Posted on 05/01/2026 6:24:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The MONTHLY Victory Garden 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 Victory Garden 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.
I really should have tried planting pawpaws a few years ago, as it turns out they are one of the few fruit trees tolerant of walnut and hickory trees. Now, it seems iffy that they’d fruit by the time wifey wants us to ship out... :-(
No luck at our Wally World this morning, looking there for Shishito plants. Ah, well, I have more going (and growing) than I can keep up with anyway, I suppose.
I think I’m putting my 2nd feeder in the front yard where I can see it from the kitchen windows. The one in the back yard is far enough away I can’t tell males from females, although I can see birds on the feeder.
They like the back feeder - plenty of perching branches above & adjacent to the feeder. In the front, the perching branches aren’t quite as close, but they do have them.
I live near my Walmart, so it’s where I do the bulk of my grocery shopping, so every couple of days I’m in there. I’ve been looking for weeks. Last year, others on the garden thread found them before I did. Just keep checking every so often.
My little seedlings are coming along. We’re supposed to get more rain for the next few days, but I hope to get more things in the ground and in pots this week and next.
We have 4 hummingbird feeders, one on each side of the house (roughly). They definitely guard them in the summer. There are branches nearby to perch to watch who else is coming along.
So far, I’ve only seen males. Once the females show up, it becomes more festive out there.
Avoiding narcotics is Job One. If their answer is "pills" my response will be "goodbye".
For over ten years I've been doing professional PT a couple times a month. Chiro once a month. Lots of exercise and stretching on my own.
Doing that stuff helps a lot. Sitting in front of computer for hours on end is the worst. Bad news for an IT guy.
If the docs can't figure out a way I'll go ahead and retire.
May Gardening Tips and To-Do Lists by Planting Zone and Region
The years seem to zip by the older you get. Have you ever noticed this?
Which is why we’ve turned around twice, and it’s already May! If you’re an avid gardener, you’re probably doing your happy dance because gardening is entering full swing now.
Therefore, it’s important to stay on top of your gardening chores. If you aren’t exactly sure what you should be doing this month around your garden, our May gardening tips will keep you on track.
I’ll be sharing with you what your garden will need from you based on both the planting zone and region. It allows you to cross-reference the to-do lists to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Let’s get started on your garden’s honey-do list:
https://morningchores.com/may-gardening-tips/
Diana’s Chore List for the Week (or so!):
Make shredded newspaper for compost bins
Cut Pine Tips and start that Pine Syrup
Re-Pot Miss Peach (Christmas Cactus)
Rake/Prune Winter Burn on Juniper
Find (!) and put out the Rain Gauge
Plant Beets, Lettuces and Spinach starts outside
Plant out Broccoli (end of week - I want bigger plants; I re-potted from initial 4-packs)
Cut Dead Stems off of Tulips and Daffs
Cut a Bouquet of Lilacs - Almost all are in bloom!
Fertilize Strawberry Bed
Re-Fill milk jugs from rain barrel
Weed! There are a few MONSTERS that need digging out!
Fertilize remaining roses
Flea & Tick goop on Dolly and the cats - remind Beau to spray all the hunting dogs!
Here’s the latest:
‘Stew’ is back from The Spa and in the freezer. We sold 1/2 of him (1/4 each) to two friends. He ended up at 1,200 pounds, which amazingly gives you only 400 pounds of meat. (200# for us, 100# each for them) Beau did all the ‘maths’ and between mainly having him on grass, but having to feed hay and grain all winter, after processing he ended up costing us $2.50 a pound for all cuts. Stew cost us $800.00 as a calf. Now THAT is a bargain if you can pull it off! If beef prices keep heading UP, next season a weaned calf will cost us about $1,000.00 so our final PPP goes up, of course - but still a bargain. If we had sold Stew as finished beef, and someone else covered the butchering costs, we’d have easily gotten $3,000.00 for him!
Mom gave me all of the leftover bread from Communion on Sunday. They use bought and home baked loaves instead of wafers. Crazy Methodists! ;) She said it was for the chickens, and I’m letting her THINK that, but it is perfectly fine bread so I cut it all up and will let it dry out for a week or so, and them season and bake them for salad and soup croutons. Plus, the bread was blessed, so what better use for Communion Bread? LOL! I LOVE free food! :)
‘Midnight’ (Plott Hound) is coming along really well. She is so smart! I taught her to fetch a tennis ball and this morning she brought it directly back to me six times in a row! She’s a genius, I tells ya! When she’s acting up, we call her ‘Nightmare,’ LOL! Probably getting the other puppy (Treeing Walker Coon Hound) this weekend. It has been SO windy for the past two days (50 Mph gusts!) that Midnight’s dog house has blown off the porch TWICE! There are no railings right now to stop that, so I keep moving it around, based upon the wind gusts. Enough, Mother Nature! Leave my puppy alone!
The Heifers were put in our pasture yesterday and I just LOVE watching them when they go to the top of the hill and I can see them in the distance over the roof of the barn. They make for great scenery and make my heart smile. :)
Beau has been mowing, repairing fences and cutting down more Black Walnut trees with the help of Junior Farmer Ryan. He’s got 30 of them down so far and about a dozen more to go. Then, the buyer comes back, tells him what lengths he wants things cut to, then they come and cart it away and give us a big fat check that will pay off the 6-by loan and more than cover all of Beau’s hunting for this year and beyond. Yay for mature hardwood trees!
Sunday, for Mother’s Day, we are taking Mom on an all-inclusive bus trip to Milwaukee to see the Brewers play the Yankees. We get the bus fair (luxurious - we’ve taken Lamers’ busses before) a meal and drinks in the Johnsonville Brats Party Room and our tickets and seats. Mom LOVES her Brewer’s and it’s what she wanted to do. I’m going to try and pick up a White, Blue & Gold corsage for her to wear. Temps will be in the 50’s, but we’ll be out of the elements for the most part. We’ll bundle up anyway! As a kid I spent many May Days at that stadium in my snowmobile suit. It’s CHILLY by that monstrous Lake Michigan!
Sounds like a great present for your mom. Wish her a Happy Mothers Day from all of us.
Our Wally World (and pretty much all the other garden supply stores like Rural King, Menards, Tractor Supply, Lowes, Home Depot, and some smaller operations) are all 13+ miles away. Luckily most are sort of bunched together, unluckily, esp. with current gasoline prices, I try to limit trips to town. Yesterday I made the big loop - that resulted in lots of groceries and such scarfed up, but much of the day eaten up.
For a while I thought my ankles would be my weakest point (arthritis like my Mom), and they DO give me some discomfort, but, the last several months its mostly been my back muscle or muscles on either side just above my gluteus maximus. Yes, I’m careful to use proper lifting techniques and such. Just about everything but laying flat on my back seems to aggravate these muscles, now, and I’d rather be in pain than flat on my back all the time! If it gets really bad I pop an Ibuprofen tablet, and that helps. I’d say that happens once a week or so, although I’m the type pretty resistant to taking medications unless really necessary — 9 out of 10 people would be taking Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen several times a day... For me, and this problem, I’d say Ibuprofen is literally about twice as effective.
I grew up within walking distance of Lake Michigan and yes the lakefront is cold, especially if you get a wind from the east, but you are prepared!
Stew...(sniff)...I found a local meat processor on the way out to my Daughters. I asked about the cost of a front quarter of and he indicated it would be about $5 / lb hanging weight, so you did well! (I also thought about it and realized I would need to get a bigger freezer to hold it so maybe another year!)
Walnut trees.....Look at you guys! Timber and cattle! (When in Federal Service I sometimes reviewed Schedule Fs, and can honestly say that some of the most profitable operations were from Iowa or Illinois and involved Hogs and Corn. However, I have a hard time imagining you sitting on the front porch at the end of the day actually enjoying and the evening sun reflecting off the retention pond the dulcet sounds of quarreling hogs!)
There were peonies in this yard when I moved here 20 years ago and I have never really wondered about the variety, but I looked and they appear to be the two you mentioned, Festiva Maxima (I see that little splash of red buried in the white!) and pink Sarah Bernhardt! Thanks Diana!
We are getting a nice good rain - about to end for a while, and then it's forecast to come back stronger, later today. If we could get 2" total, that'd be great, despite it glopping things up, and I may or may not get a chance to grill today. The last round (grilling) a few days ago, the bluegill came out good and the chicken better. :-)
I love trying out new seasonings: Wally World yesterday had on clearance out one called Cosmos Dry Rub "Double Pepper Cow Cover", 10 oz, regular $10.98 (they say), marked down to $4.00. 2 out of 5 heat (mfgr. rating) and they claim: "Be warned, this rub may ruin barbeque restaurants for you forever."
;-)
They also had 30 oz. bags of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kat bars for $5, regular $14.98. Sell by is 10/26, but, these will be an "extra" for wifey for Mother's Day.* They'll surely be "gone" by 4th of July.
*Her "big treat" is going to a retreat Fri-Sat with our daughter -- that's what she said she wanted! Maybe Sunday "dinner out" if she's not too tired when she gets back. It's a significant drive, so, I'll drive her in and out to work on Th. so I can give the car a good once over. For sure one rear light needs to be replaced - I just noticed it being out when she pulled out this morning. (It's a sort of redundant tail light, but, still...)
I was going to suggest dipping it in some super glue and forming it for a quick set, but there would be problems getting it on your fingers....maybe use a plastic baggie to protect them when you form it?
I forgot to mention that also in that Amazon order that delivered the heavy kevlar thread I posted about previously, the 8x 2/3 AAA NiMh batteries I ordered came in. These are for backup in those electronic / digital wall outlet AC power timers used to more complex on-off schedules for lights, small appliances, etc. Those timers usually have a tiny (about the size of an LR44 button cell) backup battery in them, and said little batteries sometimes go bad. It’s “possible” to get a tabbed AAA rechargeable battery in some timers, sometimes, but a 2/3 AAA is an easier fit in almost all cases. So, ergo these little guys, and being brand new & with good reviews, they should hold up for a good long time. The usage, unless you leave a timer unused for several years, is really “light duty”. I tested 4 of the 8, so far, and current capacity has been from 330 mAh to 376 mAh, out of a 400 mAh rating, so, pretty good for Chinese batteries, so far. :-)
In Texas, a few days ago:
“OH HAIL NO: Monster hailstone shatters Texas record”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xENx5qIFmOc
WOW!
Heading for 80° or more today with lots of wind, gusts up to 30 mph. High fire danger - the wind is just sucking any moisture right up.
I had to go grocery shopping earlier & will be making potato salad, Cole slaw, a cold green bean salad & lemon pie this afternoon. We are taking the food plus BBQ for lunch tomorrow when we visit the son of my dad’s college roommate. I don’t think I’ve seen him since his wedding in the late 70’s. He’s got his dad’s dry, sarcastic wit which I always enjoyed. He’s about an hour away - can’t travel so we’re going to him.
On the way home, I stopped to get gas. Gas prices jumped from $3.89/$3.99 to $4.39 yesterday - in one day. There was an older country guy on the other side of the pump & we got to talking: gas prices (of course), beef prices & buying a steer & having it processed, venison instead of beef, when the does will start dropping fawns (end of May when it’s hay mowing time), the drought & our wells, & mowing grass. There might have been another topic or two I left out. BEST part of my day, so far :-) Most of the country people around here are just awesome in their friendliness.
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