Posted on 05/01/2025 6:15:12 AM PDT by 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.
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I have a special place in my heart for nuns, ESPECIALLY nice ones! I had great nuns in grade school. I was an eager student, so they loved that. I even searched them out in their retirement to get back in touch and tell them thank you. It was amazing to reconnect with them as an adult.
Besides my nuns from my youth, I’ve had the pleasure of working with them as an adult. Always so talented, creative, and always with a cool perspective, and a calm demeanor. I admire that about them.
There was a group of Dominican nuns that we had gotten to know through retreats and such. We found out they needed a car. Well, we had used ours for so long, and were ready to move on to something bigger. We brought all of babies home from the hospital in that little sedan. So we sold it to them for $1 to make the transfer of the title legal. It was nice to know such a special car to us was helping someone else out.
Also, my Grandma had two sisters who became nuns. I’m not sure which order, but I sort of think it was in Wisconsin for some reason. I was a very little girl when I met them. Maybe 6. So I only remember a little bit about them. I’m not sure I would’ve known where Wisconsin was back then, so maybe I’ve made that part up in my head. LOL.
foreign imported fruit seeds will NOT germinate because they’ve been irradiated.
Thanks! A small thing like that is good to know! I like mangos but I have to be careful about eating too many. I react to posion ivy from the urushinol, something that is also in Mangos.
(I think you are becoming the tropical fruit SME for the thread!)
My father had a Ford tractor after he moved out to the country. Sold it at some point and moved down to Arkansas because of the lower taxes and warmer weather.
Beside the bait I imagine you could also use the crayfish to feed the perch.
I was thinking of the large wooded tracts south of Indy, esp. the Hoosier National Forest, but more generally also that entire large area around Bloomington / Nashville / and south toward Bedford, etc.: I know there are among other things quite a few State Forests and Parks down there, and I imagine the southern portion of the Wabash Valley is pretty “snaky” too. Generally, if the terrain is supportive, the further south, the more snakes, as they are cold blooded, although kingsnakes, IIRC, show some ability to keep their temperature somewhat higher than their environment, if need be...
Too bad they got a bad rap with you - most are very beneficial and their interest in humans generally lies in staying away from us...
Looked out the kitchen window first thing this morning & Bunbun was having breakfast next to the boxwood bed. Then Bunbun hopped into the boxwood bed ... run roh! Took two big sniffs of the closest boxwood, didn’t take a single nibble, & hopped away. Whew!
Coming down the home stretch today on filling my raised beds. Yesterday I hauled 84 5-gallon buckets of topsoil filling those suckers with more to go today. I used mom’s golf car & cart to haul the buckets to my 2 beds - backed up too far & broke the top board of one bed. I have one extra board so I will be doing repairs this morning, before commencing with hauling. Herbs, jalapeños, dahlia seedlings & tubers plus zinnia seeds should be in the beds today. “Cold” night coming, frost in some places, but we should be OK plus I have covers for the 4 dahlia seedlings.
Busy Lady! I’m ‘suiting up’ to spread straw today - which means I’m in my rattiest tattiest clothing and my worst pair of Tennies. ;)
LOL! I have on an old T-shirt tied with string at the shoulders to keep the sleeves up so I don’t get a farmer’s tan (no, I’m not vain at all :-). No bug (gnat) net needed yet, but I have on my mowing baseball style cap to keep from getting a sunburn on my head & face. Old clogs - soles so thin I’ve had rocks punch through! My sweatpants are accented with a knee brace on my non-surgical knee - it’s whining because it doesn’t like any sort of twisting which is happening when I load/unload. A garden apparel ‘fashion show’ would be very interesting!
The raised bed I crashed into backing the trailer up is repaired & it turned out just fine. Those 2 beds took 24 5-gal buckets. I left a little room to add some sand & richer topsoil. I DEFINITELY will have everything planted today - after having to put the raised beds off for weeks due to mom’s projects, you have no idea how happy this makes me!
We have desert hard packed soil here - the very worst! Lots of people here garden in raised beds - I’ve amended the soil for years, but use mostly pots except for the fruit trees.
Have planted two avocados over the years - lost both and won’t plant another one. Some of my neighbors have beautiful, large trees, which don’t produce every year.
My local nursery told me planting an avocado here is 50-50 as far as it taking and thriving.
Think I’ll stick with citrus and figs which thrive in this fairly harsh climate (we are going from 60 degrees and rainy to 94 on Sunday, that’s how fast the weather changes around here - plants don’t know what to do!).
Next planting will be a native rose called a "rock rose" it's really pretty but the flowers are small. Needs little to no care as it thrives in our climate.
I had a colleague who was able to propagate roses from cuttings I gave him, he said there is a lot of hit and miss but he seemed to succeed and couldn't wait to show me his new roses.
Rock Rose, apparently native to our climate - but I've never seen one in the wild:
Those are beautiful photos!
Love the clematis - love them and have seen them in local garden stores - but I keep losing them I think b/c of our hot, dry climate in S. California.
My grandmother gathered wild mushrooms in California, knew which ones to pick. No one ever got sick, according to my relatives. Unfortunately, she died when I was very very young so I was not able to find out which ones she picked and knew were safe. I leave them alone...
UC Davis and LSU in Louisiana both had growing programs that involved Fig trees in their Pomonology Ag programs. Both were discontinued at some point. (Used the funds for DEI programs and PolyScie?) I have an LSU Tiger (It has purple stipes of course!) and LSU Improved Celeste in my 5 gallon bucket Fig orchard.
If you ever think about planting a new fig tree you can go to YouTube and see all sorts of videos of fig varieties. Some of the better are I-258, Black Maderia, Violette d Bordeaux, Bordissot Griese, Col de Dame Noire, Campaniere, Maltese Beauty . I had Black Madeira (kk) but it did not ripen for me until December which would not be a problem for you, a great tasting fig which I gave away to someone after advising them that it has to be brought inside to ripen.
**This note is for people not in the LA area....I am in zone 6B; I have 2 in ground figs. Chicago Hardy and Olympian. They do grow back from winter die off or trim down, and can produce if you prune them and train to no more than 2 or 3 fruiting ladders. I have a third, Nero 600. which grows back but has not produced fruit after die back, so it's essentially a landscape planting. Olympian (probably a European brown turkey) produces the better fig. They need winter protection. Cut back in December cover the stem with mulch and plastic bags filled with leaves. (Be aware that voles like to eat the roots.) When they come back treat them as unproductive weeds that require heavy pruning of the suckers into 2 or 3 scaffolds to produce. If you live in a temperate area like LA, there is not much point in planting these 2 figs, there are much better tasting figs than these cold tolerant varieties! I have better tasting cold sensitive figs growing in 5 gallon buckets which I can put in a dark place in the basement overwinter.
**One more note for anyone other than Bon reading this...any fig discussed here is a Common Fig that does NOT require a wasp for pollination.
Here is an article about a A cheese analog that I am sure is produced in a brewing state like Wisconsin!
About Nutritional Yeast, Nature’s Cheeto Dust
“The result is delicious, malty, and smells like crushed corn chips with undertones of fresh parm,” says Shilpa. “For many dairy-free folks, a generous scattering over potatoes, croutons, or sauces replicates the buttery, straw-like aromas of real cheese.”
All the affluent types around me do yard work in upscale sorts of exercise clothing. When I work in the yard I wear really old falling apart clothing. Why ruin good clothing?
In-a-Hurry Mexican Soup
Done in 10 min. Perfect after a day of gardening.
Btb on med-high 4 c strong chicken broth 10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes w/ chilies, 14 oz can corn kernels drained, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp ea gar/powder, grnd cumin, 2 tbl minced cilantro leaves (can use dried), 2 shredded leftover cooked chix breasts. Simmer to heat thru.
Serve: Ladle into bowls, top w/ crushed tortilla chips, sour cream,
shredded fave Mexican cheese. Pass hot sauce; add as needed.
God bless, I am off to do some yard work!
I don’t have the money for ‘upscale exercise clothing’. I mostly shop at Goodwill or other thrift stores. I don’t care what the neighbors think either ... they’re cows! :-)
Considering buying some resistant types next year. https://all-americaselections.org/aas-winning-tomato-types/
I have only one fig tree - a Black Mission. It is wonderful to eat warm off of the tree - and ripens in August - I have to fight fig beetles before that time! We had so many figs last year that we were able to make a fig/walnut spread and give that as Christmas gifts (I think we made 18 small jars). Everyone loved it.
I did have a Strawberry Fig that I planted at the same time as the Black Mission but unfortunately it didn’t take. My brother has one and it produces beautiful green figs that are red on the inside - beautiful!
My next tree will be a mulberry tree - there are two in my neighborhood and both are heavy producers. I’ll have to look up recipes for mulberry jam.
I understood that Mulberries are planted around orchards because birds like the and prefer them to the fruit being grown. (Be prepared to have a lot of purple bird poop on your car windshield!) The time I tried them and I did not find that they had much flavor, but that was probably a wild tree. Fig trees are a member of the Mulberry family! There is a You Pick in Brentwood called Habitera. https://verymulberry.com/ Good luck!
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