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.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

TWO - count them - TWO days in a row without rain! I am on the mower today and tomorrow. Ya-Hoo! I cannot believe how fast the grass is growing, even with our high temps. I just mowed on Friday!

Got my new sun hat with bug netting and it’s really nice. Loving that bug dope from Off. Can’t believe the improvements they’ve made over the years. I am pretty much caught up on weeding, but there are two spots I’m going to nuke. They are not near any food plants and we have no water up here by the house. Safety First!

Hope everyone is drying out a bit. More rain here on Friday - I think I’ll go walk at the Hospital, which is a really nice thing they allow for the ‘Silver Sneakers’ crowd. :)

[Qiviut]

We had rain (thunderstorms) yesterday & today ... probably for the rest of the week, too.

Company coming Saturday so I need to mow at least the front yard Friday - I might be dodging raindrops. Mom trimmed around all the trees in the front yard last night so that majorly reduces my trimming.

Making 1st casserole out of the 500 casserole cookbook: Pasta & Chicken Alfredo. She has an easy alfredo sauce which is pretty tasty- looking forward to dinner!

Love that bug hat you have!

[Paul R.]

Deep frying will reduce it by ~ 40%.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine#Effects_of_cooking_on_solanine_levels

...And my parents taught me to like to eat the peel of baked potatoes with the rest of it “because that’s where most of the nutrients are”!

[FamiliarFace]

My parents did the same, and hubby’s parents trained him that way, too.

Over the years I have learned to enjoy potato skins if they have been “twice” cooked. When I make hash browns, I do a couple of extra potatoes when I bake them. Then in the next few days, I use those potatoes that we didn’t eat in hash browns for breakfast (or another dinner). The starch in the potatoes has reduced in the fridge, and the skins crisp up nicely.

[FamiliarFace]

We were supposed to resume the major tree removal project today, but first thing in the morning we had thunderstorms with lightning. It was supposed to break around 10, and then start up again around noon.

So we got a message from our tree guy telling us that for safety’s sake, they wouldn’t be coming until tomorrow. The crazy thing is, those continued storms never developed, so we were delayed yet again. I hope we can resume tomorrow morning. Should be ok. A part of me worries that the big diseased hickory tree will fall on our neighbor’s house before we can get it cut down safely.

On the cooking front, I’m interested in hearing about the Alfredo casserole. How did it turn out?

[Qiviut]

The taste was good, but it was a little dry. I made the sauce exactly per the recipe & it was fairly thick. Next time, I would add another 1/4 - 1/2 cup of milk to loosen it up.

[Pollard]

Got an hour and 20 minutes of weeding done yesterday morning before the sun started baking my head. I did a mix of pulling well rooted long lived grass/weeds and maintaining the hay mulched areas that have baby grass growing out of the hay itself or barely rooted in soil. Both are easy to pull roots and all but there's a whole bunch of them.

I didn't prep the tunnel area before putting the frame up because I didn't want to be stomping on bare dirt. I also thought I'd try the living pathway thing but most of the grass and weeds I have spread sideways via runners or shoots, putting down new roots along the way. They're trying to take over the beds quickly so they gotta go. Between pulling and tarping with black plastic/rubber, I'll have it all cleaned up next year sometime.

Fertilized the new seedlings yesterday afternoon. Need to get more liquid fertilizer and will look to see what else they have besides the fish emulsion which at 5-1-1, is pretty weak. I think Ace has Espoma brand products which seem to be decent.

Finally measured a tiny bit of rain. I had been tilting the tipping bucket back and forth for connection and testing, then got it all put together and we had a good rain day before yesterday but I had reconnected my pump relay after having swapped to the big controller and didn't plug the system back in. Plugged it back in after most of the rain but caught 0.020 inches at least overnight.

I also keep stealing the extension cord to blow a fan on me when I'm out there to at least keep the skeeters off of one side of me. Need to bring the solar panels and battery back down there and hook them up to run pump and controller and free up the cord.

To save a walk to the shed when I want to fertilize 1-2 beds or use the water hose for a minute, I'm going to add the little basic timer I started with. Turn it on, punch in some minutes and hit start. If it already has power, just hit start to run the same amount of time as last time. Want a new time, turn it off and back on and punch in some minutes. I'm leery about running two power wires from two controllers to the pump though but I figured out a fix using a SPDT relay. Tech time.

This is the old V120 I programmed to be a really simple timer. Supposed to be a pump icon in lower left corner. IIRC it's animated too - ooh aah.

Here's the system at rest with Relay 1 Off. V120 OFF - X-332 Controller can power pump.

12 vdc+ is applied to the relay when V120 is supplying 12 vdc+ to pump which prevents 12 vdc+ coming from Controller. Spent over an hour trying to figure out how to do it with two relays then figured out I need to KISS and just use one and had it figured out in a minute then. You would think I should run the pump from the NO contact for the V120 but then I'd be feeding 12 vdc+ back into the X-332 controller. I'll have to check amperage but it may be that I'll need a SPST relay in between the V120 and pump. I think the V120 has 2 amp relays built in but pump is over 3 amp.

Instead of a relay, I could use a DPDT switch to act as sort of a transfer switch but then I have the old problem of oops, I forgot to switch it back. With the relay running from the V120 which is set for some minutes I punched in and then shuts off, the system returns to a state of rest once the run cycle is done. Foolproof Forgetful professor type proof

Wellhell, 6am and light out. Need to do some running around but tax man doesn't open until 8am so I guess I'll go run a ground wire from ground rod to old fridge where my automation stuff is going. Then I can put a ground lug on the stand off panel inside the fridge to connect everything to. Need to bolt stand off panel in first. Need to toss the solar panels in the truck and bring them down. RV battery is already in the bed. Thought about more weeding but this is much more interesting.:)

[Pollard]

Well, no one can tell me what the temp is so I guess I'll have to look at the old mercury on the way out

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sometimes the Old Ways are the Best Ways! :) A BEAUTIFUL 65 degrees here this morning, low humidity. Putting on my new hat and hitting the garden after a quick breakfast.

No rain here until Friday. So glad I got the mowing done, yesterday. Plenty of inside chores stacked up around here for a rainy day...or books and a stack of movies. Decisions, decisions! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Just checked the weather - they updated it to add showers/storms for my area this afternoon.

Terrific. Uncle!

[Qiviut]

Actually, I may use the Recipe Critic’s version of Alfredo Sauce the next time.

https://therecipecritic.com/the-best-homemade-alfredo-sauce-ever/

The differences between the above (RC) & the ‘Easy Alfredo Sauce’ recipe in the book (Easy) are as follows:

Butter: RC = 1/2 c. Easy = 4 T.
Heavy whipping cream: RC = 2 cups Easy = 0
Milk: RC = 0 Easy = 1 cup
Cream cheese: RC = 4 oz. Easy = 8 oz.
Grated Parmesan: RC & Easy = 1 cup

To boil it down, RC has twice the butter, twice the liquid & half the cream cheese as the Easy recipe. I would think this would be a “looser” sauce.

RC also adds: 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

I did add the above garlic, spices, etc. to the Easy recipe - really adds flavor.

I find myself often using a portion of one recipe with a portion of another to get a result I like.

I do like the Recipe Critic. She’s got a ‘stabilized whip cream’ recipe that’s very useful, a Creamy Tuscan Chicken Bake that I’ve made & a mushroom casserole I plan on trying, plus other recipes that appeal to me :-)

[FamiliarFace]

We have no rain in the forecast for today and fingers crossed, tomorrow too. The huge hickory tree is being dismantled as I type. This one I’m guessing is over a hundred years old. The base diameter is about 3.5 to 4 feet wide. It’s a beautiful tree but rotten about 15’ up. You can see water poring through it in the back side when it rains. It’s on a hillside, so the roots aren’t so good. Very dangerous.

This may be a two day project. The tree guy asked if he could use some of the garden space underneath it for setting down the larger parts of the trunk. That means after the guys in the one grappler truck are finished that I have to start digging out any shrubs I want to try to save, like a brunnera, a bleeding heart, a peony, and a meadow rue. It will be too sunny over in the meditation garden after this. I may have to change the name from meditation garden because it won’t be a shady spot anymore.

I’ve requested for the hickory to not be cut all the way down, so that I can use the top of what’s left as a planter for annuals. They are cutting down the larger pieces into 15-16” slices so that hubby and I can split soon, and get it seasoning for firewood in another year.

[FamiliarFace]

Thank you for the tips!

*** I find myself often using a portion of one recipe with a portion of another to get a result I like.***

I do this, too. Drives my husband a little crazy, because I scribble notes all over a printed recipe.

[FamiliarFace]

Well, first report is in. One of the smaller branches at the top of the tree is 70 years old! So I’m going to guess that this tree is at least 150 years old, if not many more years. I’m going to miss it!

[Qiviut]

Four months after we bought our place (last spring), we had 5 trees taken down. Four were dead, one was live. The live tree was a gigantic pine, leaning towards the house. If it had come down, it would have taken out a lot of slate roof & the front wall, if not rooms of the house. The top of the root ball was visible. It had already dropped a couple of branches that missed the roof & were big enough to be small trees! A very scary tree. The tree guy brought his Spyder, but ended up having enough room to just fell the tree & cut it up on the ground. When the tree hit the ground, you could feel it - I was dancing from the safety of the kitchen bay windows because every time the wind blew hard, my stomach was in a knot.

The worst of the 4 dead trees was threatening our power lines. Two would have come down on the driveway & blocked it. The 4th was a pine & right where we turn into the driveway - a real eyesore & the first thing you saw of our place. This pine started dying in January within 2 weeks of closing on the place :-(

We did not think to look at the trees when we looked at the house - it was December so other than the pines, it was hard to tell what was dead & what was not.

After 2 years of bad drought, a huge chestnut in the back died last summer & we’ve lost about a 4th of the Leyland Cypress trees that screen out a house on the property behind us. I have trimmed a LOT of branches with a cheapie battery pole saw. My brother just got a good one & bought a 3 foot extension. He’s coming here to trim what I can’t reach. I have the chainsaw to cut big stuff into manageable pieces. He is also going to help me fell the big dead chestnut which is going to be a dangerous job, but we have room to do it & will put a line on it so it falls the right way. After 16 years of swamping for the AT sawyers, I have a lot of respect for trees & chainsaws & the weird things that can happen. I don’t think you can be overly cautious but that’s where I am rather than being a risk taker.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That will be a relief when that hazardous tree is gone. That’s the only problem with wooded property - it takes some $$$ to maintain it safely.

We have 15 or so Black Walnut trees in the pasture marked ‘for sale’ by a guy that wants to harvest and buy them. As soon as we had him bid on them, the price for BW dropped like a rock, (in HALF!) so they’re going to grow for another few years until prices go back up. We’re in no hurry. They are not a danger to any cows or any buildings. ;) The pricing had something to do with the Tariffs, though. China suddenly had a bunch of Black Walnut lumber to sell to America before they kicked in. These are trees that Beau planted just by scattering a bucket of nuts down there, 35 years ago. I also had a row of BW trees lining the driveway at my other farm. I sold three of them, closest to the house, for a decent profit before I put the farm on the market. I wasn’t giving away ALL my hard work of 25 years, LOL!

I had a planter like you’re wanting in the front when we took down an old Cottonwood tree. Wave Petunias filled it up nicely. It’s disintegrated by now, but I got a good 5 years out of it. Before it was a planter the stump was a favorite place for that years litter of puppies to play, ‘King of the Mountain.’ :)

[Pollard]

Was 67 here and never low humidity. Still 66% and always starts out higher so I’m guessing near 80%. After tomorrow, chance of rain every day again. Never over 90 though.

Got the ground wire run to the old fridge. Picked up a ground lug strip that I can ground a dozen things to and screwed it to the raised panel in the back of the fridge, which I also got installed. Heading back out to put some blocks of wood in the bottom to set my toolbox on and keep it high enough to open the bottom drawer. Then I’ll see about putting a shelf above that.

I need an ethernet cable coupler because 50’ of cat5e cable wasn’t quite enough from shed to tunnel. Needed 60 but it comes 50 or 100. With a coupler, I have a 10’ cable I can add. Then I can mount the controllers up high in the fridge.

For now, I might lower the network switch in the shed down near the floor which will give me 3’ slack on the fridge end.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m a slacker compared to you, today. I did a little weeding, picked a few cukes and zukes, re-directed a few wayward pole beans that were wrapping themselves around some Zinnia and sprayed a little weed killer on the far edge of the garden. ;)

Mosquitoes left me alone. By Beagle was messing around in the underbrush and she had over 2 dozen mosquitoes on her FACE! Poor girl. I brushed off her sweet face and put her in the house.

[FamiliarFace]

Our daughter asked us if we were doing the work, and I told her N-O!!! These are way beyond our skills, and even these men with their huge rigs, saws, grapplers, cranes, and buckets are being careful. These trees are beasts. The meditation garden will be so much more sunny now. I think I’ll eventually plant the persimmon somewhere over there after things settle down.

[FamiliarFace]

I had no idea black walnut was ever in demand. My sister wants me to save some chunks for her husband to use in his smoker. It will be a surprise gift for his birthday coming up in a few months. (And a gift that didn’t cost extra!)