White County
 Gardening
Podcast
November 18, 2009
Thanksgiving Garden for Your House
(2:30 minutes)
Audio/Video Script:
Sherri Sanders
County Extension Agent - Agriculture
With the Thanksgiving meal coming right up, now is the time to give a thought
to a centerpiece for your table. Hello, this is Sherri Sanders, County Extension
Agent - Agriculture in White County.
Considering the celebration's humble
beginning, homespun is better than glitz and glamour for the table setting. The
food itself - the red of cranberries, the warm brown of the turkey, the green
of green beans, the orange of pumpkin pies - does much to enliven the table. So
the centerpiece can be as simple as a basket piled with shiny apples.
Perhaps one of these ideas will inspire you to bring a little bit of outside
in.
For a table decoration - See if you can find a nice basket or a bowl in which
you can arrange some fruit, some vegetables, and some colorful autumn leaves.
Find some branches with colorful leaves and some branches with colorful fruit
on them and place them in a large vase or jug. Try some fruit branches which
look great: ornamental crabapples, cedar branches, cattails, cornhusks, wheat or
other grain right from a field.
Here are some other ideas using materials from your yard or pantry:
- Search the yard for an interesting
branch that will fit the center of your table. It's a good idea to spray
the branch with insect repellent several days before using. Then let it
air in basement or garage for several days to rid it of odor. Position
the branch down the center of the table, resting miniature pumpkins in
the crooks and bends and spreading nuts and gourds on the table around
the branch. Add votive candles for an evening meal.
- In place of place cards, write each
guest's name on a tiny pumpkin. For the centerpiece, cut the top from a
pumpkin and scoop out seeds; fill with trailing ivy cut from the yard.
Cut the ivy early and give it a basement spray wash. Shake to dry before
arranging in the pumpkin.
- Cranberries filling a variety of tall,
slim vases add wonderful color, with or without a ribbon strategically
placed. Cranberries also are wonderful in place of florist marbles in
arrangements. A good-sized clear vase filled with cranberries to which
you add corkscrew willow or other interestingly shaped branches can be
simple and stunning.
If you dine after dark, put cranberries in those narrow vases, fill
with water and add floating candles for a wonderful glow that can
reappear to brighten the December holidays.
Enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday and let your garden greet your guests as you
prepare to indulge around the table. This has been Sherri Sanders in Searcy.
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