Devil's Lake:
The Devil's Doorway:
Posted on 10/01/2025 5:23:58 AM PDT by 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.
Actually I have a cluster of very old fashioned daffodils growing out in the middle of my back yard. There was the wreck of a small shed in that area, so I suspect they were planted by that shed when it was new and good. Perhaps that is why you have some of these where they don’t belong now. This was almost 45 years ago when we bought the house. The wreck of the shed is long gone.
Where the cluster of trees and brush are that I am having cleaned up, there once was a pony shed. I found some old horse gear there over 20 years ago, but I can no longer spot any remnant of that pony shed now.
Maybe, but the property we’re on is heavily wooded, and was just a bunch of trees before the street side was cleared out for a house about 30 years ago. Both sets of neighbors on each side told us that they thought this lot would never be built on. Apparently, the first owners that bought it had a vision of how to transform it.
There have been no structures built in that part of the woods. Just animals that roam about. Deer, raccoons, possums, skunks, foxes, groundhogs, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. live in these woods. The house is built up high so almost like a treehouse feeling. It slopes pretty strongly so we have a nice sledding hill when it snows “sledding snow”.
It’s a lovely retreat back there. We do projects in the yard, little by little. Right now we are redoing a meditation garden, because we had a 180 year old hickory tree that was diseased and a danger to us, but especially our neighbor. A lot of the area was damaged with the huge trucks that came to remove it. So instead of whining about it, we have used it as an opportunity to “refresh” the space with new perennials and a few shrubs. We are adding a water feature to make it a calming, tranquil space. More to come on that.
I hope you’re doing well. That was such a short time ago. Blessings, no stressing. I was so happy with a women for just a few short years. I had to “break” the smile off my face when I went to sleep at night. It actually hurt, it was like a permanent grin. I could go to sleep in just a couple of minutes after my head hit the pillow. What is really funny, I could make her pee on herself from laughing any time I felt like it.
Her cat loved me more than she did...
It took 4 months until I started recovering but recovering I am. Thank you for your nice thoughts. Our faith made us one person and there have been many blessings. Love never dies.
Happy October to all, and, thanks for the thread!
We haven’t cooled yet! But, we should (a little, still above average) soon.
I’m hoping nice weather holds until late next week. Wifey and daughter-san both will be on Fall break, and wifey actually WANTS to go on an all fishing expedition, probably to Devil’s Kitchen Lake in So. IL. (A truly wonderful place, despite the name. They should change it to “Slice of Heaven”!).
Unless I mixed up the fruits (possible, I was rushing a couple days ago), my “Independence Day” tomato fruits are pretty nice looking, and... pretty bland. I’d say my “Unknown Volunteer” is better: It produced / is producing slightly smaller fruits, but a bit sweeter, and the plant grew quickly and produced sooner. Despite the Independence Day plants supposedly being a very early producer, they were not, although, our sodden spring did badly affect many plants. Still, other varieties in the same part of the garden did better. The Better Boys and the Abe Lincolns produced sooner for me, and taste much better. That said, the Independence Day fruits LOOK very nice, with no splitting so far.
The “Early Treats” are finally “almost there” (fruits to harvest) too. Hopefully they taste good.
The Asian Squash FINALLY produced a couple flowers, and... (apparently) the squirrels have come back and chewed them off. Time to declare war!!!
I ran into a couple more instances of clearance items, both at Wal Mart and Rural King, having been marked way down, and then the Home Office reduces the markdown (on the computers), and the store employees never correct the displayed shelf price. This time (both stores) I didn’t just cancel the items @ the checkout register, I insisted the store honor the displayed price. They did. I wish I’d insisted about the raised bed soil on clearance, several days ago, instead of just not getting it.
It is!
Devil's Lake:
The Devil's Doorway:
KIMCHI RECIPE
Veggies/Fruit
Paste ingredients
Rinse, toss and squeeze cabbage while running under water in colander to remove salt(most all of it)
Add green onions, carrots, apple and paste to cabbage
Mix well by hand or with utensil
Pack into canning jar
Press down to remove air bubbles/spaces
Loosely cap jar and ferment for 4-7 days tasting at days 4, 5, 6, 7 and repeat pressing it down.
Once the taste is to your liking, snug cap and transfer to fridge stop fermentation
Very much in line with recipes I've seen on recipe blogs of Korean women(allegedly).
Oh, and his grooming has improved over the years. His youtube income has probably improved along with that. Kimchi recipe video was 2018.
The crude Kimchi I made isn't much like Kimchi. No red color or sauciness, both because I didn't use Korean Red Pepper Flakes. I have clear watery kimchi stuff. Too many other alternate ingredients too. Trying to replace Korean/Daikon radish with horseradish obtained via cocktail sauce and horseradish mustard was a bad plan. Cocktail sauce that had no HFCS had a ton of salt in it.
With no Daikon radish being available, I'm just going to have to buy kimchi until I can grow a Daikon type of radish. I've got seeds for a Japanese Daikon radish and bunching/green onions in the cart at Baker Creek. Both are frost hardy, 40-50 days, and people in my zone have grown both into Winter with one person in Nebraska having dug green onions out of the snow and others harvesting radish after hard freeze. I've got a raised bed frame up near the house that's not being used so I'll bring it down to the tunnel and fill it for the radish/onions. Will fluff the soil under it first since the Daikon can reach 2 foot long, 3 inch dia. If I can get 1 foot long, 2 inch dia, I'll be happy.
I can buy Korean red pepper flakes on amazon and try to grow some of the proper Korean peppers next year.
Meanwhile, I think my hot, salty, watery attempt at Kimchi will go well mixed with my last jar of thick, somewhat sweet, pepper/onion relish. Gonna try mixing a tiny bit to see.
What’s that recipe when you bury a big Goose Egg for 500 years and then dig it up and eat it?
Oh, that’s the recipe right there above, LOL!
If you can pull that off, you’ve already reached immortality.
The Daikon is something I can't get and is not something you'd buy online and have shipped. I know red radishes grow fine here. Don't expect Daikon to get to full size in my heavy soil but a good fluffy raised bed will help. Found the Korean Red Pepper flakes(coarse powder) on ebay cheaper than amazon.
Fall Planting spreadsheet has Chinese Cabbage(transplant) 8/24/25 -- Daikon(direct sow) 8/25/25. Add 2-3 weeks per layer of cover, tunnel/row cover. Won't be hard to make hoops to go over a raised bed. Guess I'll start cabbage seeds today. No date given for green onions but they're 40-50 days and hardy.
Couple of months and I might be able to make Kimchi which I'm evidently using as an excuse to grow something. ;)
I hate food shopping here. Just looked at the grocery ads and all three stores have the exact same things on sale. Hardly ever see an Arm Roast but all three have them on sale this week. All three have t-bone on sale. All three have hothouse cucumbers on sale. Pork steaks, all three. Ground chuck, all three. All are the same &*$@) price for the same &*$@) things. It's like a cruel conspiracy. Evidently, there's only one grocery store supplier out here.
Gochujang Korean Pepper seeds on the way. Won’t need until next year but it’s a small family farm, not a big seed supplier so who knows when they’ll run out. Even Baker Creek and Johnny’s run out of things. One other thing I can grow for kimchi is carrots. For Fall, they should have been direct sown 8/5/25, plus 4-6 weeks for two layers of protection. 2-4 weeks ago. Got a free seed packet of Koral carrots a while back from Baker Creek.
Then I canned the pear butter - 12 pints and a little extra. The overflow jar went straight to the kitchen. I added a bit of vanilla extract to the recipe - that was a good idea. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.
Miss Booger decided to hang out and supervise the operation. Howard is still too nosy to be allowed in the barn while the summer kitchen is in operation. lol
That finishes up the canning for me this season. The kitchen garden is still producing tomatoes and peppers. Aside from those two things it's done, which means it's time to start cleaning it up to get ready for next spring.
And I still need to plant spinach in the greenhouse...
I think having a SMALL CHILD hold the cabbage in the photo-shoot helps. ;) Those are gorgeous, though; lots of Kraut!
Try Jung’s Megaton Cabbage. ;)
I tried making kimchi many years ago. Just did not care for the taste. Its kapusta and kefir for me. But I am all for anything fermented.
Very nice! That last is a remarkable formation, but, I suspect, rather transitory!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.