The Garden Thread - February, 2026

February 1, 2026 | 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.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Diana: Your greenhouse is larger than I remember! Nice bench and lots of room and light to get things done! And a little Angel statue to watch over your plantings and remind you to reflect on the daily readings! ("Look homeward Angel and melt with Ruth!")

And a veranda overlooking the manicured lawns fronting your estate! :0

[Texas resident]

Our growing season is always a crap shoot. Plant too early and a sneaky freeze comes along and kills everything. Plant too late and the 100 degree heat of July will kill everything.
I think this year that planting in February will work out well. Hopefully I will have a lot of tomatoes and peppers by late May.

[Paul R.]

I’ve been getting a lot done, but getting further and further behind! This Friday - Saturday was in particular an almost (almost) complete rework of our OTA (outdoor) TV antenna and feed to our living room and kitchen. The LR is actually sort of the “hub”, but these days I hardly have any time to watch TV or listen to the stereo there. :-(

I really wanted to get this done before our main severe weather season (March - June) arrives, as our local stations do a good job on covering the Tornado warnings and the more violent severe t-storms. The rain that DIDN’T arrive on Saturday was a blessing in that regard. :-)

The whole project involved a lot of time on a 16’ ladder, and also getting up on the roof, but fortunately DIDN’T require bringing the mast down. A lot of connections, particularly those at the grounding busses just below the roof line needed cleaning up and resealing, and I added a little height to the main antenna. That and restoration of power to the signal preamp that mounts on the UHF portion of that antenna helped a lot with signal strength and quality. There are still some multipath problems with the closest station (the tower is under 10 miles away), so those big metal silos just to our west are still messing with the signal, BUT, it appears the preamp handles the (too strong) signal and reflections “better” when I point the antenna a bit north of that closest transmitter, which conveniently is a good overall direction for the weaker signals. I even got brief pickup of a couple St. Louis TV stations, tho/ most of the time they won’t come in.

I also revamped part of the FM radio pickup antenna & wiring, but, sound quality on FM is so poor any more that I don’t listen too it much at home any more - at least not for music. (I’d much rather pop a CD in my player, or pick out tunes on You Tube or listen to one of the Jay Sekulow Band concerts!!)

The feed to the bedroom TV needs work too, but should be much quicker, and is all indoors (in the attic though, mainly) - maybe next weekend?

All this added to the normal chores (with some catch up now that things are thawing out!) was really tough on all my joints below my belt line, so by the time it was time to go to a Valentines’ Day and “renewal of marriage vows” service @ my wife’s church yesterday early evening, I was in bad shape: My wife is Catholic and the long standing / kneeling gets a bit rough when the ol’ joints are calling for relief. The ceremony was followed by some really bland supper from some catering service, But, I hung in there, just insisting to come home early. Once back I took an Ibuprofen, flipped on the bedroom TV, kicked my shoes off & laid back... and passed out B4 getting my dress clothes off. Wifey just let me sleep... So much for V-Day romance!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I bought that Angel when I lost my Lady Labrador, Miss Lucy. I got it cheap because it was a hideous color - but a coat of silver spray paint fixed it right up.

She’s tucked into the garden as soon as it’s warm enough. I put her somewhere new every year so I can surprise myself when I find her in a Senior Moment, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve probably mentioned that my Thrift Store and Food Pantry are in the same building, and if there are ‘leftovers’ after everyone has gotten their Goodie Box for the week, they put the food in the Thrift Store and the Volunteers practically BEG you to take something. I currently have a glut of canned Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas), so today I am making a Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, as I have a jar of peppers on hand.*

I also have the food processor out, as I just made a French Crumble top crust for a Blueberry Pie that is in the oven. :)

Easy Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/15436/easy-roasted-red-pepper-hummus/

Will be serving with some low-carb crackers and apple slices for an afternoon snack over a game of Cribbage.

I’ve played outside for the past two days - time to get caught up in the kitchen! :)

*I substitute Peanut Butter for the Tahini - I don’t like Tahini.

[Qiviut]

Your greenhouse looks great!

Somehow I have ended up with 6 cans of chickpeas. I love hummus, but the one thing holding me back from making it is no tahini. Why did I never think of subbing peanut butter? Thank you for that idea/tip!

Salvaged my chicken bone broth an hour ago. I use flour sack dish towels, cut into appropriate sizes, for straining. The broth has been triple strained so I am confident there is no glass in it. Even so, I will only use it in recipes I make for myself. Scored a reduced to $1.99 rotisserie chicken at Walmart this morning so that carcass will go in the freezer for the next batch of bone broth. What I made is much tastier than bought. The next chore today is cleaning out the fridge & reorganizing.

Sun is out, finally. Rain all day yesterday & fog overnight into late morning. Lots of melting & I was able to drive the car to the front door. I should be able to get the truck out of the barn & to the road tomorrow. The car has an appointment for state inspection Wednesday at 8 am & I like dropping it off the night before so we don’t have to get up/leave so early. I might make it outside later this afternoon - for sure I will be outside the next couple of days (upper 50’s, maybe low 60’s).

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I learned that trick from a SNAP website where they were actually SHOWING PEOPLE how to use the FREE FOOD they’d been given. Tahini is not a common pantry staple for most, and peanut butter works really well. Cashew butter - any nut butter would be fine, I’d think. Add Nutella and some cocoa powder and it’s magically chocolate Hummus!

“The next chore today is cleaning out the fridge & reorganizing.”

Me, too! Leftover Stew, 7-Layer Salad and Garlic Bread for supper. Nice again today - 60 but more windy, blowing in rain for tomorrow - but it’s NOT SNOW! Yippee!

I’m not sore at all after 2 days of greenhouse/garden bed clean up. That was a nice surprise! TRYING to think up something to do outside, but I have a lot of catching up to do inside. ;)

[Liz]

Serve muffins w/ drizzle of maple syrup or fresh fruit alongside bacon.

Croissant French Toast Muffins / use day-old croissants / make day ahead and reheat
Baked w/ sweet custard, topped w/ buttery cinnamon crumbs. Perfect for brunch or holidays.

Ing Muffins 6 stale Croissants , torn into pieces 1 c 2% milk ¼ c h/cream 2 tbl sugar 4 lge eggs 2 tsp maple extract ¾ tsp grnd cinnamon ¼ tsp salt. Crumb Topping ⅓ c flour ¼ c br/sugar ½ tsp grnd cinnamon ¼ c unsalted butter melted

Instructions---whisk milk, cream, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, salt. Add cubed croissants; stir/combine. Scoop ⅓ c into each muffin cup. Topping--whisk flour, brown sugar, cinnamon. Drizzle melted butter over top; stir/combine. Sprinkle over muffins. Bake in sprayed muffin tins 350 deg 30 min til golden brown; cool in pan 5 min before removing. Serve warm.

Chef tips Swap brioche or challah bread for croissants. Swap almond extract for maple extract for a nutty flavor. Replace h/cream with halfnhalf for a lighter custard. Recipe Variations Stir in chocolate chips for a dessert style muffin. Add blueberries or raspberries for a fruity version Drizzle with maple glaze or cream cheese icing after baking for extra sweetness.

Use slightly stale croissants to absorb custard better. Let cool 5 min on pan before removing to so hold their shape. Double crumb topping for extra crunch. Store leftovers airtight in fridge up to 3 days. Reheat 325 deg 10 min to warm. Can freeze 1 month; thaw in fridge overnight before reheating

[FamiliarFace]

I’m a bit late to wish my FRiends Happy Valentine’s Day, but we did have a BUSY weekend! My two sisters and their husbands came in on Friday morning, and we had several outings planned. We still had snow on the ground which thrilled all of my Floridians, especially my younger sister. She asked if we could please try to build a snow man, so we went outside and built a small fellow. Searching for a name for him, we talked about him being from Winter Storm Fern, so we morphed into naming him “Fernando” since we live in Hoosier country. Here is Fernando, about 30” tall. It was all we could do with what we had. The snow wasn’t very good for making him any larger.

For dinner Friday night, we took them to our favorite little cafe on the downtown square, Mayberry Cafe, famous for Aunt Bee’s fried chicken. Only one of us didn’t order that.

Saturday’s activities included going to the indoor go-karting track. We girls watched as our hubbies drove like maniacs. Then we went our separate ways. The boys took in the Indy 500 museum, while we ladies went to a very feminine and fancy restaurant and bakery, The Cake Bake Shop. I had tried for weeks to get reservations without luck, so figured we could still order take out and get some delicious cake slices for Valentine’s dessert.

Well wouldn’t you know, when we walked in, there just happened to be 3 seats in a row at the bar, just waiting for US!! So we didn’t have to eat at an outdoor table after all (it was still about 40 and breezy that day, but a big improvement over the sub-freezing temps from the last few weeks.) We rejoiced at our good fortune, and my older sister especially loved the place. It is filled with chandeliers, white and pink colors, flowers everywhere, and crystal. She called it “prissy” but I call it “frilly”. The food was heavenly! Such a treat!

For Valentine’s dinner I made pork chops with morel mushroom brandy cream sauce (https://dashofsavory.com/pork-chops-morel-mushroom-brandy-cream-sauce/) over egg noodles, a Caesar salad, and honey roasted carrots on a bed of whipped feta. For dessert we had bites from 3 different cakes from Cake Bake Shop - champagne-raspberry cake 🎂, Millionaire cake, and tiramisu cake. Lovely!

Yesterday we took a day trip to one of our favorite hideaway spots, West Baden Springs Hotel, which is in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Baden_Springs_Hotel. It’s a picturesque 2 hour drive from our home to the hotel, but the hotel is a blast from the past, with a beautiful atrium. The thing that is so special about it is that this is an historic hotel and resort from the mid 1800’s that fell into such disrepair that it was crumbling and nearly condemned. Through the goodwill of many people, the place has been restored bit by bit since the mid 1990’s. This time when we went, the bowling alley had been restored and was open for business.

Last night’s dinner was leftovers from all the other meals, a smorgasbord of tasty dishes, and I only had to reheat things! Yay!

This morning we took the fam back to the airport, and I’ve been trying to catch up at FR ever since. Happy belated Valentine’s Day to all of you! ❤️

[MomwithHope]

Sounds like a great get together. Thanks for sharing.

[Pollard]

And then while you’re COMPLETELY mindin’ your own bidness - a Human goes and STEPS on you, LOL!

Then when there's chickens involved .....

My buddy up the road has been doing his Spring burn off. I might have to do a complete burn here like I used to do. Considerably less bugs, namely ticks and chiggers but also anything else that is currently living in/under those leaves or at the base of the tall dead grasses.

Makes things nicer to look at and makes the place look bigger too, especially if I keep it all mowed.

Cold temps coming back in first of next week with lows in high teens so far. Will see how the forecast progresses in the next few days. We could get a couple more fake springs.

My son gets to play woodchuck. Chuck this firewood on the rack in the house. Chuck this other firewood on the rack outside. I play woodchuck too. Pick out what I want and chuck it in the back of the truck and let him take it from there.

Bought my firewood this year and wasn't super happy with the first load but bought a second load when we had single digits. I guess they hold back the good stuff for cold snaps because the second load is nearly all red oak. Nice and solid with no rotted sap wood. We haven't touched that wood yet but some will get chucked soon.

Firewood, property burning, mechanical work, spring cleaning, shed cleaning, shop/manure cleanup, garden area cleanup, water run(s). Plenty to choose from. Mid 70s Wed/Thurs will feel like summer, aside from the 30-35 mph gusts. Probably no burning. Might snow Fri/Sat but too warm to stick. Then it gets cold. Wacky Ozarks weather.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You HAVE been busy! Sound like you had a lovely time. :)

[Augie]

The cemetery is located on the old Fortney family homestead farm about 15 miles southwest of my place. It’s just down the road and around the corner from the homestead farm where Pops grew up.

The cemetery is its own entity - it is deeded separately from the farm that surrounds it. A distant cousin who currently resides in California has been managing the finances for the cemetery association, but at this point the cemetery association consists of that cousin (she’s pushing 90 now), my 85yo Aunt who lives in Virginia, 83yo Pops, a few other elderly cousins, and myself. We get the occasional enquiry from folks doing genealogical research, and a bit of money trickles in from far-flung cousins for grounds maintenance. It would be nice to get some of the younger cousins involved with the upkeep, but none of them live close enough for that to be practical.

The farm the cemetery is located on has been donated to the Missouri Dept of Natural Resources, with use/possession reserved for the duration of the owner’s life. It borders Rock Bridge State Park and will become part of the park when the owner passes. The owner is a distant cousin, in her late 70s, and wonderful to work with, so we’ve been working hard to get the cemetery back to 100% condition before the DNR takes over the surroundings.

The cemetery was platted in 1830 - less than ten years after Missouri became a state - on land donated by John and Kizza Fortney. John and Kizza were both born in Kentucky in the 1790s - both passed prior to the Civil War. Unfortunately we don’t possess an official record of internments, if such a thing was ever created. I expect most of the burials were recorded in family bibles. Quite a few of the graves don’t have quarried marker stones - just big pieces of native limestone as markers.

The lower part of the cemetery, down the hill back in the cedar trees, was where the slaves/freed blacks were buried. Lore states that it was almost expected that a native American burial would be disturbed while digging in that lower section of the plot. If anyone were still alive to ask, I expect we’d learn that the Native burial ground being there is the reason that particular location was chosen for use as the family cemetery.

Mrs. Augie and I took the dogs over there yesterday. The dogs had a wonderful time exploring while Mrs. Augie and I placed marker stones. We set foot stones on 44 graves that didn’t previously have them, and head/foot stones on three graves that were not marked at all. My back isn’t happy with me today, but I’m happy to have completed that task.

As with most private cemeteries that are off the beaten path, vandals have damaged a few of the head stones over the years. Three or four of the stones are missing the little ornamental ball that sets on top. I expect I can source those with little difficulty at a local monument company. I also need to build a new arch for the cemetery gate. The original gate arch was stolen sometime back in the 1950s. Pops said his Grandpap commented after the theft was discovered, “Well, it’s hanging on the wall in a frat house at Mizzou now.”

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for all the insider info! How nice of you all to help maintain it.

Maybe there is an organization out there that gives grants for cemetery maintenance? Wouldn’t hurt to do some digging! (Pun intended!) Also - is it on your State’s ‘Historic Landmark’ program or something similar? You could maybe get some funding through there for maintenance.

“Well, it’s hanging on the wall in a frat house at Mizzou now.”

- or they sold it on eBay to buy a kegger, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

As with ‘leftover wine’ where do you get ‘leftover croissants’? ;)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

When I was Dating Mrs. Pete, we sometimes would go to a local cemetery wandering around and looking at tombstones.

I can be a strange thing looking at the place where your ancestors, people you may have never met, are buried.

I am glad you are able to determine where the burials were and do some clean up. Better to have someone local take over administration rather than to have to do it at a distance, especially when travel becomes a problem.

[Qiviut]

I made it out to the shop today - yay! Spent the first hour or so cleaning out the car - it was a mess plus I had hauled a bale of straw in the back, which didn’t help. I vacuumed everything & swept off the mats. Mom had spilled something in the cup holders & around the parking brake so I got that cleaned up. We got the car to the shop around 4:30 - the appointment is for 8 am tomorrow, but I like dropping vehicles off the night before so we don’t have to get up so early.

After working on the car, I started on the shop. I switched out the Army table with a smaller one the previous owners had left (not all that sturdy). My metal drawers are more stable on the Army table. A bunch of other heavy stuff got moved around as well - my back is very unhappy right now. I have a 6’ set of metal/wire shelves in the basement (not put together so easier to move) & decided to move them to the shop. That might happen tomorrow - I really need more shelves & I should have room on them for some gardening stuff, too.

It was a beautiful day - frozen fog this morning which made for some pretty scenery early. Then the sun came out until about mid-afternoon until clouds started moving in - nice & warm outside. Cabin fever is morphing into Spring fever!

BTW, I bought some stuff at the Farm Bureau last year to deal with the box elder bugs that came out of the cracks where the garage door frame meets the bricks. I sprayed in the cracks at the time & did it again this fall. On a warm day like today, last year the bugs were 3 deep. Today, I didn’t see a single one!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

How do we exist without more shop shelving? It’s one of my favorite things in this world!

We use a product called ‘Tempo’ on the BEBs and those FAKE Ladybugs. It works well. They congregate on the south side of the house, so we don’t hurt any pollinators.

Beau is on a tear these days to chainsaw down any and all Box Elder trees he sees within a few MILES of the house, LOL! They really have become a problem over the years.

With this warm up I’ve seen three moths coming to the porch light and I squished a wasp, yesterday.

Rainy tonight, but clear again in the morning. We’re back into the high 30’s again. With the warm up, besides the greenhouse re-hab and the 16 garden beds ready to rock, we also got the kennel pens power washed (which we have NEVER been able to do in February - we fit the dogs with ice skates, LOL!) and we continued to trim and haul away all of the over-grown grape vines that needed some serious pruning. They’ll grow right back - they’re weeds.

Of COURSE this weather wasn’t going to last. I buttoned up the greenhouse again late today. Nobody gets THAT lucky. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

PETE! 15:30 into this video (it’s all good - LOVE this show - ‘Main Streets’)

O & H Danish Bakery! They’re making Kringle!

*Delighted Squeal*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qUWBT16bVU

[Pollard]

My little 1981 Mitsubishi tractor originally had turf tires. Rear had a criss cross pattern and front were 8 inches wide balloon tires with 6-7 perimeter grooves. Both were worn out and before too long, split and had inner tube sticking out. I bought AG lug tires a few years ago for the rear and had already replaced the front with rear riding mower tires because that's all that would fit the rims. Last year I found narrow 3 rib AG tires for the front. Right diameter for the rims but the rims were twice as wide as what the AG tires needed. I narrowed the rims this morning.

Original rim with the two "halves" that bolts together.

The two narrow "halves" fit the new tires perfectly.

I had a feeling it would work out that way because some of these tractors came with AG tires so Mitsubishi would just use two narrow versions for the front for those. I just needed to make the wide "half" of the rim match the narrow half.

Little math and some cut lines. I'll have ti drill new valve stem holes for the tubes. 13/16" off center.

New narrowed outer half with 3-1/4" removed plus old inner half.

Two narrowed rims

Ran to town and got some primer. The red oxide primer said nothing about rust. This gray stuff did. Most of what they have these days is DTM paint. DTM = Direct To Metal as in no primer needed. I had a buddy back in FL who was a auto body supply rep who talked about DuPont DTM 20 years ago so it's been a thing.

Neighbor's dogs hung out on and off.

Tomorrow I'll see about tackling the leaky radiator. For a few reasons, that will be more involved than this.