The Garden Thread - September, 2025

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

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Glad you found reasonable transportation!

I’m eating a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin (not the whole thing!) with a baked tater from my neighbor.

I texted him to ask if they were Pontiac, and I was right -they are Pontiac, so an excellent keeper. He was impressed that I knew my potatoes by ‘sight’ but I confessed to owing it all to Jung’s College. ;)

Lost a hen to being egg-bound a few days ago. Beau said to put it in the burn pile, so I did. INSIDE of a cardboard box on TOP of the pile - like 10 feet up!

Guess who came to the house last night with FEATHERS in her mouth? Yep. Beagle Dolly! Grrrr! She ate the WHOLE THING except for one wing and the guts. After sleeping on the porch last night, she’s been laying around all day like a snake on a sunny rock, digesting. She’s probably going to spend tonight outside, too.

After I told him what happened last night, Beau gave me major cr@p for trying to ‘domesticate’ a Beagle. And he’s obviously correct!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m going to Walmart tomorrow, so I will look in the Clearance Aisle and the garden center - unless THAT has already been turned into Christmas Land, which I have a feeling it has been, LOL!

Thanks for the Heads Up!

[Liz]

Baked Pot Roast / well-seasoned

Ing 3-4 l chuck roast 2 tbl ol/oil S/p (for searing) 4–5 lge carrots, peeled/cut into chunks 5–6 med potatoes, peeled/quartered 1 lge onion, quartered Seasoning & Sauce: 1 packet ea ranch dressing mix, Italian dressing mix, brown gravy mix 1 cup water or beef broth

Method Heat ol/oil. S/p roast then sear golden brown 3–4 min per side. Remove and hold. Add vegs to same pot, stir/coat in beef drippings. Place roast atop vegs. Pour over all combined ranch, Italian, brown gravy mixes, and water or broth. Cover pot w/ lid or foil. Bake 325 deg 3–4 hours; fork-tender-falling apart. Remove to counter/ Slice or shred beef; serve hot w/ pan gravy spooned over meat and vegetables.

[Liz]

I keep Rhodes bread dough loaves in the freezer.
Good for stuff like this or pizza or cinnamon rolls.

---

Perfect for this recipe.

[Qiviut]

Feeling VERY ‘undone’ .... on top of it all, 80 yo cousin in the hospital with pneumonia - hanging in there on the narrow ledge of life so far, but very weak, not eating much, still on antibiotics.

Jerry’s stories are similar to my dad’s with preparation for & during winter. When we visited his parents, no central heat so we were under several heavy quilts at night. I quickly learned to tuck my clothes under the covers so they would be warm in the morning. Ice would form on the inside of the windows. No indoor plumbing - to avoid going to the outhouse in the bitter cold & dark, if you couldn’t wait ‘til morning, there was a cold chamber pot under the bed. No ice fishing, but fishing for eels at night with a torch on the boat. Life threatening if you somehow fell out of or capsized the boat & got wet in the frigid water & sub-freezing temps - it happened once. My Granddad had a premonition & drove his car down to the river just in time to pick up my wet dad & his friend & hustle them home to the warmth of the coal stove & dry clothes. House parties, especially around Christmas, sledding on the steep & icy hills, a gallon bucket of oysters buried in a snow bank to keep for feasting & snow so deep an elk showed up to eat the rose bushes poking out of the drifts, then shared hay with the cows. Winters were definitely more harsh back in those days than present times.

[Paul R.]

You are welcome!

What is your opinion of the “TruBiotic” component of that “Dr. Earth” fertilizer? Useful??

[Liz]

Pumpkin Spice Latte
Rich coffee, creamy milk, a perfect blend of pumpkin puree and spices, on the cheap.

Ing 1 c milk 2 tbl ea pumpkin puree, condensed milk 1 tbl vanilla ½ tsp spice aisle "pumpkin pie spice" or to taste 2 shots strong coffee whipped cream/cinnamon garnish cinnamon stick stirrer

Method Heat on med, milk, pumpkin puree, condensed milk, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice, whisking constantly, do not boil. Remove from heat. Whisk frothy using electric whisk or frother. Pour into large mug. Garnish w/ whipped cream, sprinkle of cinnamon, cinnamon stick stirrer.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve never used or sold the Dr. Earth products, but I found this info:

https://drearth.com/resources/article/trubiotic/

It certainly LOOKS like it should be of benefit to the soil and your plants. Plus you got it on sale, LOL! ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“1 packet ea ranch dressing mix, Italian dressing mix, brown gravy mix 1 cup water or beef broth”

We have made this for years in the crock pot. We call it ‘Three Envelope Roast.’ Works well with beef, pork, bear, elk, venison, Canada Goose breast, etc.

Veggies on bottom (onion, potatoes, carrots, celery) meat on top, mix and pour the sauce over. On Low for 8 or on High for 4.

SO looking forward to winter foods! :)

[Liz]

We have made this for years in the crock pot. We call it ‘Three Envelope Roast.’
Works well with beef, pork, bear, elk, venison, Canada Goose breast, etc.

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So versatile..................

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Gotta think fast on your feet when Pa drags home some roadkill, LOL!

[Liz]

lol

[Liz]

[Liz]

Ing 2 refrigerated pie crusts (long boxes by Pillsbury) 1 c canned pumpkin puree 2/3 cup light br/sugar 1 tsp almond extract (vanilla or maple) 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice Dash ea salt, nutmeg, Glaze: 1 c conf 1/2 tsp almond extract 2 tbl milk

Method Mix pumpkin puree, br/sugar, extract, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, salt. Hold. Roll pie crusts thin on lightly floured surface. Cut into 8 rectangles. Use leftover to make odd shaped one. Place rectangles on sprayed sheetpan; center w/ 2 tbsp pumpkin; smooth to within a 1/4" of edge, leaving room for crimping. Top w/ pie crust rectangle. Fork/crimp edges about ½ inch over edge of rectangles. Bake 375 deg 11 min til edges are lightly browned. Then cool completely. Glaze: Mix ing. Once cooled, spoon glaze over tops; set til glaze hardens.

[Paul R.]

Thanks - maybe someone here is familiar with the breakdown of the TruBiotic “components”. If not, I’ll have to find some serious research time. Like I know where that will come from. ;-)

I wish I knew what prompted that last Opo plant to recover so spectacularly when the others just died. It has set 2 fruits and I think a 3rd is on the way. The 1st 2 are ~5” long now, so, they should be good to go on to maturity (could be 5 FEET long and 5” in diameter) IF we have the time before a frost. So far, no squirrels have shown up.

One branch/vine has drooped down from that Mimosa tree I mentioned earlier, and is just barely touching the ground. I think I’ll pile some garden soil on it and keep it watered to see if it will root and provide additional nourishment. I’ll bet there’s 30 feet of vine between the ~5 gallon pot this thing grows from, and the point it has “retouched” the ground. Add in the other “branches” and there has to be well over 60’ of vine, now. I’m wondering if roots out the bottom of the pot have tapped into something, like an old buried raccoon?

I also wonder if anyone ever made a “B” sci-fi movie about vines that grow huge and attack people? Star Trek TNG had an episode about something like that trying to take over the ship, but it didn’t attack people - I think...

3 of my Asian Squash plants still look good too, but are more like 12-15’ of vine. They just won’t flower for me, even after repeated shots of Bloom Booster and Super Phosphate. :-(

[Liz]

Strictly for kids.

Ing 1 c p/butter (chunky works too 6 tbl honey pinch salt 3 c Rice Krispies 2 c choc/chips, melted

Line or spray muffin tins. In pan, melt p/butter, honey, salt on med. Once smooth, pour over rice krispies in bowl. Stir/fully coat cereal. Fill muffin cup ⅔ full; press cereal firmly to pack down. Spoon on melted chocolate. Fridge to set up. Once firm, serve and enjoy.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I checked the CLEARANCE on garden stuff at Walmart, today. They had a decent assortment of fertilizers and such and some Super Thrive - which is REALLY good stuff, but I had checked my stash before I went and I am really fully stocked - at least through next summer. If we’re at Menard’s and Beau is in a generous mood, I stock up on Miracle Grow and potting mix, then. ;)

Pro Tip: If your guy is a Math Geek, put three smaller bags of dirt in the cart. He’ll look at the price per pound and then determine your BETTER VALUE is to buy the HUGE bag that he can carry to the truck and then to the greenhouse for you. *SMIRK* (Works every time I’ve tried it so far!) ;)

Walmart had some Miracle Grow products and some of their ‘Expert Gardener’ line of fertilizers for roses, tomatoes and all-purpose. A few bags of Holly Tone and the like for acid-loving shrubs. (Espoma brand)

I didn’t see any Dr. Earth products at my Walmart.

I have been using ‘Tiger Bloom’ (Fox Farm) on everything on the front porch and steps and things are still looking amazing even with the HUGE temperature swings we’re having. We’re back to HOT for a few days - though rain predicted for this evening.

[Paul R.]

Ha, I’m jealous. Likely no rain for us for several days at least, and we are really getting dry. D1 on the latest drought map, and probably actually into D2 by now.

Hopefully Wally World or Menards will blow out some garden and potting soil, as I’m really low, even with the garden soil I picked up on sale at Lowes several days ago. I should have bought more, but am conserving given all the trouble we’ve been having with our cars.

[FamiliarFace]

*** Meh. Mañana! ;)***

Ok, here’s my honest to goodness mañana story.

This may be TMI, but heck, it’s Friday night, and y’all are my favorite peeps.

A bazillion years ago, my then boyfriend announced he was ready to marry me. He didn’t actually say the words, “will you marry me?” but he made his intentions clear. We had been dating for over 5 years. So I said, if you’re saying what I think you’re saying, the answer is YES! We hugged and kissed and started making plans right away.

HOWEVER, he hadn’t given me a ring, and by traditional standards, he hadn’t really asked me. He hadn’t gone done on one knee. But I had been waiting for at least 3 years for this shy guy to let me me know I was the ONE. I thought that’s what he was saying.

Fast forward a few months, when we went on a camping trip with his sister and her husband, who he was very close to. We all flew into Denver and rented an RV for our trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons. He wanted to tell them of our engagement first.

So every night, I would ask, “when are you going to tell them?” He would always tell me, “Mañana, mañana!” We had a lovely trip hiking and seeing the sights, but we were on our last night in the Tetons. He still had said nothing. I was doubting whether I was making it all up. Maybe he has second thoughts. Or third thoughts. Maybe we weren’t meant to be, as I had thought.

Well, on that last evening in the Tetons, my SIL and BIL brought out a bottle of champagne before campfire dinner. They announced, “Hoy es Mañana!!” They told us they heard us every night and figured out what was going on all along.

I was never so relieved! Hubby, too!

Hubby fessed up, told them of our intentions to be married, and asked his BIL to be his Best Man. Thankfully, there were still 3 days left of the trip to celebrate it and talk about it.

It’s still a great story to this day! Married 40 years this past March!

[FamiliarFace]

I scored some down and out succulents on clearance at Walmart a couple of weeks ago.

They were abusing those poor plants. Thriving where I have them on my deck.