The Garden Thread - October, 2025

October 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.

[SunkenCiv]

I like that place.

[Pollard]

Yeah I might have to buy that print catalog this year.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"I’m finding that a lot of people have TWCs that live in the house all the time and are apparently very well behaved there."

The three pups I raised, litter before this last one, have a Mama Walker Dog who lives in the house full time and hunts out of a hatchback car, LOL!

Her owner, who is a Hairdresser by trade and an AMAZING Raccoon Hunter lets his three TWCs hang out in his Salon most days.

This is 'Sunshine' as a pup. She went on to win ALL THE AWARDS in MN right out of the gate when she went back to Ben (Hairdresser/Hunter) at about a year old. I was raising 'Sunny' for our friend Randy, but he went and died on us so Ben took her back.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

There’s a woman I follow that is an expert at canning anything and everything.

I cannot BELIEVE the HATE she gets in some of her posts! It’s just insanity.

What is WRONG with people? You try to reach out and share your skills and knowledge, but nope. That’s not good enough! Everyone has to argue the minutia with you!

[MomwithHope]

Nice pup but GORGEOUS lettuce!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Alice taught me SO MUCH through the years. I spent my Summers on her farm as Cheap Labor, but I learned a lot, too! Our Moms would ‘farm’ us ‘City Kids’ out to her for the Summer, though she had like a dozen kids of her own, LOL!

I helped milk the goats, weeded and watered her Kitchen Garden - and seriously - IT WAS RIGHT OUTSIDE THE KITCHEN DOOR - helped her make meals with ALL THE FRESH VEGGIES, MEAT, MILK and EGGS right at hand and if there was any down time, we could chase the horses around in the pasture and if we could catch one, we could ride them! (We never could catch them - they were on to us!)

There was an awesome, meandering creek for dips when you were hot and/or dirty. It was a beautiful spot and I have a lot of fond memories of the place. I hope she likes my farm!

I get two more beds cleaned up and mulched with straw, today. I can’t bear to yank out the flowers and such until after a hard freeze - which should be in another week at the latest. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

*** I have 2nd degree burns on my face from Mrs. Augie giving me the stink eye from the other end of the couch. lol***

I know you’re teasing (somewhat) but please remind Mrs. Augie that Howard is our Garden thread mascot. Unless he tears up the place, he should be given time to learn and fit in. I can see he’s trying very hard to be a good boy.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I know that you said the Cershownski melon was NOT the Cob melon you were looking for, but here is a picture of the melon which apart from ribbing seems to have the same markings but is lighter and is identified as a Cob Type. (Equivalent to Freestone peaches for seed removal!) Sadly they do not show it sectioned lengthwise like your picture. Consider variablity in a 100 year old line of melons and the fact that the Melon book has probably selected the most "Photogenic" specimen they could find.

https://revivalseeds.ca/collections/melons/products/cershownski-melon

"Cershownski Cob Melon A very unique heirloom cob type of melon with origins from Southern Ukraine c. 1874. We acquired the seeds from Tanya at Heritage Harvest Seeds who states that the seeds have been passed on from the Jake Kehler Mennonite family who brought them to Canada over 100 years ago. The center of these melons are filled with a cob-like nucleus containing seeds. This section of the melon (cob) can be cut around lengthwise and both halves twisted to separate the seed cluster. The fruit average 8 inches in length and around 6" in diameter. The light green-nutmeg flesh is nicely textured and slightly sweet."

I did not mention the Collective Farm Woman melon, but I saw it on Seed Savers exchange.

I saw the Nutmeg melon was mentioned in a number of seed companies, in one case as the Montreal Nutmeg melon.

If you do not think the Cershownski is your Cob, someone mentioned that Cob Melon was once available or shared with seed savers exchange. Perhaps send them an e-mail and see if they have some stored or listed in their catalogs or have a member or correspondent who grows the melon. Good hunting!

[SunkenCiv]

Yup. The last (maybe only) place I ever saw seeds was many years ago, in the Leddon and Sons catalog (they are not for the home gardener nowadays). Dreadful looking black and white on newsprint. Wish I had taken the plunge at the time.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Bumping around the internet today I saw a few melons I thought I would share these with you. (There are so many choices!)

Blue Pumpkin Seed Company Piel de Sapo (Santa Claus Melon) "

"This Spanish heirloom goes by many names, depending on where you are. Piel de Sapo is Spanish for "skin of the frog," which is how this melon got its name due to its exterior appearance. The skin is a slightly wrinkled green and yellow mottled color. The flesh inside is white to pale yellow, crisp, and subtly sweet, with a flavor that is unique to its own. Each melon can weigh up to 9 lbs and be as long as 1 foot. This one will surely be an annual staple in your garden once you've sampled its sweet flesh!"

In other places the flavor is described as like Pineapple. It is Drought Tolerant and can be stored for a long time. (Not defined!) Matures something like 90 days.

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Revivalseeds (Canada) Amish Melon Mosher's corner

Sold out this year, but maybe another year. Matures in 75 to 80 days! This is probably a northern tier variety.

"Amish Melon 'Moshers Corner strain' (Cucumis melo) Sometimes a seed grower comes across something that is rogue or out of place. During the summer of 2018, while up high on the tractor saddle I noticed a few orange flowers along the west headland of our S field. It turns out they were that of a muskmelon growing in an old soil overburden/manure mound. The muskmelons that yielded were especially sweet with orange meat and a very hard grey/tan rind. Even our local porcupine eventually gave up on cutting through these! A fairly early maturing melon with sweet orange meat. Trying to identify the variety has been somewhat difficult; Although they resemble the Amish melon with the notably thick rind, and similar colour and shape, they are more analogous to the Noir des Carmes fruit in taste but certainly maturing around the same time as the Amish. We have dubbed this strain of what we believe to be Amish melon lineage as the 'Mosher Corner Strain'.

A farmer talking! It originated, in a rotted manure bank on the headland of his "S" field! :)

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Heritageharvest Seed (Canada) Arikara Watermelon

You grow this one FOR THE SEEDS! "The Arikara Indians once grew these drought resistant watermelons. The small melons have pinkish flesh and produce large amounts of seed, making this variety perfect for highly nutritious roasted watermelon seeds! Early maturing variety that is easy to grow but not as sweet as the others. EXTREMELY RARE. (80 days)

20 seeds per packet.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Nutmeg melon. I ran into it several times in my searches! Looks great! (I need a larger property and tractor for a proper sized garden!)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I have “Garden Book of Thomas Jefferson” and can see it from where I sit. It would actually be better for a historian to have. I did use it once to track down another Freepers Ancestor’s nursery’s sale of something to Jefferson. Nifty!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Probably why you had so many of the older farmers in the early 1900s who lived into their 80s and 90s!

(I need to make another batch of sauerkraut.)

I hope everything is going well and you are getting a lot of wood chips for your walking paths!

[SunkenCiv]

My all-time favorite (and most successful) melon was the yellow-fleshed Black Diamond. This is Michigan, it’s more of a southern melon, but it was hot as blazes that summer and it came out fantastic. I’ve found that yellow flesh watermelon generally beats the regular red fleshed types.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Nice pup but GORGEOUS lettuce!"

THAT was a Very Good Gardening Year! That year (2022) the weather & rainfall was amazingly PERFECT from beginning to end and I produced so. much. food. that Mom came over every WEEK and took baskets and boxes of veggies back to her neighbors and our friends. I almost killed myself canning, LOL!

I have yet to be able to re-create that season - but once my Weather Machine is out of the shop...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m guessing there will be more additions come spring, LOL! Glad you finally got it all done, though!

“I need to figure out the wood stove in the shop for this winter.”

I had a wood stove in my smaller Pole Barn at the other farm - and a BIG TV. It was a great gathering spot for watching football with family and friends. I miss that smell of wood smoke.

The house here used to have a wood burning fireplace, but Beau took that out and put in a LP insert, instead. It’s the only heat in the Family Room, and that puppy cranks out the heat to the point where I had to re-arrange furniture or be roasted alive. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

P.S. The Romaine Lettuce in the front is just a 6-pack of the Bonnie brand lettuce from Walmart. I also planted their Red Romaine and the assorted stuff in the bed behind ‘Sunshine’ was whatever lettuce and spinach seed I had on hand that Spring.

It was one of those seasons when I was ‘using things up.’ And funny, those turn out to be the best years - little planning involved; just throw it in the ground, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[left that other site]

Good Morning!

[daniel1212]

Thanks for the ping and praise God for a fruitful year for toms, though not too much care was needed.

Below is the last pickings I did (second this week), somewhat larger with not all fully ripe, since night temps close to 32 were predicted (though not under 40 was realized I think). NE storm is on way tomorrow PM, just wind and rain. I pray temps stay above 32F longer.