The Garden Thread - August, 2025

August 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.

[Pollard]

If it ain’t broke,don’t fix it OR my wallet overrode my instinct to replace both front bearing hubs. Left side is nice and tight, no play. One hub on the way.

Peppers are trying to make a comeback. Both the shishito and the habanero are loaded with flowers, buds and new fruits. Got one habanero turning color and way too many shishito turning color so I need to go out and pick a bunch tomorrow. Must have been the two weeks of 80 something temps.

[Liz]

Blistered Shishito Peppers / Sweet Paprika Garlic Aioli Dip
A great summer appetizer with a mild kick.

Ing lb Shishitos 2 tbl ol/oil 1/3 c Mayo 1 Tbl Sweet Paprika Lemon tsp Gar/Pwder Sea Salt to taste

Instructions Wash peppers well; dry completely on p/towel. Toothpick small hole in the middle to prevent "popping" as peppers blister. Heat skillet very hot but not smoking; add olive oil. Toss in peppers; use tongs to continuously turn til all sides are blistered; ok to see char marks on some peppers. Transfer to server; squeeze half a lemon, sea salt over peppers.

AIOLI --- combine well mayo, paprika, gar/powder, juiced half a lemon.

SERVE---hold by stem to dip peppers in aioli; eat the whole pepper.

[Paul R.]

I wonder if pepper ripening is like tomato ripening: It may proceed much better / faster if the plant is not under stress? You had some decent rains to go with that “two weeks of 80 something temps”, to set up the peppers in a good comeback, right?

I have loads of tomatoes on some of my stronger plants (of which I’d have had more if I had “Sevin’d” the hornworms sooner). But, they are taking “forever” to ripen in this heat, esp. the plants that get the strongest sun. :-(

Of note: The hornworms actually seem easier to find with my smaller LED head-flashlight (somewhat bluish-white light) than with my strong UV flashlight. I wonder if that is a matter of UV frequency, and at what frequency do the hornworms fluoresce best? The UV flashlight only seems to moderately fluoresce the hornworm’s white stripes and doesn’t make the general green color really “pop”. (It makes the tomato leaves turn an interesting red, though.) The head-flashlight DOES make the hornworms general green color “pop”.

Somewhere I have a less comfortable (it’s big and heavy, for one thing) LED head-light that puts out even more bluish-purplish (supposedly “white”) light. But, it’s quite powerful. Maybe I should try it.

It’s time to head outside to try to beat the heat! Today should be a scorcher.

[Liz]

Glazed Pumpkin Cream Cheese Coffee Cake / Save this in your fall foods file.
Crunchy brown sugar crumbs, drizzled w/ tempting sweet glaze; cake is a perfect start to a fall day.

Ing--Crumb Topping: ¾ cup flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4 Tablespoons sugar 4 Tablespoons brown sugar 6 Tbl cold unsalted butter in small cubes Cream Cheese Filling: 8 oz cr/cheese 4 Tbl sugar 1 tsp vanilla 1 egg white Pumpkin Cake: 1 ¾ c flour 1 tsp ea baking powder baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1 tsp ea pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon 1 egg + 1 egg yolk 2/3 cup br/sugar 1/3 cup sugar 1 cup pumpkin puree ½ cup oil ½ cup plain Greek yogurt 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla Glaze: 3/4 cup conf 1–2 Tbl cream

Instructions Crumbs: stir flour, sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add chilled cubed butter; fork press to combine evenly and create large crumbs. Set in fridge til needed.

Cake---Grease 9 inch springform, line bottom with parchment; set aside. Use 9" inch pan, but your cake won’t be as tall as the cake shown. Cream cheese filling--beat creamy softened cream cheese and sugar. Mix in egg white and vanilla; just combine. Set aside. Cake--toss flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, set aside. Now mix egg, egg yolk, sugar and brown sugar, pumpkin puree, oil, Greek yogurt and vanilla to combine evenly. Add dry ing; mix to combine. Pour half of the pumpkin cake batter in the pan, spoon cream cheese filling on top. Gently pour remaining pumpkin cake batter, smooth the top, sprinkle with crumb topping and bake 350 deg 45-55 minutes (until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, a few moist crumb is OK) Start checking after 45 min because if you bake it too long the cake will be dry. After 20 minutes run a thin knife around the cake, release the ring from pan and take it to server. Glaze stir powdered sugar and cream (or milk) and dr izzle over the cake.

[daniel1212]

Drought conditions now here. Should I use rainwater for toms and squash that is stored in 2.5 gal. plastic jugs since May?

[MomwithHope]

Shishitos! Love it.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve had the Eastern Tiger (Yellow) Swallowtails, only one Black that I’ve seen, a few adult Monarchs, but LOTS of the smaller Aphrodite Fritillary butterflies. Orange and brown.

And we’re never short of those destructive Cabbage Whites! They’re the ones that lay eggs to form the green worms in some of the cruciferous veggies.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Our actual crops - wheat, feed corn, alfalfa and soybean are ALL looking terrific - our gardens? Not so much!

Getting an inch of rain today, so I’ll be processing my second picking of ‘Saychelles’ Pole Beans that I picket yesterday. Beau also harvested a basket of ‘Clapp’s Favorite’ pears for me, but he’d like them dehydrated, so they need another day or so to ripen a bit more, then I will tackle that.

If anyone is interested in a really good dehydrator, buy the one made by Presto (Wisconsin Company!) 21-937

https://www.gopresto.com/product/presto-dehydro-electric-food-dehydrator-with-adjustable-temperature-control-0630203

[bert]

Alas, my wife’s garden isn’t

The plants are healthy but bearing little. Even the pole beans are few. The flowers just drop off before fully forming. Tomatoes are there but no plentiful and small. The egg plant just isn’t. There were only two yellow squash.

The jalapeno peppers are not doing so bad

[Qiviut]

The RoS bushes are blooming up a storm this morning - they seem happy & recovered from their shipping experience. It’s a cloudy day, 74° with a breeze & just delightful. If I thought the weather would stay this way, I’d go ahead & plant them, but I expect more (nasty) hot weather.

Counted 10 caterpillars - still munching, haven’t done cocoons yet.

Picked jalapeños that are turning yesterday. This will give me enough for batch #2 of jelly. I am hoping that we will have the new roof by the time I have batch #3
With the new roof, I can check my gas stove vent & see why it is letting outside air back into the house. It’s not high up at all & I should be able to reach it with my highest step ladder, but will probably have to lean on the roof - can’t do that with the slate shingles. I really need the gas stove for canning. There were 2 roofs ahead of us weekend before last - 1 of those 2 should have been done last week, the 2nd should happen this week. Next week ‘should’ be us (fingers crossed).

[Pollard]

Not enough rain to soak under tunnel but they watered well. Most recently overhead watering as I’m soaking it prior to laying black poly down

[Augie]

This past week in the Middle of Misery was mostly hot and dry. There were a few pop-up showers around the area all weekend but all the rain we got here wasn't enough to even knock the dust down.

I had a productive weekend in spite of the heat. I'm almost completely caught up with the weeding. Picked another half dozen spaghetti squash. Picked tomatoes, set a few slicers aside, chopped up the rest and chucked them in the fridge. I still need to chop up a few jalapenos/onions/cilantro then I'll turn the whole mess into salsa later today after the salt mine obligations have been completed.

Mrs. Augie has, so far, made 23 quarts of fermented dill pickles. I'm not sure how many she thinks we need but we've got to be getting close. lol

Tree guy made it out and gave me the price for the work that needs to be done. I'm not looking forward to cleaning up the mess that will be left behind, but not paying for haul-off knocks about $1500 off the cost of the job. I can stand a little suffering in exchange for $1500.

We had spaghetti squash for supper last night. It was spectacular with my home-made marinara sauce slathered on top. Washed it down with a fresh tomato/cucumber salad.

Mrs. Augie's sunchoke patch. We're not exactly sure where these came from. She can't remember if she bought them at the nursery or if the birds brought them. I'm going to dig a few after the tops die back this fall and see if they made any roots that are big enough to eat. I've never tried them but the google machine says they're tasty so we'll see.

[FamiliarFace]

Thanks for the aioli dip! Haven’t even thought about that, but will make that the next time I blister the shishitos. Maybe tonight!

[FamiliarFace]

My cherry tomatoes are just like yours, producing flowers but very little fruit, and they’re small. Not a very good year for my tomatoes.

I’ve been trying to fertilize once a week or so. Tomatoes are the only thing not working out. I’m hoping the plant will survive another month and bring me autumn joy.

[Liz]

Thanks for the aioli dip! Haven’t even thought about that, but will
make that the next time I blister the shishitos. ...... Maybe tonight!

---

Mmmmmm.....that aioli dip is luscious.

[Augie]

Nice to have the push mower running again and for some reason, the leaky radiator on the tractor is no longer leaking.

Sometimes the stop-leak stuff actually works. AlumaSeal was the best you could get since forever, but it appears to have been discontinued by the manufacturer. Bar's Leaks was another good one and it's still around.

The lift strut that Pops broke a few weeks ago came home from the welding shop on Friday. I put it back on the tractor yesterday morning so now he can get back to mowing in between naps.

[MomwithHope]

Got a big bunch of those sunchokes in bloom, wild around here.

[Pollard]

The local auto parts store had some liquid stop leak and then in back of it, little plastic vials with silver powder/flakes inside but I don’t recall if it was AlumaSeal but I agree, the best. It worked for quite a while and then it started leaking again. Maybe some more found it’s way to the hole.