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The Victory Garden Thread - March, 2026
March 1, 2026 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

Posted on 03/01/2026 5:58:25 AM PST 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.


TOPICS: Agriculture; Education; Food; Gardening
KEYWORDS: food; garden; gardening; hobbies; victory
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To: Qiviut; FRiends
Score on your food offerings! You will be hugely in demand from here on out.

Get ready to become one of the:

If you haven't seem this play (I've seen it twice!) you are in for a real treat. I'm sure it's on video by now. I saw it in Madison with 'Father Mulcahy' from M.A.S.H. in the lead. William Christopher? Great fun!

301 posted on 03/11/2026 5:16:40 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Pollard

I don’t grow/store potatoes so I have no useful advice on those subjects.

As for potato salad, preferences are all over the place when I was looking at recipes.

Russets are starchy & if over boiled, will quickly turn into mush. If you get them just right (4 - 7 minutes), the edges will crumble a bit which adds to creaminess’. They also absorb flavors well. The recipe I used specified russets.

Yukon Gold seemed to be an all around favorite & hold their shape. I too have not seen them lately - everything is nondescript ‘yellow’ potatoes.

Waxy potatoes (red skin is one) hold their shape, keep sharper edges & don’t absorb dressing all that much. I like the small ‘baby’ reds for some reason, probably just the way they look & they cook fast!


302 posted on 03/11/2026 5:24:12 PM PDT by Qiviut (A Mighty Fortress: “...the body they may kill. God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever")
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

The head ‘church lady’ (our Pastor calls the cooks the “kitchen angels”) saw me signing up a couple of potlucks ago & said “I like seeing one of my good cooks signing up!”. No joke, I was honored that she considers me a ‘good’ cook. So far, everything I’ve brought has been mostly eaten up.

As a child, the one big memory of this church (dad’s home church) was the food at the potlucks. It’s very meaningful to be able to contribute now that mom & I are members.


303 posted on 03/11/2026 5:30:52 PM PDT by Qiviut (A Mighty Fortress: “...the body they may kill. God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever")
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Some seed suppliers around here were low, maybe 2-3 weeks ago, but, I think they must have been replenished. Most looked pretty good today. :-)


304 posted on 03/11/2026 5:49:28 PM PDT by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
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To: Qiviut

Q! Empty casserole dish and plates = approval of your adventure in cooking!


305 posted on 03/11/2026 5:50:05 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission (6B KS/MO Border 45F Sunny)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Yummay!


306 posted on 03/11/2026 6:26:33 PM PDT by numberonepal (WWG1WGA)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

As of this afternoon there looks to be a good germination rate. I prolly won’t cull. I’ll just let them run.


307 posted on 03/11/2026 6:28:03 PM PDT by numberonepal (WWG1WGA)
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To: Qiviut

I stopped seeing Yukon seed potatoes a few years ago and now don’t see Yukon in the grocery store for eating. Weird. Hybrids or GMO replaces them probably.


308 posted on 03/11/2026 6:28:18 PM PDT by Pollard (It's just another few hundred $$$)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Oh I’ve grown potatoes. They do well and a lot of people grow them around here. Our low pH prevents scab. I grew them before having mobile water tanks. When the tops died off, I dug potatoes.


309 posted on 03/11/2026 7:23:37 PM PDT by Pollard (It's just another few hundred $$$)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

That’s interesting. I wonder how that’s going to affect the vermin this year. The constant freezing and thawing may destroy a lot of insect eggs.

The weather sure was on a roller coaster ride for you guys.


310 posted on 03/11/2026 9:13:13 PM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus….)
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To: Qiviut

I don’t mind buying seed potatoes or onion sets in the stores but I *HATE* that they don’t list the variety.


311 posted on 03/11/2026 9:15:09 PM PDT by metmom (He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus….)
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To: Qiviut

I was too busy to post a good potato salad recipe. Will try and get to it today or tomorrow. At a family reunion at our home I think 2005? More than a few sibs wanted to make the potato salad. Issue was they each had their favorite. I said fine each make yours and we’ll vote after eating. Brother in laws recipe won out unanimously. His Polish mothers recipe, no eggs at all.


312 posted on 03/12/2026 2:09:19 AM PDT by MomwithHope (Forever grateful to all our patriots, past, present and future.)
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To: metmom

I never can get potatoes or onions to grow in anything but pots anyway, and that’s iffy. The wild onions around here seem to do ok, and sometimes I have brief success with cut off “bulbs” from spring onions purchased @ Aldi. (I can get another round or two of greens from them, by replanting the bottom 2” or so of what I bought, in a pot.)

Chilly here this morning! 35 deg. F on our back porch & a bit of a breeze. At least the howling winds of last night have subsided some. Then we get a couple warm days, and again strong winds. Then next Tuesday morning the forecast is (still) 20 deg. F. It sure looks like the orchards in the region will take a big hit. Our two little plum trees are already in full bloom. “Bummer!”

Wifey was complaining this morning that she won’t be able to wear the green “spring dress” she bought for St. Patty’s Day. :-(


313 posted on 03/12/2026 4:43:54 AM PDT by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
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To: Paul R.

Wifey has an old Sony “Dream Machine” ICF-C212 clock radio by her bedside. It’s a very nice unit, but...

The display gets dim after a while, even with a recently recharged rechargeable lithium backup battery in it. Pull out and disconnect the backup battery and the display brightens back up. Reinstall the battery and the display is still ok... for a while.

What the...

No, the display doesn’t run off the (nominally) 9 volt backup battery.

Instead, apparently Sony included circuitry to detect if the battery is low, but did not include a low battery indicator. If the battery voltage drops much below 8(?) volts, the circuit adjusts power to the display downward, to preserve functionality if one’s AC power does go out.

However, rechargeable “9 volt” lithium batteries actually are not 9 volts: Over most of their discharge cycle they will be about 7.4 volts at a 25 mA draw. My better battery tester tests 9v batteries @ roughly 20 mA - close enough. It showed the battery, which has been in the clock radio for a couple weeks at least, at 7.7 volts. So, the battery was (is) doing great. The clock radio just thinks it isn’t.

Solutions:

Use a conventional alkaline battery - which have become stupid expensive for what they are.

Or, disconnect the backup battery momentarily, often. (That’s a minor pain, and you’ll break the connector or the wires to it, sooner or later.)

Or, add a switch to do the latter.

Or, finagle a way to safely trickle charge the battery, and use a zinc-carbon battery. (Might get a bit “involved” - I’m thinking, I’m thinking!)

Bah!


314 posted on 03/12/2026 6:00:13 AM PDT by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
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To: MomwithHope

Sounds good - a “contest” winner! :-) I am not a fan of eggs in potato salad so that’s a ‘plus’ in my book & as a side note, the other ingredient I don’t like in anything (potato salad or slaw) are celery seeds.


315 posted on 03/12/2026 6:02:28 AM PDT by Qiviut (A Mighty Fortress: “...the body they may kill. God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever")
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To: Paul R.

We had ‘howling’ winds start up around 2 am .... sounded like the big bad wolf was trying to blow the house down, but it’s brick so still standing this morning. Wind chimes are still going in what is now a good breeze. Temps have dropped from 72° at midnight to currently 39°.

Temps next Mon - Wed will be in the 20’s. Earlier this week the weather Mets were forecasting as low as 18° so it’s ‘warming’ up. The orchard we like to visit lost all of their peaches last year due to a freeze while the trees were in full bloom - I think they got 1 bushel. The other peach orchards lost their peaches, too. Depending on the stage of the bloom, high 20’s is survivable if in the very early stages (about 10% loss). Our very small peach tree has a few full blooms so we ‘ll see what happens next week.


316 posted on 03/12/2026 6:23:31 AM PDT by Qiviut (A Mighty Fortress: “...the body they may kill. God’s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever")
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To: metmom

Last year, with the wet summer, the bugs just exploded! I had wasps IN THE HOUSE for weeks this past fall. The shop vac was out at all times to vacuum them up.

We also had problems with them in our outside grill and smoker, and they built nests in some very ingenious spots IN the decking on the back deck where there was no way to get at them or even spray them.
I guess first you have to be smarter than the bug, LOL!

I want them all dead, pollinators or not! I hate wasps and yellow jackets! And grasshoppers.


317 posted on 03/12/2026 6:24:35 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: MomwithHope; Qiviut; FRiends

This is my favorite potato salad. My Mom makes it for me, still. It has a cooked dressing, which is kind of putzy, but SO delicious. I could live on the stuff! :)

Patio Potato Salad

https://www.cooks.com/recipe/na8ub6s2/patio-potato-salad.html

I’m sure it was an original recipe from either Betty Crocker or Better Homes & Gardens, two staples in our household while I was a kid. I was surprised to find the recipe on the web, actually!


318 posted on 03/12/2026 6:29:16 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: FRiends

It's here! It's here! It's finally here! The Girls High School Basketball Tournament starts today for the girls; boys are next week. We SO look forward to this each year. So, if you need me for the next two long weekends (Th-Sun)...don't need me, LOL!

Snowstorm predicted for this Sunday, which is a given.

319 posted on 03/12/2026 6:48:10 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Qiviut

The airport / NWS got down to 35 deg. F this morning, so we were probably a couple degrees colder. But that cold (20 deg. F) next Tuesday morning comes with enough breeze to drive the wind chill down to 13 deg. F. An awful lot of plants are not going to survive that, and even covering stuff will require the covering to be reasonably well secured... I may try to save a few batches of flowers, esp. the nice smelling narcissus!


320 posted on 03/12/2026 7:19:12 AM PDT by Paul R. (Old Viking saying: "Never be more than 3 steps away from your weapon ... or a Uriah Heep song!" ;-))
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