White County
 Gardening
Podcast
November 17, 2010
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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