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.

[Liz]

JALAPENO JELLY
An unusual jalapeno recipe----not too hot. Makes about 8 half-pint jars.

ING 2 1/2 c jalapeno---1 1/2 lbs, 3 1/2 c chp bell peppers (6 lge), 6 c sugar,
1/2 c l/juice 1 lge can crushed pineapple 1 pkg dry apricot Jello 1 pk Sure-jell

Method: Mix all ing except Sure-jell, Jello; btb; cook 30 min. Add Sure-jell. Cook 5 min. offheat add Jello; stir cool 10-15 min. Blender smooth. Place in sterilized jars. Fridge overnight. Store on shelf.

Serving suggestions: Pour over any soft cheese on a cheese platter. Crock-pot w/ meatballs for
parties. Oven-bake atop Brie wrapped in puff pastry. Swirl into cream cheese atop Ritz crackers.

Notes: Must wear gloves handling jalapenos. Can add green food coloring.

[Pollard]

You’re finally acclimated! :)

I've always been able to handle the heat. Lived in FL for 25 years and didn't spend a lot of time in the AC. Never even had a vehicle with AC there. I've just been using the heat as an excuse to be lazy here lately. That and with the new job, the excuse that I worked today and now I'm done, as if I can get away not doing anything after work. Been wasting Tues mornings too because "I just worked 40 hours".

I'm getting bored with all that and sick of things going slow around here. I've already gotten slower in recent years. Don't need to make it worse. Of course most anything you do, with the exception of raking and digging, costs some kind of money which I haven't had until recently.

That's my new bottleneck. Unlike my new neighbors, I did not win the lottery. My To Get list grows longer by the day so I need to be serious and mature with spending, baa haa haa haa.

Got my eye on another automation controller. It would save me a ton of work. Most controllers have low power relays, 1-2 amps, that operate separate high power relays that I'd have to buy and mount and wire in. This controller has 15 amp relays so it would directly control motors for drop down sides, gable vents, drip pump(s), even fans when/if I get some. I already have more controllers than I need so if I get this one, I can easily sell enough to pay for it.

Got my little tool bag on the way. I'm ready for a trip to Menard's to get chain link top rail for tunnel frame bracing and roll up sides pipes. Will probably go tomorrow after work. Another excuse I've been making, just worked ten hours, don't want to do anything but go straight home and sit.

[Liz]

Homemade Potato Soup / a one-dish filling meal for 6-8
Bake or boil extra potatoes one night; next night
you have a satisfying soup dinner almost done.

BTG 3 c cooked, chp potatoes 1 c water 1/2 c ea sliced celery, sliced carrots
1/4 c chp onion 1 tsp parsley flakes 1 chicken bouillon cube 1/2 tsp salt

Make a roux w/ 1 1/2 c milk, tbs flour; stir in
to thicken. Add 1/2 lb diced fave cheese, stir/melt.

Notes: You can serve it as is. To make a one-dish meal add ham chunks
or bacon bits, cooked broccoli, whatever. Serve garnished w/ chp chives.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[left that other site]

Good Morning!

I Figured You Could Use Some Coffee.

(((HUGS)))

ML/LTOS

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Cross-ping to Post #725 of the ‘Threat Matrix’ Thread. ‘Flagship Pioneering’ potentially messing with the food supply:

https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4287478/posts?page=725#725

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That is one CUTE Spaniel - not sure I’d want him making my morning coffee though, LOL! :)

[left that other site]

Are you afraid he might stick his nose in your coffee?

It DOES small pretty good!

[FamiliarFace]

Now that’s one of my happy places! I try really hard to get a beach trip in every year. When I go, I like to just lounge around, and do a whole lot of nothing! Make sand castles or sand sculptures, watch the birds, watch the water move in and out, look for dolphins, look for shells, and get wet! It’s therapeutic for me.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

My Mom will be 88 this September. Mainly, she keeps telling me the same three stories over and over again, but I just smile and listen.

Recently, she’s been saying that she FINALLY ‘feels old’ and she does not like it ONE BIT! She’s kinda mad about it, actually. I keep telling her she does NOT have to travel at Warp Speed every day, but that is her personality and has always been. She can do the work of TEN ‘Church Basement Ladies’ on any given day.

Now she has hurt her knee and has it wrapped and is going to the Chiro more than usual, but she’s still plugging along. She’s planning this HUGE ‘Cousins Weekend’ up at Three Lakes (which has always been our ‘Family Compound’ - you know - like the Kennedy’s, LOL!) and she said this will probably be the last one as they’re all getting into their 90’s now and their 75-year-old ‘kids’ are too busy with their OWN Grandkids to cart them around anymore. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Pretty sure ALL of the coffee cups are licked clean before they go to the next customer, LOL!

[left that other site]

LOL!

[Albion Wilde]

Good morning, all! Another sweltering day expected here in my townhome suburb. I got up at five this morning because I'm expecting a carpenter to finish rebuilding my back stairs with wider treads and better railings. This age-related enhancement will help me get off my butt and go outside to garden more readily than I've done lately, now that my knees and hips are protesting all the time. I have an end-of-group with a dozen small flower and shrub gardens all the way around, plus at the property edge in the back.

I keep my large tools out back all summer—shovel, spade, step-on edge cutter, electric edge trimmer, rakes, industrial broom, hedge trimmer, weed puller, etc. Now I will have a bigger space under the stairs where I can lock all that stuff away—including my battery-operated lawn mower!—until the freezing weather returns, and not have to haul them around from an interior closet in the front of the house.

Well, it's 9:50 AM and the contractor hasn't called or texted yet. Had I slept in, he would have been here at 6:30 to beat the heat.

(Not my gardens. Our deer would eat it all. But it's nice to dream...)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Paul R.]

IF you see this in time to look at the radar / past radar:

My local NWS is calling the rather large complex of showers & t-storms located in the region (roughly) around Davenport, Iowa, this morning, a MCV (Mesoscale Convective Vortex). Isn't it a MCS (Mesoscale Convective System)? There's very little rotation.

[left that other site]

My garden is tiny...but it serves the same purpose as the one you describe.

[left that other site]

Love it!

[Albion Wilde]

My garden is tiny...but it serves the same purpose as the one you describe.

Deer smorgasbord? LOL. I've tried so many things.... If they get desperate enough, they will eat anything.

[left that other site]

I find that deer really like hostas. They eat them down to the nubs.

A little coyote urine should fix that...

The problem arises when attempting to obtain the urine from the Coyote.

[FamiliarFace]

Good morning! I love the sentiment in your picture.

The funny thing is, when those types of people come to visit, they really enjoy themselves. You’d think they’d figure it out, but they never seem to. After a few days, they begrudgingly return to their hustle and bustle image-driven way of life.

Today will be a light outdoor day with breaks. I’ll just be doing some watering, weeding, and maintenance cleanup, like snipping dead blossoms off of flowering perennials.