The Garden Thread - July, 2025

July, 1, 2025 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Liz]

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake / no bake / three perfect layers of goodness.

CRUST: 2 C crushed grahams 1/2 c melted butter PEANUT BUTTER LAYER: 8 oz soft cr/cheese 1/2 C p/butter 1 tsp vanilla 1/3 C conf CHOCOLATE LAYER: 1 C choc/chips 1/4 C h/cream 8 oz soft cr/cheese 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 C conf

CRUST Grease or parchment 8x8 pan. Firmly press flat in pan combined grahams/butter; freezer.

Peanut Butter Layer: Beat cr/cheese, p/butter, vanilla and conf smooth; spread on crust. Freezer pan again. Micro choc/chips and h/cream in 30 sec increments, stirring, til smooth. Cool 5 min. Meanwhile, beat cr/cheese, vanilla and conf. Then add chocolate sauce and combine. Spread atop p/butter layer and FRIDGE. Cool 2 hrs. To cut, run knife under warm water, wipe dry and cut.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“I did read on Almanac to be careful and use as a last resort because you are attracting the pests you want less of after all and could make things worse.”

That is my, ‘perfeshional’ opinion as well.

For my money, I plant a little extra to bring in the ‘Beneficial Bugs’ which will kill off the ‘Bad Bugs’ for you. No muss, no fuss.

Diana’s Beneficial Bug Blend:

Cilantro (allow to flower)
Small Zinnia
Orange Calendula
Dill - ‘Diana Dill’ is great - slow to bolt ;)
Borage
Blue Bachelor Buttons

Use a package of each and blend seed together. Make ‘planting plugs’ in 4” pots and allow to grow on until all plants have a set of adult leaves. Plant in larger containers set in the garden or tuck a plug or two into the corners of your planting beds in full sun spots.

Note: The Calendula and Borage may self-seed, so be on the lookout in early spring for those seedlings. If you’re happy with where they are, just let them have another go. :)

[FrozenAssets]

We had a fire pop up 2.4 miles from us yesterday evening. There was no ground access so there was a continous parade of Super Scoopers, Firebosses and choppers running back and forth from the fire to Harding Lake. It looks like they kept it to just over an acre. Whew!

I see that there were over 80 structures lost at Grand Canyon, including the historic lodge on the North Rim.

Too much trouble all over.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Grand Canyon, including the historic lodge on the North Rim.”

Oh, NO! We stayed there on a family vacation when I was a teen. I LOVED that place! That style of architecture started my life-long love of Log Cabins. :(

BUT - it also burned down in 1952, so hopefully they can rebuild again.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14902795/Grand-Canyon-lodge-destroyed-wildfires-Arizona.html

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beau is home from Bear Camp for a quick layover to borrow a F-550 (!) to haul his F-350 in for repairs. He’ll be spending a LOT of time on the road in the next few days.

Anyhow, we walked through the Kitchen Garden with me this morning, just to see if all my whining about too much rain was really too much rain.

His exact words: ‘Well, we won’t starve, but things are NOT up to your usual standard of MAGNIFICENCE as far as the vegetable garden goes.’

Cold comfort; but at least I wasn’t imagining it! I won’t have the usual BOUNTY to be as generous as normal with family and friends this season - Mama’s gotta EAT!

I suppose I need a year like this from time to time as a Reality Check and to appreciate each tomato, cuke, green bean and zuke. Life can’t all be Sunshine and Lollypops I guess.

[Augie]

1.75" of rain here in the Middle of Misery over the weekend. 1SG Son, DiL, and the grandkids were here from Kansas over the weekend. Aside from harvesting some zucchini and bell peppers I got nothing accomplished in the garden.

The brown santa truck brought all of the electric fencing supplies that I ordered last week so I've got something to occupy my free time for the next few evenings. The groundhog has been wreaking havoc on my tomatoes but I've got a special surprise in store for him now. lol

Howard really impressed me while the grands were here. No barking in the face, no rugby tackles, no jumping. Just lots of licking and kissing and slobbering. They brought their new Rodesian Ridgeback/lab mix puppy along - those two became instant buddies and spent a LOT of time wrassling together. 5yo granddaughter was sad when it was time for them to go home - she wanted to stay here with Howard because "He's nice and he gives me kisses".

Howard and Mr. Darcy.

This is American Senna. It came up volunteer along the edge of the sidewalk to our front porch. I can only guess that a bird pooped out the seed it grew from. I've never seen one anywhere else on the property. It's very attractive and the bees absolutely love it. We're going to collect some seed from it this fall and try to get some new ones started next spring.

All of the rain we've been getting has brought the Chanterelles out. Mrs. Augie and I picked a couple dozen after the kids left yesterday, and found one patch of 75 or so little bitty ones that we left alone so they can size up before we pick them.

[Augie]

I know what you mean about the chickens demanding scraps, though!

Mrs. Augie's chooks do that too. It's like she's the Pied Piper of chickens. Any time she's putzing about in the yard there's a chicken parade following her looking for a handout.

[metmom]

I’m in need of advice on how to get rid of crows.

We’ve had a few in the past but after mr. mm mowed today I saw a flock of about 8-10 pecking around in the grass. I know they can be nasty, destructive birds, but also heard that they’re very smart and if they see you shooting at them, they’ll retaliate as they can recognize people.

We do have places to hide to shoot them from.

Anyone have any advice?

[FamiliarFace]

The visit with the old owner went very well!! She’s a tad younger than me. She brought me zinnias from her garden. She was so excited to see the house, and seemed very excited about the updates to the kitchen. Loved that we can see the woods from so much of the house. Her husband grew up in the country, so wanted even more acreage and privacy. Sounds like they have a nice piece of property with a pond, too.

Really cool thing was when we went outside to check out the yard. Things she planted 30 years ago are now very mature. Then she finally realized that there was a lilac that had been her Grandma’s, but it doesn’t bloom because it doesn’t get enough sun where it is now. So I told her if she wanted to snip some, she could, so we did and she’s going to try to get it rooted to grow a new one again.

She was also enamored with the magnolia tree by the fire pit that we planted a few years ago. She said they don’t often survive this far north. She said it looks very happy, and I told her we had 20 blossoms this year, and the last one just opened yesterday. So we all took a little sniff because it was down low enough to reach.

I had a bottle of peach bellini, so we each had a glass of that while we chatted. (Also had cheese n crackers but nobody touched that.) It was a very nice visit, probably lasted one and a quarter hours. She and my neighbor who has stayed in touch with her all these years each picked out a slice of the hickory tree to take with them.

So SUCCESS!! A new friend made!

[Qiviut]

Took a trip over the river & 2 mountains to Lowe’s. I needed 8” galvanized spikes to pin down my landscape timbers. The Farm Bureau quit selling the ones I wanted; have previously bought there, but Lowe’s had them.

After getting the spikes, I took a stroll through the garden center & checked out the clearance racks. The only plant I saw that I know is deer resistant was a large pot of echinaceas. It was originally $25 & marked down to half price. I think there is more than one plant in the pot so I bought it.

While purchasing the echinacea(s), the cashier & I were talking. I told her I was setting up new raised beds & my current issue was getting dirt to fill them. She said they had dirt & I told her I could not afford bagged dirt, but needed bulk dirt I could haul in my trailer. She told me about a garden center one road over that had dirt.

Storm clouds were gathering, but I checked out the garden center. They do have dirt and it looks better than what I got the last time. Since I have a single axle trailer, I can haul one ‘scoop’ due to weight - might need two trips, but I’ll get one scoop & see how far it goes. One of the workers there was talking to me as I left. She has that dirt in her garden, said add some compost , it will be good for flowers, & veggies.

Great day finding dirt! The storm arrived and chased me home over the mountains. The rain picked up as I turned in the driveway. Lots more on radar for the evening so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to start drilling holes & hammering spikes.

[Qiviut]

First, check local laws and regulations before attempting to shoot crows, as rules can vary significantly by state.

We had a “murder” of crows that called our old place “home”. The rascals would sit on the fence & observe my garden, waiting for the first ripe tomato or edible zucchini. I ended up fencing my garden & took great pleasure in watching them walk up & down the outside of the fence, looking at my tomatoes! The fence was close enough around the raised beds that they did not fly in - too enclosed.

My dad (a country boy) said if you shot one & hung it up where the others could see it, they would avoid that area - I never got to the point of shooting them. You can buy a dead crow decoy to hang out:

https://www.amazon.com/Realistic-Hanging-Lifesize-Feathered-Deterrent/dp/B07SGQMF4C