The Garden Thread - June, 2025

June 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.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Thanks. We didn’t plant onions for a couple of years for the same reasons: our results weren’t good, and onions were cheap enough to buy.

[Qiviut]

Gorgeous day with sunshine & temps climbing into the 70’s- yay! Grass is sopping wet with dew so I decided to make dinner this morning & then I can work late & dinner will be cooked, just need warming.

Just as I was getting ready to saute onions, there was a big BANG! and the power was instantly off. Mom was at the mailbox so when she came in, I asked if she heard a big ‘bang’. She had, but thought it was a car going by backfiring (didn’t have hearing aids in).

I reported the outage via my phone & was not happy to see no one else was reporting it. Ruh roh! I waited probably 40 minutes, still just us & was going to contact electric co-op again when the phone rang - one of their engineers. She explained she had waited 30 minutes for our meter to show nothing, but it had not cleared, could I check it? Sure - it was blank, no current getting to it, so she sent a crew. It turns out the older guy on the crew had been here many times for squirrels tripping the transformer to the house. This time it was a bird - power back on in 15 minutes. Measures had been taken by the previous owner & power company to keep squirrels off the pole which is why we haven’t had a problem until some bird got us. Glad we didn’t have company coming for lunch (we do on the 12th).

I bought alfalfa hay for my horses, but they only got a flake or so every couple of days but the majority of their hay was regular (mainly orchard grass) hay because:

“Alfalfa Hay (also known as Legume Hay) averages 21.2% protein and 11% NSC (simple starches). Grass Hay averages 10.8% protein and 12.9% NSC. Alfalfa Hay is also higher in Calcium, with about 3 times as much as Grass Hay. This can become important when considering the ideal Calcium:Phosphorus ratio for horses, which should be about 2:1. The Calcium in Alfalfa is higher, but the Phosphorus is about the same as grass hay, which could lead to an imbalance in the diet of a given horse.”

I got a rabbit after seeing the Molly Brown play & named her “Molly” - she was a great pet.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Here in NH, it’s another story so since they are more expensive and I have a MUCH bigger garden, it’s worth it to grow them.”

It’s always a trade-off. With no kids to feed, I ‘garden’ according to what Beau and I like to eat fresh and preserve versus going for SHEER VOLUME to keep three growing boys fed. ;)

[metmom]

Yup.

[FrozenAssets]

A great big subarctic howdy all!

I finally got the flower beds renovated. What a chore. The raised beds and the hoop houses are all planted. Down in the ag parcel I plowed and tilled and hilled 8 or 9 150 foot rows to try stuff in. I have a pump down there feeding a couple hunderd feet of flatline and it is driving 7 rainbird sprinklers. Now if we wouold get a decent rain. It is drier than a popcorn fart. We get clouds every day but no rain. We are hoping that some moron doesn’t do something stupid with regard to fire.

Keep the shiny side up!!

[FrozenAssets]

I’ll trade you some mosquitoes for some rain!

[FrozenAssets]

Once they get going in a place they really persist year after year. They put roots down to China!

[Augie]

This past week was slightly damp and a bit on the cool side here in Central Missouri. All that smoke from the burning wildlands of Canuckada is obscuring the sunshine here. Sunsets have been spectacular, but I'll be happy when it clears up.

I'm still behind on the kitchen garden thanks to the wet weather during April, but I think maybe I'm gaining on it. The bunny rabbits mowed my row of pole beans down a few nights ago. I guess I'll replant and see if I can come up with a deterrent of some sort to prevent that from happening again. None of the cucumber seed I planted a couple weeks ago germinated. I used the seed I had on hand (packed for sale by Dec of '22 lol) so no surprise there really. I bought more seed last week and replanted yesterday. Tomatoes/peppers/eggplants are over their transplant shock and starting to look halfway decent. The new rhubarb plants are looking really good.

The spaghetti squash I planted is out of the ground and looking happy. I spent some time yesterday weeding the new asparagus bed. Got about 1/3 of it done and hope to finish that by the weekend. Sowed two hills of zucchini on Saturday. A buddy of mine saved some seed from those little sweet peppers that Aldi's sells and germinated a bunch of them this spring. He had more than he needed so he gave eight of them to me last week. I don't know if those are heirloom or hybrid but I found a spot for them in the garden. I guess they'll either make something or they won't.

I built another raised bed, set it in place, and mostly filled it with dirt yesterday. I built the first one in-place, which made it a bit more difficult than necessary. This one I built in my workshop and moved it to the garden with the tractor. I filled it about halfway up with nothing special dirt, gave it a good soaking, then brought it up to 3/4 full with semi-rotted horse poo and soaked it again. I'll finish filling it with topsoil today, soak it one more time, then figure out what to plant in it. I've got five varieties of basil that are ready to transplant so that's probably what will wind up going in.

#1 Marine Daughter helped me get stray dog Howard to the vet Saturday morning for a chip and wellness check. He didn't have a chip so I had one installed, got his shots up to date, and made an appointment for this Thursday to have him neutered. So far he seems to be quite happy with his new situation, at least until Thursday anyway. lol

Now that he's settled in a bit his personality is starting to be revealed and I've got a feeling that he's going to be quite a character. He's super curious about things and is quite the little sneak thief. So far he's pilfered a pair of gardening gloves, a sweatshirt, and a beer coozy off of Mrs. Augie's golf cart, a chair cushion from the front porch, a broom and dustpan from the garage, and probably some other stuff that we haven't yet noticed.

He even helped me roll up the tow straps that I used to move the planter bed.

[Albion Wilde]

Pretty difficult to do a 15-ft selfie!

[Qiviut]

Howard has found himself in “Hound Heaven” .... I think he’ll forgive you for Thursday 😊

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Wow! You are a Hardcore Gardener in really tough conditions. Impressive and good on you! :)

“We are hoping that some moron doesn’t do something stupid with regard to fire.”

Dry? In Alaska? Where’s all the snow melt? ;) We are currently, ‘enjoying’ all the smoke coming our way from the Canada wildfires. Ugh! It gets dark earlier than it should this time of year and the Sun looks like it’s in, ‘Eclipse Mode’ every evening!

“Keep the shiny side up!”

When I’d check out a vehicle, my Motor Chief always told me, ‘Shiny side UP! Rubber side DOWN!’

I did scrape the roof of one of his vans while I was driving into underground parking. :( I had to bake him a batch of cookies every WEEK for like a YEAR to pay for that particular sin, LOL!

I saw him at a gathering last year and he STILL reminded me of that incident; he misses that supply of cookies. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Thanks for thinking of us! Yikes! That is QUITE the map!

It’s been windy today and we have rain coming tomorrow, so that will help a lot. I’ve been a little congested, but the sunset tonight was pretty much back to normal - not ‘Eclipse-Like’ as it’s been for the past two days. I’ve been in the garden in the early AM, and then in the house the rest of the day other than to refill bird feeders in the afternoon. The outside dogs are not showing any discomfort.

Beau & crew leave this weekend for Canada for Black Bear hunting and also fishing. They will be east of the fires - north of Lake Superior and to the east - and he’s been in touch with their ‘roughing-it resort’ and the fires and/or smoke should not a problem where they will be staying, thank goodness!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Howard is going to be living his Best Life Ever with you at the helm. Thank you so much for taking him in! On that same note, my 'Emma Jolene' Treeing Walker Coon Hound (raised her from a pup!) won a UKC Bench Show this past weekend. Yeah, she's a Beauty, but is still a stone cold killer when it comes to raccoon. She is currently a Nite Champion, on her way to 'Grand Nite Champion.' Here she is in mid-howl:

Emma Jolene's got it ALL goin' on!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have a total GLUT of Bibb Lettuce this season. So, I know it’s great for ‘wraps.’ Here are some recipes I’m going to make this week so I can use up the bounty!

Orange Chicken Lettuce Wraps:

https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/orange-chicken-lettuce-wraps/

And then some variation of these ideas:

11 Lettuce Wrap Recipes Packed With Flavor

https://www.foodandwine.com/lettuce-wrap-recipes-8548460

[FamiliarFace]

I have another use for those sweet onions. Hush puppies. If you’ve never heard of them, that’s ok. They’re a Southern thing. Cornmeal, finely minced sweet onions, buttermilk, egg. Deep fried for just a couple of minutes. They look like donut holes but don’t taste like them.

Last week I got the recipe from an old family friend. I ordered hush puppy mix from a Carolina company on her recommendation, and the mix got here on Saturday. I made up a batch that evening, and they tasted just like I remember!! Score a big win with help from family and friends. 😍

They’re addictive.

[FamiliarFace]

Just as I was about to start dinner prep tonight, I noticed our refrigerator was flashing an error code. As quickly as we could, hubby looked up the code, which meant the fan in the freezer was messed up. Fortunately we have an extra fridge and freezer in the garage. We unloaded the freezer portion first.

While not on the list of steps to take, hubby decided that he would first try turning off the breaker to the fridge. Waited for a minute, then turned it back on. It worked!

We are keeping things in the other fridge/freezer until we’re sure this is fixed. The fridge is 11 years old, and I’m sure it’s out of warranty by now. Fingers crossed that this little detour before dinner will be sufficient.

[FamiliarFace]

Awww, that is so great!! I love your Howard!!

[Paul R.]

Ugh. One more dry day. Then NWS is predicting 6 days with moderate to high chances of rain for us. My poor garden...

I may try digging up a few plants and putting them in pots: Most of my plants left in pots are doing well. (The roots aren’t drowning!)

The wood for raised beds would be pretty expensive. But, long term, I wonder about raising and contouring the entire garden area(s). I do have so-so quality topsoil in qty.* sufficient IF I want to kill a couple nice sycamore trees growing there. And, I could slowly mix in gravel and river sand, with some of same as underlayment. Hmmm...

*SOME of that soil is from my old “worm bed”. It probably has some juglone in it, but if such soil is at least a foot down, maybe that won’t matter so much, esp. if away from the hickory trees, the juglone levels should be diminished by microbial action (which I can perhaps spur along a bit?)

[daniel1212]

I’ve been having much the same problem. For most of the last 2 months, I can hit water in under 6” of digging, and after rains, for a day or two, the soil is completely saturated (esp. in my 2nd garden area). The water table is right at or maybe a couple inches down, those days, if I don’t have standing water. My potted plants are generally doing well, those in the ground are struggling or dying.

Since our major crop here in MA are rocks:), then drainage is not the problem. For me it is that of 4'' of rain plus a new roof and wind adding to that due to drainage onto the garden side.

[Pollard]

Couple of years ago we had a drought Spring and everyone waited and waited but finally said the heck with it and cut/baled tan hay. Everyone except a Mennonite family who waited a couple more weeks. Had one rain that was just enough to green up the grass and they had green bales sitting in the field while everyone else had tan bales.

This year’s the opposite and no one’s been able to cut. More rain this week so it ain’t happening yet. Definitely not getting three cuttings in this year.

It looks nice when they cut, like driving by 1000’s of acres of lawn. Of course if you walked it, you’d find it’s still 6” tall but driving by looks like lawn.