The Garden Thread - March, 2025

March 1,2025 | 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.

[Paul R.]

I was reading a little also about “damping off” disease. That’s what killed the lettuce I sowed outdoors last spring, I think.

I found myself wondering why there is no effective fungicide treatment, or at least a pre-treatment?

[Liz]

Caramel Popcorn
The secret to evenly coated popcorn w/ thin, crispy caramel coating
is 1. b/soda and 2. oven-baking to dry it out. Stays crispy 2+ weeks.

Ing Popcorn 1/4 c veg oil (not required w/ air popping maker) 1/3 c corn kernels (makes 10 c popcorn) Caramel 7 tbl unsalted butter 1 c br/sugar, 1/2 c light corn syrup 1/2 tsp ea salt/b/soda 1 tsp vanilla

Steps Popcorn Heat oil over med. Add a few kernels; wait til it pops, then quickly add rest kernels, elevate off stove to shake and spread corn out evenly. Cover. Once popcorn starts popping in earnest, shake pot gently once. Remove offheat when popping stops; transfer to lge bowl.

Caramel: Preheat oven to 110°C/230°F. Melt butter over med. Add sugar, corn syrup, salt. Stir/combine. When it starts to bubble, simmer 4 min - DO NOT STIR! Remove offheat; quickly whisk in vanilla, b/soda. When you stop whisking, caramel will foam and increase in volume. Quickly pour over popcorn, toss til caramel cools and starts to harden.

To crisp up: Spread popcorn on 2 b/sheets. Bake 45 min, tossing every 10 min or so. Caramel will remelt first 2-3 tosses - tossing coats popcorn more evenly with caramel. Remove from oven, cool. Gently break into pieces and serve.

Notes: 1/3 c kernels gets full caramel coverage. Corn Syrup stabilizes to avoid crystallization. Stays crisp and fresh stored airtight.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

19,000 tomatoes? I’m gonna need a bigger garden, LOL! :)

Great ad. Thanks! :)

My peppers have germinated and are about an inch tall right now - tomatoes are right behind. 42 degrees outside today, but 75 in the greenhouse!

Rhubarb is up! Robins are all over the place. State High School Basketball tournaments are in the books, and College B-Ball is ramping up. Go, Badgers! It’s windy. It’s SPRING! FINALLY! :)

[FrozenAssets]

I am just beginning to start seeds. I have been preoccupied with getting the new radiant underfloor heating system built and online. If anyone every tries to get you to do a whole house underfloor retrofit, whack ‘em one and run! It seems to be working great. No more splitting wood unless I want to. The boss really likes having warm feet!

[FrozenAssets]

That’s easy for yews to say!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Glad to hear from you! Nice to know you’re thawing out a little! :)

My Uncle Don, who had the very FIRST, ‘Organically Certified Farm’ in Wisconsin, also had a similar set-up, though there was an outside building that held all of the mechanics.

He’s 91 this year and still tinkering. I love that guy! I spent many a happy summer on his farm as unpaid labor; he (and Aunt Alice) are the reason I live the way I do now, after growing up in inner-city Milwaukeestan. :)

[MomwithHope]

Bookmarked Wow that’s a lot I wonder if anyone knows the oldest tomato variety

[Paul R.]

I did a bit of research: The Borgo Cellano is thought to go back 500 years:

https://www.tomatofifou.com/en/produit/borgo-cellano/

A bunch of other interesting links came up, so, for anyone interested:

https://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2022/01/22/what_did_europes_first_tomato_look_like_812766.html

https://www.marysheirloomseeds.com/blogs/news/35904897-ancient-seeds

https://www.everwilde.com/store/Moneymaker-Heirloom-Tomato-Seeds.html

https://growtomato.com/earliest-ripening-tomato-varieties/

And a bit deeper dive into determinate vs indeterminate tomatoes than usual:

https://search.brave.com/search?q=determinate+vs.+indeterminate+tomatos&source=desktop&summary=1&conversation=65f892e248650505b02a31

[Paul R.]

Very cool!

Our buckeye trees are close to blooming (a couple little ones already are), so, the hummingbirds should be showing up any time now...

[Paul R.]

Ah, unfortunately your Badgers got beat by BYU. I saw much of that game and all the 4th quarter. John Tonje put in a GREAT effort for UW, but, as a team the Badgers just let BYU get too many open looks, and the Cougars hit ‘em...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yep. I’m surprised they got as far into the tournament as they did.

Lady Badgers (Basketball) are getting a new coach. Just announced today. Lady Badger Hockey kicked ICE this year! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Make sure that containers you’re using are very clean - even a bleach and water wash is recommended to kill all the ‘germs.’

What causes damping off

All of the pathogens (fungi and molds) responsible for damping off survive well in soil and plant debris.

The pathogens can be introduced into the seedling tray in several ways.

Pots, tools, and potting media that have been used in previous seasons and are not properly cleaned can harbor the pathogens.

Spores of Fusarium spp. can be blown in and carried by insects like fungus gnats, or move in splashing irrigation water.

Pythium spp. is often introduced on dirty hands, contaminated tools or by hose ends that have been in contact with dirt and debris.

It happens to the best of us!

https://extension.umn.edu/solve-problem/how-prevent-seedling-damping

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It’s still a TAD wet out in the garden (and more rain coming this week) and some spots are still FROZEN, but upcoming garden chores will be:

*Fertilize Fruit Trees, flowering Crab Apple and Rhubarb (I use a 10-10-10 granular applied to the soil and let the rain soak it in.

*Clean up the front of the house. Last season PUPPIES did some lovely digging and chewing, etc. Need to replace mulch, prune back perennials and grasses and take a headcount of MISSING solar lights!

*Cut back ‘Jackmanii’ Clematis and take down current trellising. It blooms on old and new wood, but it could use a full haircut this season. Fertile with the 10-10-10.

*Prune fruit trees while they are still dormant - this means cutting back the branches that BONK me in the head when I’m mowing...and haven’t been producting any fruit, anyway!

*Police the entire yard for puppy-dug, ankle-breaker HOLES, pick up fallen branches and twigs, find misc. puppy toys, etc. prior to mowing. I know there is one Dinosaur-sized BONE laying out there, big enough to bend the mower blades, I’ll bet!

*Keep babysitting seedlings. Peppers and Tomatoes are up, but I’m having some germination issues with two varieties, so I will re-plan those quick - they’ll catch up in time.

*Continue cleaning out the 4 garden beds I let go last fall. I have some tomato plants to pull, as well as their cages. Start planning what is going where in each bed...I have my maps drawn up, ready to receive! :)

[Paul R.]

I think the pathogens are in the soil itself, which “kills me” when it comes to direct sowing, unless I replace the entire top layer of “nice” soil I’ve built up over the clay, over the years. I don’t think I’m up for that...

I did find some soil fungicides listed here:

https://crops.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/fungicide-seed-treatment

But have not checked on availability yet. Obviously, there are negatives to such. :-(

“Of course”, weeds seem to be entirely unaffected by these diseases...

[Liz]

Vegetables in Asian broth / serves 2
Quick, easy, low cal, delicious. Pile in veg--cooks down so you can really go wild.

Ing Asian Broth 4 c chix stock, 2 gar/cl peeled/ halved, 1/2" gingeroot in 5 thin slices (highly recommended) 1 star anise, 1 1/2 tbl soy sauce, 2 tsp sugar 1 1/2 tbl chinese cooking wine 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil Vegetables (be generous!) 4–6 stems Chinese broccoli or bok choy, stems and leaves sliced and separated small carrot, peeled, halved lengthways then finely sliced on diagonal 2.5 oz enoki or other mushrooms sliced or quartered

Toppings 1/2 c cilantro leaves (or Thai basil, mint, chives) 1 green onion , green part finely sliced 2 tbsp crispy fried shallots Chilli crisp, chilli sauce or sriracha, Other ideas: sesame seeds, sliced chilli, Thai basil

Instructions Place Broth ing in large lidded pan over high heat, bring to simmer then reset to lowest heat and simmer gently 10 min to infuse. (Meanwhile, chop the veg). Turn heat to high; bring back to rapid simmer. Add carrots, Chinese broccoli stems and enoki mushrooms. Cook 3 min. Add/submerge Chinese broccoli leaves, simmer 2 min to wilt.

Serve – Toss garlic and ginger. Divide between 2 bowls. Top w/ mound of coriander, sprinkle w/ green onions, shower with crispy shallots, good dollop of chilli sauce or chilli crisp. Dig in.

[MomwithHope]

You’ve got buckeyes? Are they the ones with the orange berries? I’ve been looking them up as a few days ago. The berries are super nutritious. Saw them first on a video a couple had a bunch of them in a teapot and made tea. I saw where you had to have two trees and we just don’t have the room for 2.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It’s too early to panic. Was lettuce the only seed that was effected when directly sown?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Paul R.]

Ours produce orange-brown thin skinned nuts similar to these: And the flowers look like: These are not edible / contain toxins, though I have seen squirrels partially eat them. Not sure what happened to the squirrel! I'm pretty sure the trees will produce nuts once 6ft. tall or so.

[Paul R.]

The lettuce was the only plant (seeds) I tried. I was trying to see if I could get it going when it was till pretty cool outside: Ie., marginal risk of frost, but I could cover if necessary.

I might try a small patch where I scrape off the top couple inches of soil, add new (purchased from Menards?) topsoil, and plant in that.

You’d think some sort of fungicide applied to the soil would work, but I’m not finding much except those intended for lawns. Might not be safe for veggies? Daconil, maybe?