Posted on 01/31/2026 6:26:44 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.
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PUPPERS! *LOVE*
Two of my nieces make gorgeous sourdough loaves, boules, & biscuits. I will be asking them for tips. I checked to see if you can make sourdough cornbread & the answer is ‘yes’. I have a bag of cornmeal to use up.
Kefir in place of buttermilk works really well in my cornbread recipe. I can also drink what I don’t use which I cannot do with buttermilk.
Thanks for the info on the frozen iguanas. I’d read about it, but no-one mentioned what was done with them. Were they lovingly nursed back to health? Tossed in a freezer for safekeeping until the weather warmed up? Turns out “humanely euthanized” is their fate. Just as well.
Some probably a little jealous.
So many uses for kefir! Great win pancake battre. Tall and fluffy.
Those look so yummy! I need more calorie free chocolates!
Brrrr cold 🥶.
I was right yesterday. They *said* we would get to 33 yesterday. My thermometer never got past 31. Today’s high will be 24 with only a light breeze. Tomorrow’s high is supposed to be 27, but MONDAY is slated for 39!!! I can hardly wait!!!
Good luck with your sourdough adventure! Keep us updated! My lil sis has been doing this for half a year now. Sounds like she’s gotten herself into a good groove with it.
Congrats on the phone number exchange! It is hard breaking into settled circles. Right now, I’m putting a foot forward with some ladies from our church. We are meeting for a small group Bible study once a week. They all know each other very well, and I only know one of them much at all. She’s the only one I knew the phone number for until Thursday, when one shared her cell number with me. It feels good to be included like that!
The five other ladies will probably take their time. I may never get their numbers. They all lived here, grew up here, raised their kids here, and have been members of this parish since they were children. So I REALLY don’t fit in that way, but to begin to be included is very nice.
Beautiful!
Thank You, FRiend! 🐶❤️🐶❤️🐶
That picture is now my February Screen Wallpaper.
Mine is a very small suburban back yard. I'm thinking one bale is likely to last me many years. Any thoughts or suggestions on handling, storage, or hay use is very welcome.
My reliably favorite thread on FR. Thank you!
This is what I’m going to try when I get everything together (right flour, good water, a scale that measures in grams, etc.). The directions seem clear & his attitude is positive. I need “positive” because I tried making my own starter years ago - big flop, but I didn’t have good directions.
7 Easy Steps to Making an Incredible Sourdough Starter From Scratch
https://www.theperfectloaf.com/7-easy-steps-making-incredible-sourdough-starter-scratch/
I was reading recently that bread sold as ‘sourdough’ often isn’t truly fermented sourdough, but has something added (can’t remember what) to make it taste sour like the real thing. Bummer!! This has really put me off of buying sourdough loaves at the store. So far, the steps I have taken to work on my GI issues are making a difference (thank goodness!) - regular bread is not on the menu, but true sourdough is and I love bread - it’s hard to go without. I’m cheating with the cornbread, but I know what’s in it, uses some honey instead of sugar, etc. Making my own sourdough would also be economical rather than buying ready-made, potentially ‘not real’ bread.
Speaking of Menards, ours has those VoltKing 12500 Lumen LED shop lights on sale again, for $12.99.
I’ve been super busy, so I apologize for not getting the mod re-write completed. I don’t have much of a “dog” in this Superbowl, so maybe then... Daughter-san sprung a day’s effort on me this morning, so, today is out.
Menards has seeds on sale — I limited myself to 2 packets - astonishing for me! They have THREE flyers active, with quite a few good deals on other useful stuff, so I’ve already blown my February budget on such (Menards) things: Shelving, 3 more of those lights, “countersink” drill bits (2 types), charcoal, heavy “bicycle” hooks, pearlite, “cactus” potting soil, fire starters, mouse traps, oil for the cars, ear plugs — I guess I’m, planning on staying busy! And I’d better get all these rebates sent in!!
I bought a couple seed packets over @ Wally World too - to my surprise they had snake gourd seeds, so I guess I’ll see how they do compared to my saved Opo seeds, this year.
Ok, I’m rested a bit - back to work for daughter-san. :-)
They’re an invasive species, thus the euthanizing. One trapper had collected a couple that were 6’ long - yikes! They also have salmonella in their mouths so if you get bitten, it could be a bad thing ... you definitely don’t want them warming up if you’re handling them.
Burmese pythons & African Rock pythons are also invasive & FL has a program to try to deal with them. If you are interested & want to see some interesting video, check out the videos by Chris Morgan of The Wild (if you are ‘triggered’ by snakes, especially very large ones, don’t go there!):
Invasion of the Burmese Pythons: Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UAYkviGca8
Invasion of the Burmese Pythons: Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfIHDFbIcTo
Knew there was some reason I liked you! LOL
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