. Maybe because they are near mountains? By 6, it feels like it’s time to be doing nothing more than lounging around. I think I will be ready to go to bed in another couple of hours, unless I get a second wind.

Thank you all again, for your prayers. It was a pretty smooth delivery, but there was apparently one scary part. All is resolved now. Hugs to all of you!