The Garden Thread - July, 2025

July, 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.

[Qiviut]

If you really want to torture yourself more by looking at recipes you would LOVE to eat, but probably will never make .... scroll down & look at the other chocolate recipes!

[Qiviut]

The bacon wrapping never works well for me either! I have not tried laying bacon on top, definitely something I will try.

I told mom I would give her a popper - she claims never to have had one. Somehow, between lunch & dinner, all the poppers ‘disappeared’ & she didn’t get one .... oops! I’ll just have to make another batch! :-)

[MomwithHope]

What I like about them is I can keep the filling in the fridge for a week and make a few when I want some.

[Qiviut]

Check out this macaroni & cheese casserole recipe. Making the sauce (roux) is work, but based on the comments, the result is worth it. Since my church does a lot of potlucks, someone always brings macaroni & cheese so I have sampled quite a few variations. While good, I have yet to try one that’s ‘outstanding’ ... this might be that recipe!

https://carlsbadcravings.com/million-dollar-macaroni-cheese-casserole-recipe/

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Chocolate pudding! And much more doable than a from-scratch chocolate cake!

(Off to do yard and garden things! Storms possible this evening says Weather.gov)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I would give my front teeth for an asphalt driveway - but with a MILE to pave from the road to the farm, that’s never going to happen, LOL!

Beau buys a dump or two of ground, recycled asphalt ever few years and spreads that around, then whatever waste oil he’s saved from vehicle/machinery oil changes gets sprayed on top. It works pretty well and has made a big difference in how much dust gets tracked into the house from just plain gravel.

Got my bug dope and was able to get two more rows weeded. I took advantage of some overcast sky time this afternoon. I had a few buzzes in my ear, but no one hit me.

I bough Off! Clean Feel from Johnson & Johnson, Racine, WI! Unscented, about $5 for a 5oz. spray can. I’m impressed. I can’t remember the last time I used bug dope. They have greatly improved it! Active ingredient is Picardin - obviously named after Jean Luc Picard, LOL!

From Consumer Reports:

“Picaridin’s safety hasn’t been as well studied as that of deet, which has been commercially available for decades longer. But evidence suggests that picaridin poses little risk when used according to the directions on the label. Possible adverse effects include skin and eye irritation, but these appear to be very rare.

In a study of calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers between January 2000 and May 2015, researchers found that of all the calls concerning picaridin, just one resulted in a person being hospitalized, and most problems were easily handled at home.”

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m turning 65, so I’m not HAVING a birthday this year. How did this happen? I was a know-it-all bratty teenager only yesterday! (Ask my Mom!)

And now suddenly I’m OLD like Beau! He’s 6 months older than me, so calls me, ‘Kid’ from his November birthday until mine.

And for Pete’s Sake! They need to stop sending me Medicare Junk Mail, LOL! I have ENOUGH to worry about - deciding whether to remain a blonde or go all-the-way gray! How about Silver and Gold? That might work. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That cake looks gorgeous! I haven’t decided what cake I want, yet. We’re celebrating on the 26th with family and friends at Buck & Honey’s in Mount Horeb.

Mom always made me an Angel Food Cake, sometimes with the colored sprinkles in it, and we’d have fresh strawberries and REAL Whipped Cream on top. That’s always a contender for a summer birthday. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Grandma made the BEST Mac-N-Cheese when I was a kid with our monthly allotment of, ‘Free Government Cheese.’ (It was just a big SLAB of Velveeta).

Mom later did it one better and added a shredded can of Corned Beef to the recipe when we had ‘finally arrived’ and had some money, LOL!

[Augie]

Hot weekend here in Central Missouri. Scattered showers/thunderstorms. .25" rainfall at my place yesterday. We've got pop-up storms in the area again today - it's flatrocking outside now but I don't think it will last very long.

I'm mostly caught up with weeding in the new garden patch. I took the weed whacker to the space inside what will be the new hoop house if I ever get it finished. With the weeds knocked down I'm out of excuses for not working on it. lol

I turned the old compost heap and brought a dozen or so loader buckets full of the "new" stuff and added it to the pile in the garden yard on Saturday. Started spreading that in the bare spaces between veggie plants/rows. Put down a dozen or so wheelbarrow loads on Saturday and about the same number on Sunday. Covered maybe 20% of the space that needs it, so I've got a ways to go before that task is finished. I have plenty of material to finish, just gotta get out there and do it.

Tomato plants have mostly recovered from the indignities suffered during the deluge in June. I have lots of whopper-size green tomatoes so BLT time is just around the corner. Pepper plants are lush and loaded with fruit. Spaghetti squash have softball-size fruit and plenty of new blossoms. Cukes are just starting to set fruit so it won't be long until it's pick-every-day time.

After the bunny rabbits mowed my pole beans I let the weeds take that space. That gave the bean plants some cover and the plants that survived the vicious attack have regrown and are now almost waist high. I'm not expecting a bumper crop, but with the weeds pulled from around them I think they'll take off now. I think I'll get a few good pickings out of them before the end of the season.

Eggplants are kaput. They never took off after being transplanted. Probably too much sun out there. I pulled them up on Saturday.

I'm beginning to think that Howard's previous "caretakers" tortured him with the shock collar. Any time something near him beeps at a frequency close to what the collar makes he comes unglued - he cowers/whines/cries/runs if he can - he cowers if I so much as show him the collar. I can't imagine what kind of person treats a sweet animal with that sort of cruelty, but if there's any justice in the universe it will come back to them.

[MomwithHope]

Wait til you start getting the medicare phone calls. This time of year they are relentless. I skipped gray entirely. Stayed a light brown/dark brown until I started going white. The white I like. Gray just made me feel old. I used the store bought stuff.

[MomwithHope]

Looks like a real sweet dog!

[MomwithHope]

I meant light brown/dark blonde

[Qiviut]

What a day! Paving crew finished 4:30 - 5:00. They were some hot, tired guys. At 5:30, it was still 93, feels like 99. The driveway is beautiful & the loop to the front door makes for a very elegant approach.

So I was strangely nervous all day, stayed inside. I trusted the contractor to do a great job, but all the equipment, dump trucks & people ... I tried not to look out the window(s) too often. I am super glad this project is “over”.

My time today was spent looking at casseroles & other recipes. Mom has all these people she wants to have over & that’s not including folks from our old town who say they are coming.

I have Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti casserole in the oven. She says it’s a family & cowboy favorite & the comments are good. It’s easy to make so that’s a plus - I used rotisserie chicken I had in the freezer instead of boiling one in a pot as she did.

Fortunately, we have a BBQ place nearby - really good & you can buy it by the pound. That will help out for some of the more casual meals since I’ll just have to make sides & dessert.

[Paul R.]

Great pic!

[Paul R.]

Sheesh! We got another cloudburst today. It’s now being followed up after a brief break, by a more general rain. But that first blast: I ran inside after securing a few things and got in just as the heavy drops began. Then, I didn’t really need to “go”, but I figured this one (storm) might last a while & back up the toilet, so I use it and... It overflowed anyway. I couldn’t believe it — it had only been raining 10 minutes at most, and yesterday’s little soaker was almost all soaked in or drained off (just one puddle in a low spot in the driveway; no puddles left in the yard; I’d even dug a couple holes for flowers in big deep pots on clearance from Menards and didn’t hit water.

So. I grabbed the nearest heavy towel to staunch the little wave going across the bathroom floor. Wifey is P.O.’d because it’s “her” towel. “Sorry, Love, it was the only large dark towel in the bathroom!”

At least it was only pee-water - the towel is out, wrong out, hung over a plastic crate, and getting a prelim rinse in the medium rain we are getting now...

Per my gauge that I passed as I took the towel out (and the rain conveniently let up for a few minutes) we got about 3/4” in under 15 minutes, most of it in the 1st 10 minutes, I think. We are lucky no strong downburst was associated with it. I still can’t figure out how the laterals backfilled into the septic tank so fast!

[Paul R.]

Yesterday’s rain dump broke down a few tomato plants I’d not caught up with, but, I addressed all those and more this morning, so, theoretically all should be “ok”.

I also didn’t find any more potato beetles on the eggplants / squash / cukes, so, hopefully the Sevin was on them long enough to do its thing.

[daniel1212]

Thx 4 the ping, and sorry for not posting sooner, but bikes to fix, outreach to do, etc. yet I did have some pics to share. And some advice to ask some of the crew who make know what causes this on an apple tree:

Meanwhile,

[MomwithHope]

Hi and thanks for posting. Always love to see your garden. Everything looks pretty good.

[FamiliarFace]

That looks like a pretty great recipe. I have my family’s recipe, which uses a great roux, and I tweaked the original to include a mixture of sharp cheddar, smoked Gouda, and gruyere. I just made up a big batch on the 4th to bring in a crockpot to a neighbor’s bbq/pool party. Her college aged son, home for the summer, LOVES my Mac n cheese, so I always bring enough to leave him extra. I bring Mac n cheese, and I swim in their pool. I think that’s a decent trade off. (Isn’t it nice to have neighbors with a pool invite you over on a hot sunny day?)