Turkey leftovers

Hosting the big Thanksgiving holiday meal not only allows us to serve all our holiday favorites, but also to enjoy all those tasty leftovers in a variety of wonderful dishes.  Turkey sandwiches are a great alternative to fast food to send along with those hitting the road to journey home, while we consider some heartier options for dinner.

Turkey Gumbo has become a tradition on the day after Thanksgiving. The t turkey stock is started Thanksgiving evening as clean up after the meal progresses.  The stock is stored in the refrigerator overnight for use in the preparation of the gumbo the following morning.  The gumbo simmers on the stove all afternoon as various family members venture out to join the crowds on the busiest shopping day of the year. 

TURKEY GUMBO

1 turkey carcass

2 turkey legs or thighs

1/2 c. bacon grease

1/2 c. cooking oil

1 c. flour

8 ribs celery, chopped

3 large onions, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 c. chopped parsley

1 lb. okra, sliced

1 c. smoked sausage, sliced

1/2 c. Worcestershire sauce

Tabasco (to taste)

12 oz. canned tomatoes

1 1/2 T. salt

4 slices bacon, cut in 1" pieces

1-2 bay leaves

cayenne (to taste)

1 t. brown sugar

1 T. lemon juice

4 c. rice, cooked

Crack the turkey carcass into several pieces.  Place the turkey carcass and legs in a soup kettle with 3 quarts of water and 1 t. salt.  Boil for 1 hour.  Remove the carcass and legs and cool.  Remove the meat from the bones and discard the bones.  Reserve the stock and meat.  In a heavy Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the grease and oil.  Add the flour, stirring constantly, and cook until dark golden brown.  Add the celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, and parsley.   Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add the okra and sausage and continue cooking for 5 minutes.  Add 2 quarts of the turkey stock and 2 quarts of the water, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, tomatoes, salt, bacon, bay leaves, and cayenne.  Simmer, covered, for 2 1/2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.  Add the turkey meat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Just before serving, add the brown sugar and lemon juice.   Sever in heated gumbo bowls over rice.  Serves 16-18.

A friend from high school fixed this turkey curry for us on a hot plate many years ago-simple and satisfying!

TURKEY CURRY

2 t.  margarine
1/2  onion, chopped
1/2 stalk  celery, thinly sliced
1/2  green pippin apple
1  chicken bouillon cube
1 c.  hot water
1/2 t.  curry powder
pinchpowdered ginger
1 c.  cooked turkey, diced
3 T.  water
1 T.  flour
1 c.  cooked rice

Suggested Condiments:
chutney
  peanuts, diced
dried coconut
raisins
green onion, sliced
avocado, diced
cucumber, peeled & diced
tomato, diced
green pepper, diced

In a small skillet, melt margarine.  Saute onion and celery in margarine.  Peel can dice apple.  Add to skillet.  Cook over low heat until onion is limp.  Dissolve bouillon cube in hot water.  Mix curry powder and ginger with bouillon to make a paste.  Add to the vegetables in the skillet.  Add turkey, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Mix water and flour to make a paste.  Add to the turkey mixture.  Cook over low heat until thickened.  Pour turkey curry over rice.  Serve with an assortment of the condiments.


Turkey enchiladas are another favorite dish using turkey leftovers.

CHEESY TURKEY ENCHILADAS

3-4 c.      shredded cooked turkey or chicken
1    small yellow onion, chopped
1    c.       shredded cheese, plus a bit more for topping
1    can    green chile enchilada sauce
1    can    chopped green chilies
8    oz.     cream cheese
12            tortillas (flour preferred, possibly more depending on how you fill)

Preheat oven to 350.
In a large sauté pan,  sauté the onion in a bit of oil until they are soft and fragrant (right before they start to brown). Turn heat to medium and add the turkey, can of chopped green chilies and cream cheese.  Stir to combine and until the cream cheese is completely melted and incorporated into the mixture. Pour enchilada sauce into a wide-mouthed container.  Dip a tortilla into the enchilada sauce. Place the soaked tortilla into your pan and add the turkey mixture to one side of the tortilla.  Top with a bit of shredded cheese. Roll it up, keeping the seam side down. Once all the enchiladas are wrapped up, pour some of the green enchilada sauce over the top. Top with some more cheese and pop in the oven for about 30 minutes.


A dish we came to enjoy while living in Minnesota.  Byerly's upscale grocery store was generous with their recipes.   A tasty wild rice salad and a creamy wild rice soup are two of our favorites from our early days in the Midwest.

 TURKEY AND WILD RICE SALAD

1 c. wild rice
1 t. chicken bouillon
3 green onions, sliced
1/2 lb. seedless green grapes, halved
1/2 turkey, cooked and deboned
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 t. tarragon
1 T. lemon juice

Rinse wild rice and drain.  In a heavy saucepan, bring wild rice, 4 c. water, and bouillon to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered 45-55 minutes, until kernels open and are tender, but not mushy.  Drain.  Cool.  Makes 3-4 c. cooked wild rice.
Mix wild rice with green onions, greens grapes, and chicken chunks.  Mix together mayonnaise, tarragon, and lemon juice.  Chill.  Stir into wild rice mixture.


Curried turkey (or chicken) salad served in pineapple boats was enjoyed by the family, reminding us of carefree vacation days in Hawaii.

CURRIED TURKEY SALAD IN PINEAPPLE BOATS

1 fresh pineapple
4 c. diced, cooked turkey
3 bananas, sliced diagonally
3 tangerines, peeled and sectioned
(or 1 can Mandarin oranges)
3/4 c. raisins
1/2 c. salted peanuts
1/2 c. mango chutney, chopped
1 t. curry powder
1 c. mayonnaise
shredded coconut

Cut pineapple into quarters lengthwise leaving green tops on.  Cut around the edges with a curved knife to remove fruit and dice.  Drain pineapples very well on absorbent paper towels.
Combine diced pineapple, chicken, tangerine sections, raisins, and peanuts.  Chill until ready to serve.  Blend chutney, curry, and mayonnaise in a small bowl.  Lightly toss with the pineapple mixture.  Fill pineapple shells.  Garnish with shredded coconut, it desired.

Thanksgiving Feast

With a large family crowd this year, my husband smoked a turkey in the Big Green Egg to accompany the one I roasted in the oven.   Having heard a few too many times about the potential dangers of undercooking stuffing in the bird, we opted for baking two of our favorite stuffings to serve on the side along with Cassie's mashed potatoes, Eric's mashed sweet potatoes with a hint of orange, a spinach salad (with dried Crasins, apple slices, sliced green onions, sweet & spicy pecans, and crumbled blue cheese dressed with cranberry vinaigrette), gravy, and cranberry sauces.

CORNBREAD-SAUSAGE STUFFING

WITH APPLES

12 t. butter
2 1/2 c. onions, finely chopped
3 tart apples, unpeeled, cored and chunked,
(Jonathan or Winesap is good)
1 lb. bulk sausage, lightly seasoned with sage
3 c. cornbread, lightly crumbled
3       c. wheat bread, crumbled
3       c. French bread, crumbled
2       t. thyme
1 t. sage, dried, crumbled
salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 c. Italian parsley, chopped
1 1/2 c. pecans, chopped

Melt 6 T. butter in a skillet.  Add chopped onions cooking over medium heat, partially covered, for about 25 minutes until tender and lightly colored.  Transfer onions and butter to large mixing bowl.  Melt remaining 6 T. butter in same skillet, cooking apple chunks over high heat until lightly colored, but not mushy.  Transfer apples and butter to the mixing bowl.
Crumble the sausage into a skillet, stirring over medium heat, until lightly browned.  Transfer to the mixing bowl with a slotted spoon, reserving the rendered fat.
Add the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl, combining gently.  Cool completely.  Spoon stuffing into a casserole.   Cover casserole and set into a large pan with hot water poured halfway up the sides.  Bake at 325 for 30-45 minutes basting occasionally with cooking juices from the turkey or reserved sausage fat if necessary.  If stuffing the turkey, the recipe should make enough to stuff a 20-pound bird.



This recipe appeared in the November 1994 issue of Sunset magazine as part of a California-inspired Thanksgiving menu.   It has become a regular menu item at our holiday meals.

ARTICHOKE-PARMESAN SOURDOUGH STUFFING

1      lb. sourdough bread, cut into 1/2" cubes
1     lb. mushrooms, rinsed
1      T. butter
2 onions, peeled and chopped (about 3/4 lb.)
1 c. chopped celery
2 T. minced garlic
2       c. fat-skimmed chicken broth
2 6-oz. jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 t. poultry seasoning
1 1/2 T.  minced fresh rosemary (or 3/4 t. dried)
salt
pepper
1 large egg

Spread bread cubes in a single layer in 2 10x15" pans.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until toasted golden brown.  Turn cubes over with a wide spatula occasionally.  After 15 minutes switch pan positions.  Trim stem ends of mushrooms and slice.  In a 10-12" frying pan over high heat combine butter, mushrooms, onions celery, and garlic.  Stir often for about 15 minutes until vegetables are lightly browned.  Pour into a large bowl.  Add a little broth to the pan and stir to scrape browned bits free.  Add to bowl.  Pour 2 c. broth into bowl and add toasted bread cubes, artichoke hearts, cheese, poultry seasoning, and rosemary; mix well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Make a well in dressing, add egg, beat with a fork to blend, and then mix egg with dressing.  Spoon into a shallow 3-qt. (9x13") casserole.  For moist dressing, cover with foil; for crusty dressing, do not cover.  Bake at 325-350 (depending on what the turkey requires) for 50 minutes (60 minutes if chilled) until hot (at least 150 degrees in center) or lightly browned.


We've been favoring the fresh, flavor of uncooked relish in recent years, but offer a prepared whole berry sauce as well.

CRANBERRY RELISH

1 large   apple
1 large   navel orange
1 12-oz. bag cranberries (frozen is best)
1/4 c.     choppeded pecans
1 c.        sugar (or to taste)

Rinse the cranberries. Cut the ends off of the orange just a little, until the sections show through. Core the apple and cut into quarters.
In a food processor on chop with chop blade, chop the frozen cranberries until a relish consistency. Scoop out into a bowl. Chop apple in the food processor and add to the bowl. Cut orange into quarters and add to processor, chopping until all rind is in very small relish like particles. Add to bowl. Mix lightly and sprinkle about 1/2 or 2/3's of the one cup of sugar over mixture and let sit for about 1/2 hour.
After sitting, mix again and taste; if mixture is too tart for you, add more sugar. Add nuts last.

This Ultimate Pumpkin Pie recipe, which appeared in Bon Appetit magazine in the early 1990's, is a favorite variation on an old classic.

THE ULTIMATE PUMPKIN PIE

1 1/4 c. flour
1/2    c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter, chilled, cut into pieces
3 T. whipping cream
3/4   c. sugar
1       T.    packed golden brown sugar
1 T.    cornstarch
2        t. ground cinnamon
3/4     t.  ground ginger
1/4     t.    salt
16 oz. can solid pack pumpkin
3/4 c. whipping cream
1/2 c.    sour cream
3 large eggs, beaten to blend
1/4 c.    apricot preserves

Blend flour, powdered sugar, and butter in food processor; add cream and process until moist clumps form.  Gather into ball and chill 15 minutes.  Roll out dough to line 9" glass pie dish.  Freeze 15 minutes. Line crust with foil, pressing firmly.  Bake at 350 until sides are set, about 10 minutes.  Remove foil.  Bake crust until pale brown, about 10 minutes more.  Using whisk, mix sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in bowl until no lumps remain.  Blend in pumpkin, whipping cream, sour cream, and eggs.  Spread preserves over crust; pour in pumpkin filling.  Bake at 325 until filling pulls at edges and center is almost set, about 55 minutes.  Cool on rack.  Cover, chill until cold.



Pecan Cream Cheese Pie was not on the menu this year, but is sure to return periodically.  This recipe was included in La Bonne Cuisine: Cooking New Orleans Style compiled by The Women of All Saints' Episcopal Church, originally published in 1980.

PECAN CREAM CHEESE PIE

8       oz. cream cheese

4             eggs

1/3    c.   sugar

1/4    t.    salt

2       t.    vanilla

1 10"       pie shell, unbaked

1 1/4 c.    pecans, coarsely chopped

1       c.    corn syrup, light or dark

1/4    c.    sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, 1 of the eggs, 1/3 c. sugar, salt, and 1 t. of the vanilla until light and fluffy.  Spread the mixture on the bottom of the pie shell.  Sprinkle the pecans on top.  Beat the remaining 3 eggs until they are light and fluffy.  Add the Karo, remaining 1 t. vanilla, and 1/4 c. sugar and blend well.  Pour the mixture into the pie shell.  Bake the pie at 375 for 45 minutes.

But the unanimous favorite seemed to be a large Pumpkin Cheesecake version of the Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes with Gingersnap Crust baked earlier this fall for the holiday tea.

A well-fed family!

Pumpkin

Baking for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast has begun.  We're fortunate to be expecting family to arrive from South Carolina, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado, and even Moscow (yes, Russia-our oldest son and girlfriend will be in the states for a visit).  We're hoping to get much of the prep work done ahead of time, so we have more time to enjoy their company.  Pumpkin bread, muffins, and mini cheesecakes have been baked and stored in the freezer.  

PUMPKIN

Pumpkin

Preparing the Pumpkin

Spread newspaper over your work surface. Start by removing the stem with a sharp knife. If you are planning to roast the pumpkin seeds, smash the pumpkin against a hard surface to break it open. If not, cut in half with a sharp knife. In any case, remove the stem and scoop out the seeds and scrape away all of the stringy mass. A messy job, but it will pay off.

Cooking the Pumpkin

Boiling/Steaming Method: Cut the pumpkin into rather large chunks. Rinse in cold water. Place pieces in a large pot with about a cup of water. The water does not need to cover the pumpkin pieces. Cover the pot and boil for 20 to 30 minutes or until tender, or steam for 10 to 12 minutes. Check for doneness by poking with a fork. Drain the cooked pumpkin in a colander. Reserve the liquid to use as a base for soup. Follow the steps outlined below in Preparing the Puree.

Oven Method: Cut pumpkin in half, scraping away stringy mass and seeds. Rinse under cold water. Place pumpkin, cut side down on a large cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for one hour or until fork tender. Then follow the procedure outlined below in Preparing the Puree.

Microwave Method: Cut pumpkin in half, place cut side down on a microwave safe plate or tray. Microwave on high for 15 minutes, check for doneness. If necessary continue cooking at 1-2 minute intervals until fork tender. Continue as outlined below in Preparing the Puree.

Preparing the Puree

When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, remove the peel using a small sharp knife and your fingers. Put the peeled pumpkin in a food processor and puree or use a food mill, ricer, strainer or potato masher to form a puree.

Freezing the Puree

Pumpkin puree freezes well. To freeze, measure cooled puree into one cup portions, place in ridged freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace or pack into zip closure bags. Label, date and freeze at 0°F for up to one year.

Using the puree

Use this puree in recipes or substitute in the same amount in any recipe calling for solid pack canned pumpkin.

This tasty pumpkin bread recipe was given to Los Cerros Middle School families to prepare to be included in the Thanksgiving baskets prepared for needy families in the Bay Area of northern California.  Each year student and parent volunteers loaded laundry baskets with donated frozen turkeys, fresh-baked pumpkin bread, and canned foods collected during the annual food drive.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2    t. salt

1 c. sugar

1 t. baking soda

1       c. pumpkin

1/2   c. oil

2 eggs, beaten

1/4   c. water

2       t. pumpkin pie spice 

Sift together flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda in a small

bowl.  In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, oil, eggs, water, and spices together.  Add dry ingredients.  Mix quickly, but not too thoroughly.  Pour into three 3x5" aluminum pans sprayed with oil.  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  When cool, wrap in plastic wrap.


Using the pumpkin bread recipe, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, similar to the ones Starbucks served in past seasons, can be created.  Sprinkle a few pepitas on top along with the crumb topping to mimic those tasty treats.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Filling:

4    oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c.   powdered sugar

Combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar, mixing well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1 1/2" in diameter.  Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log and reinforce with a piece of foil.  Transfer to the freezer and chill until slightly firm, at least 2 hours. The mixture will be somewhat soft, but firmer.

Topping:

1/4    c. sugar

2 1/2 T. flour

1        t.  pumpkin pie spice

2       T. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Combine the sugar, flour, and pumpkin pie spice.  Add the butter pieces, cutting into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble muffins, spoon 1-2 T. of the "pumpkin bread" batter into each liner, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner. Slice the log of cream cheese into 12 equal pieces, placing a slice into each muffin well in the center of the batter. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, covering the cream cheese completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffins. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

3    T. ground cinnamon
2     t. ground ginger
2     t. nutmeg
1 ½ t. ground allspice
1 ½ t. ground cloves

MINI PUMPKIN CHEESECAKES WITH GINGERSNAP CRUST 

20        gingersnap cookies
2    T.  unsalted butter, melted
1/2 T.  granulated sugar
8    oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2  c. packed brown sugar
1/2  c. canned pumpkin
1     T. sour cream
1/4   t. salt
1/2   t. vanilla extract
1/2   t. pumpkin pie spice
1      egg

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease mini cheesecake pan with baking spray.
In a food processor, process gingersnap cookies into fine crumbs. Add granulated sugar and melted butter, combining well. Divide equally among cheesecake pan cavities and press down on cookie crumb mixture. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Reduce oven temperature to 325.
In a bowl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, sour cream, salt, vanilla and spices. Mix well. Finally, add egg. Divide among cheesecake pan cavities.
Spoon roughly 2 tablespoons of filling into each pan cavity.  Do not overfill. Leave a 1/4" gap between cheesecake mixture and top of the pan. Tap pan on counter gently to force any air bubbles to the top.
Bake for 15-18 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before transferring to the refrigerator to chill overnight.


The recipe for this stew served in a pumpkin shell was discovered in the Los Angeles Times California Cookbook, a wedding gift, published back in1981, the year we were married.

ARGENTINIAN STEW IN A PUMPKIN SHELL

2 lbs.  beef stew meat, cut in 1 1/2" cubes
1 large onion, chopped
2 clovesgarlic, minced
3 T.  oil
2 large tomatoes, chopped
l large green pepper, chopped
1 T. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 t. sugar
1 c. dried apricots
3 white potatoes, peeled and diced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 c. beef broth
1 medium pumpkin
butter or margarine, melted
1/4 c. dry sherry
1 lb. whole kernel corn

Cook beef cubes with onion and garlic in oil until meat is browned.  Add tomatoes, green pepper, salt, pepper, sugar, apricots, white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and broth.  Cover and simmer 1 hour.  Meanwhile, cut top off pumpkin and discard.  Scoop out seeds and stringy membrane.  Brush inside of pumpkin with butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.  Stir sherry and corn into stew and spoon into pumpkin shell.  Place shell in a shallow pan and bake for 1 hour at 325 until pumpkin meat is tender.  Place pumpkin in a large bowl and ladle out stew, scooping out some pumpkin with each serving.

2014 Garden Expectations WIMGA Conference

Garden Expectations Wisconsin State Conference

Join us at the beautiful Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Appleton on March 28 and 29, 2014 for the Garden Expectations Annual WIMGA Conference.  Each year, the Outagamie County Masters Gardener Association hosts a Garden Expectations conference and, in 2014, will combine the event with the annual Wisconsin Master Gardeners conference.  The 2-day event will be jam-packed with wonderful speakers on a wide variety of topics, and you'll have the opportunity to visit with vendors introducing some interesting and exciting products. 

While this event is organized by the Wisconsin Master Gardeners for its members, it is open to the public!

Dan Heim, Terra Nova Nurseries, will be the keynote speaker on both Friday night and Saturday morning.  His presentations will be "Right Plant-Right Place" on Friday night, and "Perennials for Containers" on Saturday morning.

Saturday break-out sessions:

• Mushroom Hunting                                       
• Growing and Using Herbs
• Permaculture
• Bees and Beekeeping                                
• Native Plants
• Innovations in Indoor Gardening
• Trash to Treasure Garden Accents
• Hostas

Following the break-out sessions will be an hour-long panel of experts where you can get your gardening questions answered!

Registration fees will include all sessions and speakers, access to the myriad of vendors that will be in attendance, refreshments at Friday night's social hour (cash bar), continental breakfast on Saturday morning, and lunch on Saturday.  All events will be held at the Radisson Paper Valley Hotel and Conference Center, and a block of rooms has been set aside for our use.  Registration fees will be:

• Registration before February 1:  $65
• Registration between February 1 and February 28:  $70
• Registration after February 28:  $75

Wild Ones 18th annual Toward Harmony with Nature Conference

Announcing an exciting opportunity to hear Dr. Douglas W. Tallamy, author of 'Bringing Nature Home', speak at the Wild Ones Conference in Oshkosh in January.

Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens” was published by Timber Press in 2007 anwas awarded the 2008 silver medal by the Garden Writer’s Association. Doug was awarded the Garden Club of America Margare

Keynote Address Doug Tallamy, noted author of Bringing Nature Home, Part I – The Value of Having Native Plants in Our Yards & Part II – Creating Healthy, Biodiverse Neighborhood Corridors

11:45 – 1:00 Lunch Break — Visit Vendors & Exhibits — Silent Auction
12:00-12:45 Buffet Lunch: onsite, by reservation only
1:00–2:15 Concurrent Sessions I
   Susan Carpenter “Always New Questions: Learning From a Native Plant Garden”
   Connie Ramthun, “From Seed to Flower: Growing Your Own Native Plants”
   James Reinartz “Assisted Migration: Can Landscaping with Native Plants Help them Find New       Suitable Locations?”
2:15–2:45 Break — Visit Vendors; Exhibits — Conclusion of Silent Auction
2:45–4:00 Concurrent Sessions II
   Cheryl Bauer-Armstrong “Planting Native Landscapes for People, Water and Wildlife”
   Dan Traas “Working With Native Trees”
   Tom Wedel “Prairie and Savanna Restoration: A Work Always in Progress”

To register:

http://www.towardharmonywithnature.org/register.html

GBBG Garden of Lights

Thousands of visitors will head to the Green Bay Botanical Garden Fridays and Saturdays 5:00-9:00 PM and Sundays 5:00-8:00 PM from November 29 until December 30 to view annual Garden of Lights. Over 50,000 people visited last holiday season to see the garden transformed into a stunning winter landscape featuring botanical light displays inspired by its natural features.  

WPS Garden of Lights glows almost exclusively using energy-efficient LED lights, or light-emitting diodes, which are illuminated solely by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor material rather than a traditional filament. They not only consume up to 80% less electricity than traditional incandescent lights but also have a life span of five years or more, more than doubling the traditional light lifespan.

                    

 

After viewing the light show, visitors can head back to the Winterberry Café to warm up with some refreshments, while listening to songs of the season performed by a variety of local entertainers. A model train exhibit set up by the G-Gager is on display.   And a number of trees are decorated with ornaments crafted from the garden.

This tree is adorned with
wasp nests, gourd bird houses,
dried apple and orange slices,
and ornaments made of seed pods. 

  

A tall tree in the lobby is decorated
with dried flower bouquets,
strings of dried chilies and
bird nests

And G-Gagers will return with their model railroad display

Green Bay Botanical Garden

Green Bay Botanical Garden "stimulates an appreciation for and an understanding of the world of horticulture and the enduring relationships between plants and people. Through our volunteers and staff, we serve people of all ages by providing year-round educational and recreational experiences within an environment that enriches, inspires and refreshes."

Green Bay Botanical Garden opened on the site of the old Larsen orchard in 1996 with 47 acres of display gardens and natural areas. The apple orchard was originally part of a vast acreage owned by the William Larsen family of Green Bay, which lay within the Town of Hobart, on what was once Oneida Indian Reservation Land. William Larsen founded a wholesale fruit and vegetable business in 1882, marketing produce in the Green Bay area. Larsen expanded the business into a canning operation founding Larsen Foods which was eventually acquired by Dean Foods and later by Agrilink Foods.  (Our family moved to the Green Bay when my husband was hired by the Dean Foods Vegetable Co. to head up marketing for the newly acquired Birds Eye frozen vegetable business.)  In 1969, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College bought a 198-acre property, including the Larsen orchard on which the school was built. The Garden leases land on a long-term basis from NWTC.  NWTC’s landscape horticulture program operates from a classroom building and greenhouse on the Garden grounds. Students utilize the Garden as a living laboratory, growing plants that are transplanted tg the Garden and helping with landscaping projects.

When we first moved to the Green Bay area in 1994, the garden was still only a vision yet to be realized.    As of today, 25 acres have been acres developed. GBBG continues to  In the last several years the Botanical Garden has completed construction of a 12,000 square foot addition to the education center and renovation of the visitor center.   The newest additions to the garden include the Frederick Bauer Perennial Garden, the Arendt Conifer Garden, and the Simurdiak Patio next to the Jan Wos (past owner of Mayflower Greenhouse) Garden containers and plantings.

This butterfly garden at Green Bay Botanical Garden
maintained by NEWHSA.  The butterflies featured in past years
included the swallowtail, painted lady, variegated fritillary,
karner blue, monarch and hummingbird moth

Perennials in the butterfly bed include sedum, liatris, Joe Pye weed,
lavender and allium.  We add annuals the color of the butterfly
we are featuring that year to the bed each spring.  The inside of the
buttterfly is filled with hens and chicks amidst shiny glass gems.

Another herb group maintains this bed with a fairy garden
that has it's own herb garden beds in a formal design
 similar to that of the larger garden it is a part of.

I believe this pie-shaped raised bed
represents a "pizza garden" with tomatoes,
peppers, basil, parsley and some marigolds
thrown in to add some color.

When one wanders beyond the herb gardens there are wonderful garden vignettes to discover.   

The bronze sculpture Serenade, found in the Kress Oval,
depicts George Kress playing his violin as wife,
Marguerite, listens with a rose on her lap.
A bench extends so that garden visitors can  join
Marguerite in appreciating the beauty of the roses.

A concrete leaf fountain raised off the ground on an
overturned clay pot.

The Belvedere is an example of an early Grecian Gazebo. 

The stars, clouds and moon cut into its roof capture the
poetry of the view as much as the quote from
 Wisconsin Poet Laureate, Ellen Kort "Circle the light...
talk to stars...bless the seasons...
let peace bloom like a rose...like the small sure lift of wings." 

Whimsical features delight in the Childrens Garden.

A giant sundial

A flower on the outside unfolds to reveal
a monarch butterfly 

Mr Mcgregor's garden

Child-size chairs of logs invite children to
hide under these weeping branches.

Dragonflies abound

King Shade Garden

Two photovoltaic (solar panel) arrays have been installed near the Landscape/Horticulture Learning Center at the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.  The arrays were designed to look like sunflowers to aesthetically fit inot the gardens' landscape.  Electricity produced by this system will be tied directly into the electric utility grid, with any additional/excess electricity produced being sold back to the utility company. This system will help train future NWTC students in the design, installation, operation and maintenance of solar energy systems.