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.

[Paul R.]

For volume users, although I’m not sure the price per oz. is better than the 25 oz. bottles @ the Asian food store:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GWOSEYC?psc=1&language=en_US

[Liz]

Easy baked Asian-style Chili Tilapia
This simple sheet pan recipe can be ready in under 30 minutes, with the option to bake your fish and vegetables together for an effortless weeknight dinner.

Ingredients
4 tilapia fillets, 4–6 oz each
½ cup prepared sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce or fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey or maple syrup
Salt and black pepper to taste
Optional garnishes: chopped cilantro, sliced green onions, lime wedges, sesame seeds

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C).
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and honey.
Pat the tilapia fillets dry with a paper towel and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet. Season the fish lightly with salt and pepper.
Pour the sweet chili sauce mixture evenly over each fillet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Cooking time may vary slightly depending on the thickness of your fillets.
For a caramelized finish, you can broil the fish for the final 1 to 2 minutes. Watch carefully to prevent burning.
Garnish the fillets with fresh cilantro, green onions, and sesame seeds. Serve immediately with a side of steamed rice and a lime wedge.

---

Serving suggestions
Jasmine rice: The classic accompaniment for soaking up the flavorful sauce.
Roasted or steamed vegetables: Asparagus, broccoli, and broccolini pair well with the Asian flavors.
Mango avocado salsa: A fresh, fruity salsa can provide a cool contrast to the sweet chili heat.
Simple side salad: A crisp cucumber or kale slaw can cut through the richness of the sauce.

[MomwithHope]

Finally got around to it. Been up since 3, getting a lot done. There is a good polish sausage recipe that I printed out from this website years ago. o I would look around here - http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/ Also got some at food.com just look for sausage making. This is the book that I have, pretty much used it for ideas they have one italian recipe I liked but modified. And the last capicola I made. Again followed the you tube I sent, only used smoked sweet paprika. Weighing up the umai bag is so easy and as long as you have a good scale worked perfectly every time. We don't have a cold basement to hang something like this. Picture is from the last one. It was still a lot for two people so I would cut it in half and vacuum seal it in a foodsaver bag. Will keep probably for a few years. A meat slicer is a must and for pizza I would take the thin slices and do vertical strips. Fresh tomato on the pizza too, no sauce. Not finding the capicola pics and I am pooped for the day.

[Pollard]

I saw that version on amazon

[Qiviut]

Cooking in the kitchen this afternoon & the view out of the large picture window over the sink is one of bucolic serenity. The ‘girls’ have been let into the field directly across the road. White Face is easily spotted & I even got a good look at Funny Face, who is not so easy to pick out of the herd. They are mostly congregated next to the fence, the one shady spot in that field and are either standing around contentedly or lying down for a rest.

The girls are looking a little plump - last year they started calving the week before Thanksgiving & that time frame is not that far away. Two of the mamas are out of sync with the rest of the herd ... one has a very small calf, less than a month old, I would guess. Another has a calf 2 months old, maybe 3 at most. These 2 youngsters play together & it’s pretty funny watching them chase each other .... cops & robbers or NASCAR?

We did not have frost last night despite getting down to mid-30’s. It’s a beautiful Fall day with some color finally showing up along the mountainsides. Mostly golds - the reds seem to have gone to brown early. It will be a great night for the HS football games. I’ll be watching the baseball playoff games & making molasses cookies - the house is going to smell really good with those cookies baking :-)

[Paul R.]

My Golden Jubilees - well, I THINK they were all Golden Jubilees*, probably have been my best producers this year. The Romas were outdoing them, but then the fungus that afflicted nearly all my plants took them (the Roma plants) all down in a week. Some of the GJ’s are still hanging on, tho’ some are dropping their fruits a bit early.

*I do keep wondering, as the above came from seeds from plants NOT marked as GJ’s, but (last year) those plants produced what appeared to be GJ’s. THIS year, I found “Golden Jubilees” in 4” (Bonnies Brand) pots @ Menards, and they produced fruits similar to Cherry Falls (same color, size, and taste)! I couldn’t have messed up on my end, as those latter went straight from the 4” pot to the garden, one at a time, with the original tag / label going in with the plant!

The plants from those seeds I’d saved from last year followed a similar procedure, and seem to have done better, but I’m not totally sure they are Golden Jubilees, as they seem a little less tart than the descriptions I read for GJ’s. Otherwise though, they fit the bill, so to speak, and the difference might be my soil or other conditions, perhaps.

I really like my supposed GJ’s, though they are not a good slicer for sandwiches. I guess I’m still looking for the ideal for that use, although Better Boys and Best Boys when they grow well are fairly good.

From your post, I assume you tried to grow Orange Oxeheart toms, but they failed? Maybe that’s a variety I should try to get. They sound good!

[Paul R.]

I have some Mortgage Lifter tomato fruits nearly ready to pick, I think. The fungus I’ve been complaining about stunted the growth of the fruits, and killed some plants, and has nearly killed others. But, some fruits, tho’ none are over 4” diameter, and most are 3” or less, are pink now, with a few half-way between pink and red. Maybe even “pinkish red”. Are they best to eat when fully deep red, or is that letting them ripen too far?

[Danie_2023]

“”From your post, I assume you tried to grow Orange Oxeheart toms, but they failed? Maybe that’s a variety I should try to get. They sound good!””

***

I was able to grow Orange Oxehearts in Houston quite well, but different temps, humidity and rainfall in DFW area. As it is, I haven’t been able (yet) to grow any from seeds here and haven’t found them in the stores. But I live for next spring (always)... so I have high hopes I’ll be able to succeed “next year”. I have purchased so many tomato seeds now, I’ll have to be giving the seedlings away, assuming they all grow according to plan.

I have been able to buy Lemon Boy toms here for the past few years, and GJs usually, as well. They produce pretty well until the heat sets in.

Dang it. It’s not even winter yet and just talking about this... I’ve already got “next spring fever”...LOLOL.

[Liz]

GLAZED SOUR CREAM PUMPKIN CAKE w/ STREUSEL FILLING
Save a bit of icing for drizzling over servings of this wonderful cake.

STREUSEL: Mix 1/2 c br/sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp allspice. Cut in 2 tsp butter til crumbly.

CAKE: 3 c flour 1 tbl cinnamon 2 tsp b/soda 1 tsp salt 2 c sugar 1 c butter, 4 lge eggs 1 cup LIBBY'S® Pure Pumpkin 8 oz tub sour cream 2 tsp vanilla

Grease/flour 12-cup Bundt pan. COMBINE flour, cinnamon, b/soda,salt. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl light/fluffy. Add eggs singly, beating well after each. Add pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture. ASSEMBLY: SPOON 1/2 batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle Streusel over, do not allow Streusel to touch sides of pan. Top w/ rest batter. Make sure batter layer touches edges of pan. BAKE 350 deg 55 to 60 min; pick comes out clean. Cool 30 min in pan on wire rack. Invert onto rack to cool completely. Drizzle w/ Glaze.

GLAZE:Stir smooth 1 1/2 c sifted conf, 2-3 tbl orange juice or milk.

© 2009 and ®/™ Société des Produits Nestlé S.A., Vevey, Switzerland, used with permission.

[Paul R.]

I have purchased so many tomato seeds now, I’ll have to be giving the seedlings away, assuming they all grow according to plan.

Hahaha! That sounds like me!

I have a Cherry Falls plant that only went in the ground 3 weeks ago (late starter) and it not even 3' tall and rather bushy (for a CF), but it is flowering like crazy. These are IIRC usually considered more of an early season plant -- I may dig it up and put it in a 3-4 gallon pot and see if I can get it to produce in the winter, inside, with lots of light.

There's no frost in our forecast yet, tho' next Thursday morning might get close, with the low presently pegged at 37 deg. F. Severe t'storms tomorrow look like a moderate risk, though, so, that's a more immediate threat. Overall, the long term forecast looks warm*, so if we can get by Th. morning, we can probably keep the plants not killed by the fungus going a while, and my wife's "tropical" plants out a bit longer.

*I also noticed that fall trout stockings have been delayed in this area until ~Oct. 25. At this rate, that may not be enough delay.

[Danie_2023]

“”*I also noticed that fall trout stockings have been delayed in this area until ~Oct. 25. At this rate, that may not be enough delay.””

***

Ok, I’ll ask. Trout stockings???

[Pollard]

lets-make-sausage.com

Pretty good site and they seem to live in a similar food-ingredient desert as me. This is a helpful page - http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/sausage-spices.html

Lists all the spices they keep on hand.

---

Still looking into the andouille thing. I made a list of the different techniques and all have the main goal of; as smoky as possible, for the Cajun type. Haven’t see a mention of type of wood used which makes a big difference. Hickory and mesquite are probably the strongest. Mesquite only grows in dry areas and only grows in a small part of Louisiana, near the border with TX.

No hurry. I can try different recipes for brats for a while.

I’ll eat the slicing portions of the pork butt I smoked as is and give the rest to my neighbor buddy.

[Pollard]

Pulls mind out of gutter.

Think stocking a pond with fish. It’s done with river fish too.

[Danie_2023]

“”Pulls mind out of gutter.

Think stocking a pond with fish. It’s done with river fish too.””

***

No sense of humor!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pollard. I had a hard time growing in my soil. I finally ended up grow some carrots in a 4x4 metal raised bed. I had to use bought soil since my soil gets hard after a couple of days in the sun. I also had to cover the top with chicken wire to keep the squirrels out. I used Kuroda, St Valerie, and Royal Chantanay (Or Might be Chantanay Red I do not recall. )

I have not done this again because it was a limited area and carrots are not that expansive. If you were growing specialty carrots like the Kyoto red that you posted then it might make sense.

[Pollard]

My regular grocery store doesn’t have full size carrots very often. Mostly has those baby carrots that are peeled. So many downsides.

They don’t keep well. High core to outer ratio. Hard as a rock. Are a pain to cut up. They have no taste. Pound per pound, they’re expensive compared to whole carrots.

Too hard and flavorless for fresh eating so I guess they’re for throwing in with potatoes and a roast in the crock pot where sliced carrots(fresh frozen) would turn to mush by the time it’s done.

The fresh produce is in the frozen section.

[Qiviut]

I am making that cabbage roll soup today. Would you believe Walmart did not have a single head of green cabbage yesterday? The bins were shockingly empty!

The soup calls for 16-19 oz. of cabbage ... the bagged angel hair cabbage (plain green, not tri-color) was 10 oz. a bag. I didn’t have time to run to another store looking for cabbage, so I got 2 bags. We’ll see how that works out.

The recipe also calls for 1.5 pounds of meat. I freeze my meat in 1 lb. packages. I’m going to use a pound of ground beef and stretch that by using another pound of venison. A little extra ‘meatiness’ won’t hurt anything!

I’ll let you know how it turns out - all of Cooking Classy’s soup recipes have been delicious so far (made the pumpkin soup yesterday).

[Qiviut]

I’m watching the sun rise out of one window & a deer graze her way down the side of the driveway from another. I put my back yard motion detector up yesterday on a different tree & it alerted me to the deer .... glad to know it’s working!

The sunrise coming over the mountains is a mix of pinks & purples, just beautiful. I’m having a cup of Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea with molasses cookies while I watch ... yum! :-)

I am starting another Big project (might end up being an ‘adventure’!) ... moving the mailbox to our side of the road. Mom has to cross the 2-lane, very busy road to get to the mailbox. Both sides of the road have blind hills .... she scurries across, hangs on to the mailbox so she doesn’t fall into the big ditch just behind the mailbox while trying to stay out of the way of cars speeding by. With her hearing issues, she does not hear the cars coming, they just suddenly pop up over the hill. It’s a very dangerous situation.

We were going to apply for a handicap exemption meaning the mail carrier would bring the mail as far as the door or to a box between the door and the road. I talked to one of the clerks at the PO & mom does not qualify since I live with her; however, the clerk talked to the postmaster who said she would drive out & look at our situation. To clarify, since it’s a rural route, all the mailboxes are on one side of the road. The carrier’s route does end at the river & she comes back up the road on our side so the postmaster, after looking at the situation, said we could move our mailbox wherever we wanted on our side of the road! You know you are living rural/small town when the postmaster personally drives out to look at your situation!

Next problem ... finding a mailbox post that works. We have a ditch on our side of the road too - not as deep as the other side. After recently digging 15 holes for bushes, I really don’t want to dig another for a mailbox post. There is no room at road level to put the post so it has to go IN the ditch & a wooden post is not going to be tall enough to get the mailbox to the 42-46” height required by the PO. I also want the box close to the driveway so when it snows, mom isn’t wading through snow to get to it. The ditch gets deeper as it approaches the driveway & the pipe culvert running underneath.

After much searching, I believe I found the solution: a SwingClear rural mailbox post. It has a long boom arm, it pounds in so no hole digging, & there is a 24” extension to get the mailbox at the proper height, despite the base post being down in a ditch. They also have a really good video on how to install - looks well within my ‘skill’ range (ha ha). The mailbox does swing out of the way if hit by a snow plow, large mirror on a PU, etc. & then returns to the proper position. I had to replace the mailbox when we bought the place because it had been hit & dented badly enough the door wouldn’t close properly - the post is also cracked & if hit again, probably won’t survive.

I ordered the SwingClear yesterday and it should be here by next Friday. As soon as the mail is picked up next Saturday, I’ll get the mailbox detached from its current post & start working on the new post. This will give me the weekend before the mail carrier needs a box, in the event I have an issue installing the new post. Mom is SO excited at the thought of not having to cross the road any more.

If you’re interested in seeing what this rather unique mailbox post looks like, here’s a link to the website (we have ordered a solid black one):

https://swingclear.com/

[MomwithHope]

So nice to start the day hearing about your idyllic life. You take enjoyment from all things even hard work.

[MomwithHope]

Sounds good. I want to try the olive garden zuppa toscana soup. Creamed soup and italian sausage, a nice combo. It calls for kale though (the horror) so I will get some spinach instead.