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.

[Liz]

Creamy Bacon Carbonara

Ing: 3 eggs 1/2 cup cream 2/3 c Parm Fresh minced parsley or dried flakes 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1/2 lb. bacon fried crisp, then crumbled 1 small onion, chopped 1/2 lb pasta

Cook: Beat eggs, cream, Parm, parsley, salt, red pepper w/ fork. Fry bacon crisp, then crumble and set aside. With 1 -2 tbsp. bacon grease, sauté onion translucent and golden. Drain pasta and, while still warm, add it to the onions. Pour in cream mixture; stir over low heat one to two minutes. Don’t do this on high heat, or you will make scrambled eggs. Crumble bacon & serve w/ more Parm.

[Pollard]

Our soil is too acidic for carrots or other root crops

Potatoes. We grow them around here and have wild blueberries too. Soil pH is low to mid 5s. Red radish are done so fast they don't have time to realize what soil they're in. Don't think I've tried turnips. Know I haven't tried sweet potatoes.

I will likely need lime before I can grow decent carrots, except for maybe those red Japanese ones because most of Japan has acid soil.

I did a search for Japanese on rareseeds.com and loaded up my wish list with many of them.

I think the only two Japanese plants I've grown are Red Mustard and Shishito peppers and both do well. In fact, Shishito are the only pepper that's done well here. Bell peppers won't produce anything but a few tiny fruits if any. I've tried several hot peppers and did get a few Habanero but that was out of three plants. Just got some Daikon radishes and hoping they'll do well but I don't expect them to get big since this soil is also heavy. Got some Ishakura bunching onions.

I'll know more as I grow more Japanese veggies. Bok Choy(China) does well here and they have acid soil in some areas, Southern China iirc. Chijimisai do good as long as pests don't get them. I could probably squeeze in a small crop of them now.

I'm slowly building up a collection of veggies that will grow here. Still can't grow a lot. Full size tomatoes are fair. Cherry do well. Most American brassica don't do well, aside from greens which do ok. Green beans, iffy. Peas do ok.

[metmom]

I’ve found some of those stinkers recently on my Brussel Sprouts, which are still not producing any sprouts again this year.

[metmom]

The Spinosad seems to be working very well on them though.

[Pollard]

Haven't looked at my rain gauge but the AG research center up the road say's we got 1.64" today. Had a few inches of water flowing over the top of the creek bridge on my way in.

Well hello Autumn (most of the days without wind forecast yet, will be windy) "If it wasn't for the wind, it would be ok" is a season here. Short name is WindRain and latter part is referred to as WindRainIce.

[Pollard]

UGA Extension publication on sausage making - https://secure.caes.uga.edu/extension/publications/files/pdf/B%201437_1.PDF

48 pages with 32 of them being general sausage making info. The rest is basic recipes for all the common sausages.

[Qiviut]

Speaking of wind .... our forecast is for wind 10 - 20 mph with gusts up to 40 mph this afternoon late & evening. Through Wednesday, winds are 10-15 with gusts 35-40. We are up on a knoll so the wind will be howling around the house.

Yesterday was a rare day with wind 2-3 mph. I took advantage & mowed the place, mostly to chop up the leaves that had fallen. The leaf bits were landing & staying where the mower spit them out so I could run over them a time or two more. There are plenty of leaves left to fall - trying to figure out where I could site a compost pile - those leaf bits/grass would be great compost for the raised beds next year!

[FamiliarFace]

Checking in from down South.

Hubby and I are with my siblings (2 sisters and a brother plus spouses) for the week at a beach in the Panhandle. Yesterday was arrival day, grocery store run, early meal planning, and football in the afternoon and evening. We can see the beach from our unit, and it’s so pretty to watch the blue green water rushing in to the sugar white sand. So mesmerizing.

For appetizers before dinner, I blistered the shishito peppers that I brought from my garden, and we dipped them in smoked paprika aioli that I made from a recipe that was shared a month or so ago. Only my brother had ever tasted them before (at an Asian restaurant). THEY ALL LOVED THEM!!! My brother said they were tastier than the ones he had tried at the restaurant, too! My older sister said that Dad would be very proud of me, as he was a foodie, loved cooking shows, and trying new things. That was pretty high praise, especially for something that is so simple to make.

I explained to them that we rarely use bell peppers anymore, as these have so much flavor compared to them, yet they aren’t too hot, except for every once in a while. They’re very interested in trying to grown their own now! So a big win for the shishitos! Thanks to all my gardening friends who introduced me a year ago to the idea of trying them (from grocery store produce) to growing my own this season.

There’s a storm outside right now, but as soon as it ends, I’m heading out to stick my toes in the sand!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

~HAVE A BLESSED SUNDAY~

[Liz]

Thai Beef Salad / serves 2
Adapted from the "Spice I Am" Thai restaurant, arguably one of the BEST Thai restaurants in the world. Grinding coriander for the dressing gives that extra dimension that makes this a restaurant standard. It makes all the difference in flavor.

Ing---Dressing 1/2 tsp minced birds eye or Thai Chilli , de-seeded, 1/4 tsp minced garlic (1/2 small clove),1 tbs finely chopped cilantro/coriander stems, 2 1/4 tsp white sugar, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 3 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbs vegetable oil, small pinch k/salt. SALAD 7 – 8 oz best quality beef steak – sirloin , at room temp, 1 tbs peanut oil, s/p, 2 heaping cups mixed lettuce leaves 10 cherry tomatoes, halved 1/4 small red onion , very finely sliced 1/2 halved cucumber in slices 1/4 cup cilantro/coriander leaves , lightly packed 1/4 cup mint leaves , lightly packed Garnish 1/4 cup finely chopped peanuts , roasted, unsalted, Extra cilantro/coriander and mint leaves

Instructions Dressing: Proc/pulse birds eye chili, garlic, cilantro stems, small pinch of salt to a smooth paste. Add the rest Dressing ing. Adjust sugar, lime juice and fish sauce to taste. Set aside.

Beef: Preheat skillet on high screaming hot and smoking. Drizzle both sides beef w/ 1/2 tbs oil, sprinkle w/ good pinch s/p. Cook beef to your liking. Cook times: for steak 2cm / 4/5” thick, 2 min on each side for medium rare (internal temp is 52°C/125°F) OR 2 1/2 min each side for medium (internal temp 57°C/135°F). Remove beef to plate. Loosely tent w/ foil; set aside for 10 min to rest.

Assemble Salad: Place lettuce in bowl, drizzle w/ 1 tbsp Dressing and toss. Slice beef thinly against the grain and place in a bowl w/ rest Salad ingredients. Dress with most of remaining Dressing and toss gently. Pile dressed lettuce onto plate(s), pile over beef and other salad ingredients. Sprinkle with peanuts and garnish with extra cilantro/coriander and mint leaves, drizzle with remaining Dressing. Serve immediately. ========================================================

Recipe Notes: 1. Chilli – 1/2 tsp will be mildly spicy, 1 tsp will be decently spicy but not blow-your-head off. For mild, 1/4 tsp. Can sub w/ chilli of choice, or use chilli paste. 2. Steak – Sirloin, boneless rib eye, porterhouse, scotch fillet or rump steak, flank, flat iron (my fave). Remember: the steak will continue cooking when resting! And remember: you can cook a steak a bit more if needed but you can’t UNCOOK steak! Cutting against the grain produces the most tender slices. To do this, turn steak so fibers are left to right directly in front of you. Then cut across the fibers – 90 deg perpendicular to direction of fibers.

[Liz]

Thai Beef Salad

[MomwithHope]

What an awesome post, thanks. Have a great time. I looked into Orange Beach many years ago as a possible vacation spot. But our vacation days were behind us. Emjoy!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It is pretty down there! My in-laws always spent a good chunk of the Winter in Panama City Beach, FL.

They were pretty upset when it was destroyed by Hurricane Michael in 2018. :(

It’s recovered now, but they are still rebuilding some areas.

Enjoy those toes in the sand!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Since you are into oriental vegetables, sweet potatoes might be a good staple food option. They can be stored for a long period of time, perhaps as much as 6 months. They do best in soils that are 5.5 to 6.5, but will grow in soils as low as 5.0. A sandy loam works well, but I think you have more of a clay over limestone? Loose soil is best. You can eat the vine tips, you can feed the leaves to goats. (And the peels and occasionally the tubers.)

It might take a couple of year's experimenting with your soil and light conditions. You could make a raised bed with loose soil inside your fenced area using broken down pallet material and make a trellis from the pallets rather than mounding and allowing the vines to spread all over the place. (Will you be doing this for your Kyoto Red carrots anyway?" I have grown them over the past couple of years and my regret is that I did not start them earlier. 2 more weeks of growing would have resulted in more substantial tubers. They were also a pain to dig up. I had some problems with mice or ground squirrels eating the tops of exposed sweet potato. I think I have about 30 pounds harvest total. Since you need to import your water or store your rain water in a cistern that might be an issue.

My experience is with Baker Creek's Carogold and Korean Golden sweet potatoes. I think I prefer the Carogold, but the Korean was more productive. I also tried their Okinawan and Hawiian sweet potatoes, but they did not do well for me and were not well recieved by others so I moved on. (Purple, white, dryer and more enlongated than U.S. Varieties.)

Orange Variety Covington is supposed to be good. 100 to 115 day maturity. more disease resistance and more regular shape. I have not grown it though. (Do a "Brave search" on covington for more info.

Good luck!

Picture from the August Garden....Fig trees in 5 gallon pots, Sweet Potatoes, Pumpkin vine, painted scarecat that did not scare.

[Paul R.]

For the most part, the tomato plants I started late did better at surviving the fungus (blight) that took out my early starters. The late plants are only just now starting to produce, though, so I won’t get a lot out of them. I may pick out one that’s not too big, pot it, and try to bring it inside. Next Thursday morning looks like a possible frost for us, but then it may be warm here for the next 2-3 weeks, says NWS. The forecast low on Th. morning keeps creeping up (now 39 deg. F), so, we may squeak by.

[Paul R.]

Heh, I went out this morning, and either a t-storm late last night or just the gusty winds early this a.m. had knocked a big branch out of our oak tree and onto the road bordering the west edge of our property. Someone had only partially dragged it off the road, and into our ditch, so, traffic “could” pass, but someone could also hit the thing if not paying attention. (Granted that in the case of not paying attention, they’d likely sail through the stop sign about 100 ft. further along! That’d be a good way to get whacked — which HAS happened here more than once, in the past. Living at the intersection of 2 county highways has its drawbacks...)

Anyway, by the time I got the mess cleaned up (the branch, I mean), it was already past time to head to church: Wifey was ready to go, but I was a sawdust mess, and have a sore throat too. So, I passed, and watched the service @ my church* online, instead, while eating breakfast. An upside is that our birdies (chickens) got to go out earlier than on most Sundays. :-)

*Wifey is Catholic, I’m Missouri Synod Lutheran.

I used to do much the same, composting our voluminous (and mostly hickory) tree leaves and nuts (and husks) for the garden, and also my earthworm (bait) bed... until my Dad told me hickory debris, used regularly, was not good for gardens (juglone content). Now that stuff just goes to the worm bed, and, after many years of that, it appears that it even drives off most of the worms. :-(

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Eating from The Land, Your Hand, The Garden:

After the Packer game, supper is on the grill. Homemade Maple Burgers and Johnsonville Brats from Sheboygan, WI.

Diana’s Maple Burgers:

1 pound home-grown ground beef (Thanks, Chuck!)
1/4 C Panko Breadcrumbs
1/4 C Homemade Maple Syrup (Thanks, Beau!)
Chopped & dried Chives from the Garden (A generous Tbsp.)
S & P & minced Garlic (fresh or dried) to taste

Makes four nice-sized burgers. Don’t forget the ‘divot’ in the middle so they cook flat on the grill. ;)

[Paul R.]

Have you tried growing Thai Peppers? The fruits are tiny, but hotter than hell. They grow well for me in pots in partial sun. Due to the small fruit size, you really don’t “eat” them, they are just a “set it on fire” seasoning, or use a little bit of one - I mean literally maybe 1/16 cu. inches, or maybe 2 or 3 of the seeds*, for “warmth” in a pot of soup or something.

*If using the seeds, I usually don’t even crush them — I put a couple seeds in a small cloth bag, drop it in, stir lightly, and slow cook with occasional brief stirring, checking for “heat” / taste every 10 minutes or so. Spicy enough? Pull out the bag & continue to cook the veggies or whatever if they are are not yet quite at the desired consistency. For me, a big recipe might justify an entire fruit. Might.

I find it hard to imagine peppers that are even hotter, but, these are very “efficient”. A healthy plant, maybe 14” high, can easily produce 100 fruits in a couple months of production, and that’s way more than enough “heat” to last me until the next spring. Wifey uses ‘em, though. All 3 plants we have now have overwintered at least one winter, and with good light, nutrition, and a bit of warmth, they may even fruit indoors in the winter.

[Qiviut]

‘Dead’ quiet this morning when we left for church (also MS Lutheran!) at 10:15. Fairly stiff breeze blowing after church. Visited a relative in the hospital until 1:45 & strong winds has arrived.

When we got home, all the chrysanthemums in pots at the front entrance were blown over as were 2 in the yard. Leaves were ankle deep in some places on the front porch.

Mom had decorative items on the back patio & those were blown over. Across the driveway, there are several good-sized limbs down from the very large dead chestnut tree. The fencing had blown down around my dahlias. I had a tarp rolled up on one panel so I could pull it over the dahlias in the event of frost & the tarp was enough wind resistance to take down the fence panel & others tied to those panels.

Anyway, the ‘hatches’ are all battened down now. If it’s howling around the house upstairs tonight, I may end up in a recliner downstairs.

[Pollard]

Kinda got my heart set on habanero to try and make a copycat recipe of a hot sauce I we like. Yucatan Sunshine. — https://reilyproducts.com/products/try-me-yucatan-sunshine-habanero-sauce-5-oz/

Shouldn’t be too hard: Distilled Vinegar, Aged Habanero Peppers, Salt, Dried Carrots, Dried Onion, Dried Garlic And Xanthan Gum. Can just thicken with something other than the gum.