The Victory Garden Thread - May, 2026

May 1, 2026 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[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.

[MomwithHope]

Beau ne3eds a tshirt that says - You should see the other guy.
I had 4 orioles at once and have gone through almost 4 tubes of jelly already!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We’ve had more Orioles than ever this season - Orchard and Baltimore. They’re so fun and ‘chatty’ at the feeder. I see the beginnings of a nest in the big Maple tree right outside the house.

Since I moved here and started feeding them, we’re had 4 nesting pairs in that tree. I just love them.

Still lots of Grossbeaks, too. And two Bluebirds in the feeders yesterday. Not sure why?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve got Rhubarb and I’ve got fresh eggs. Rhubarb Custard Pie is on the menu for today:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17728/rhubarb-custard-pie-iv/

[MomwithHope]

Our orioles have nested in the same huge high tree - it seems like forever. They all go off to that same tree after eating.

[Paul R.]

Yes, both Boric Acid and Borax kill slowly, so these
communal insects (maybe we should just call them “commie” insects!) ingest the bait, then go back to the nest (commune) and share their stomach contents with their nest mates. That’s why Terro, similarly, is pretty effective on ants, BUT, in either case, you have to keep giving it to them for a while, as the sharing back at the nest also dilutes the poison. By summer’s end, a typical yellow jacket nest can have 5000 workers, and a single queen can lay hundreds of eggs a day... 15-20k is not “rare”. It seems to me that if the colony is large, you may need more than a handful of bait stations.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You can see our Maple tree practically from SPACE, LOL!

When I’m driving the back roads home from going into town (20 mile round trip) when I crest the final hill I can see all of the trees around our farm and that Maple is front and center.

It’s definitely ‘The Giving Tree’ for all of the birds, squirrels and raccoons that have lived there.

All it’s ever given ME is limbs, branches and stick to pick up after a big wind! ;) BUT - I DO hug her from time to time and thank her for being there. And for not falling on my house so far! ;)

[Liz]

Garlic Noodles / famed San Fran restaurant dish.
MUST like garlic. A quick meal or side w/ Asian dish.

Ing Noodles: 5oz dried ramen or 2 noodle cakes 2 tbsp unsalted butter 2 tbsp minced garlic, 2 tsp oyster sauce 2 tsp fish sauce 1 1/2 tsp Maggi seasoning (sub light soy sauce) 1/4-1/2 c noodle cooking water 1/4 c (tightly packed) fresh grated Parmesan 1/4 c green onion, thin-sliced

Instructions Cook noodles as per packet. Scoop out ~1/2 cup cooking water. Drain noodles; set aside. Sauce Melt butter on med. Add garlic; cook/stir/soften. Add oyster sauce, fish sauce, Maggi seasoning, 1/4 c pasta cooking water. Stir/combine. Toss cooked noodles, Parm, green onion til coated, sauce is not pooled in pan. Add cooking water by the tbl, if needed. Serve immediately.

Serving suggestion: top w/ fried egg; broccolini cooked w/ noodles, tossed with Asian Sesame Dressing. Broccolini takes about 3 min, so add to cooking noodles depending on noodle cook time.

Chef Notes: Adapted from cookbook "The Wok." best with ramen; garlic bits and sauce cling better. Angel hair pasta or spaghetti doesn’t have the same “chew” as noodles. Pasta Cooking water creates sauce that coats noodles. Fresh-grated Parm has smooth melt that disappears into noodles. Store bought won’t melt as perfectly. Leftovers keep 3 days in fridge, loosen and reheat w/ touch of water.

[MomwithHope]

What about all the whirlygigs?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

They are numerous - but not every season; more plentiful on years when it is dry and the tree thinks she’s dying.

I have ‘Gutter Guards’ on the ONE gutter we have that feeds water into my rain barrel. We have a metal roof so the water sheds off of it quite easily on the rest of the house.

There are a few ‘mini maples’ to pull from time to time, but that’s easy enough. They’re just another weed. ;)

[FamiliarFace]

Good to know! I have plenty that I can make over and over again! I don’t mind spending the time doing this. I’m certain there’s a huge nest somewhere in our woods. If I can ever locate it without getting stung, it will be worth it to get rid of it.

[Qiviut]

Had to perform tick removal on mom this morning. She’s been going for ‘walks’ in the grass in the evening & she had 2 nickel-sized welts, one on the inside of each knee. The ticks were teeny tiny (deer ticks) & I wasn’t sure I could get them because the welts were swollen up around them, but they came off easily. Now we need to watch those spots & make sure they go away instead of developing Lymes characteristics. Always something!!

She’ll be getting boots or knee socks she can tuck her pants into & then spray with Deep Woods Off or something that will kill/discourage ticks.

[FamiliarFace]

When my daughter was little, she had a deer tick on her that was engorged. The pediatrician said that an early round of antibiotic is an early treatment, so that the Lyme disease doesn’t take hold. So he gave her a quick shot and we never worried any further. Sometimes I wonder if that was the placebo effect, but it worked for us.

[Qiviut]

I know at least 2 people who ended up with advanced Lymes & had to have a PICC line to deliver antibiotics near their hearts. Some early antibiotics are a small price to pay to avoid life destroying/threatening issues later down the road.

[Augie]

Sounds like you are wise to the pitfalls of pain treatment.

I've seen what narcotics do to people and it isn't nice.

The visit to the spine pain clinic was interesting and enlightening. The NP I saw actually listened to what I had to say. After the Q&A she did the normal poking and prodding and touched the spot behind my left ear where the upper trap muscle attaches to the skull. It made me jump when she did that.

After a bit of rumination she says "I'm pretty sure I know what's going on here. It's a thing called cervical dystonia. We can do a couple botox injections and if I'm right about this you will get great relief from that treatment." So that's what we're going to do next. I've got an appointment scheduled on 6/3 for the first round of shots.

I did some research on the subject after I got home and it describes EXACTLY what's been going on with my mid/upper back pain. So maybe there's some light at the end of the tunnel. I appreciate all of your good advice. It's always worthwhile to consider the experience of others when faced with adversity.

In the meantime I'm slowly managing to get my garden in. Mrs. Augie's kale plants have been transferred to one of the raised beds. Spaghetti squash plants have been set out. Eight of the sixteen tomato plants are in the ground and caged.

#1 Granddaughter Lexi came over a couple days ago and helped me get the peppers set out. It was her first experience helping in the garden and she did great. I showed her how to get the plants out of the pots without wrecking the root ball, how deep to set them, etc., then I went down the row digging holes and she came behind setting peppers. She did a great job - all 20 plants were standing proud the next morning.

The hens thought I was the best guy on earth for giving them some soggy wheat straw to play in.

The world's fattest toad lives in my greenhouse. He always gets grumpy and comes out of his hole when I water the cabbages. lol

[Albion Wilde]

What a completely delightful post!! Thank you for sharing your promising health update and the terrific photos!

[Qiviut]

So here is my mix of previously unknown to me jalapeños I got at the Farm Bureau. Looking at the descriptions, if the plants thrive, I think I’m going to be ok for jalapeños this year. Two are good for stuffing .... popper time! :-)

Early Jalapeño (bought 2 plants)
Lots of flavor from a small, thick-walled, juicy 3” pepper. The stocky 2 foot tall plants will not fall over or break branches even with a heavy load of fruit. Early Jalapeño will set fruit under cooler conditions than other jalapeño varieties.

Use fresh, pickled, or in sauces. Enjoy green or allow to ripen to red for a sweeter, bolder flavor.

Medium hot heat level

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Gigantia Jalapeno Pepper (1 plant)
This early maturing plant produces good yields of 5” long giant Jalapeno peppers. Peppers are mildly hot, have thick walls, and turn from glossy dark green to scarlet red when mature. The plant has green stems, green leaves, and white flowers. Usually used when green. Favorite type for slicing, stuffing, grilling, or pickling. Good for making salsa. Ideal for cutting in half and filling with cheese. Excellent choice for home gardens. A variety from the USA.

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Pepper Jalapeno Pantera ( 1 plant) exemplifies advanced hybrid jalapeño breeding, delivering exceptional yield potential combined with superior fruit quality and disease resilience. These vigorous, widely-adapted plants produce abundant smooth, glossy fruits averaging 4½ inches in length—notably larger than conventional jalapeños—with an impressive continuous setting habit that ensures sustained productivity throughout the growing season. The distinctive slow skin checking characteristic represents a significant advancement, dramatically reducing the risk of unsightly cracked or cork-like texture that compromises both appearance and storage longevity. This superior skin integrity extends shelf life for fresh market applications while maintaining pristine presentation for home use, pickling, or roasting applications. The hybrid vigor ensures reliable performance across diverse growing conditions and climates, making Pantera an exceptionally adaptable choice for gardeners in varied regions. Harvest green peppers around 75 days for classic jalapeño character with crisp texture, or allow fruits to mature to vibrant red for intensified sweetness and complexity. The smooth, glossy surface and substantial size make these peppers ideal for whole-stuffing applications, fresh slicing, pickling, roasting, and incorporating into salsas and contemporary cuisine.

[Paul R.]

Fortunately, we don’t have many yellow jackets around our place: Occasionally, a stray shows up, but not very often. A little more often a couple stray hornets (which are actually a large type of yellow jacket) show up - not regularly, thank heavens.

To make up for that, we get plenty of all kinds of wasps and bees, from tinier than sweat bees to mud daubers and paper wasps, to wood bees and, occasionally, those big honkin’ cicada killer wasps.

Checking online, it looks like the wood bees are best attracted with straight up sugar water + Borax. Before it got mostly regulated out of existence, solvent base Liquid Nails in caulk gun tubes was great for plugging wood bee holes at night, and did not affect other pollinators.

If your yellow jackets carry enough bait back to the nest, you may be able to “kill” it. I’d at least try increasing the number of bait stations (soda cans) drastically if after a few weeks you see traffic continuing to what you initially set out.

Best of luck to you!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

If your ‘Farm Bureau’ is actually run by FARMERS, you can’t go wrong. Those varieties sound lovely!

I will put in another plug for the basic, ‘Bonnie Brand’ Jalapeno. I have had very good luck and lots of productivity from a single plant, and since I’m going to baby them and let them go to red for ‘Red Pepper Jelly’ later in the summer, I’m doing TWO plants this season in pots. (Zone 5)

I KNOW I’m going to regret this on some level, but I am growing THREE cherry-type tomatoes this season. Mom loves them, and it’s a colorful mixture, and Beau will take a ton back up to Bear Camp when he comes back mid-season for one reason or another. ;)

I did some weeding WITH A VENGEANCE while the garden was still shaded this morning. Got most of the lawn mowed today; I still have the garden area to do tomorrow morning. They are predicting 83 degrees for tomorrow - and I’m getting the other puppy, ‘Grover.’ I’m thinking ‘Midnight’ might be a jerk, so I am prepared to put her in a kennel and let her out during the day, and let Grover rule the porch. But, you never know - she might fall in love with her little sibling; I’ve seen it happen before! Shasta and Fremont, Arikara and Sioux. Paws Crossed! ;)

The greenhouse hit 100 degrees today, so everyone got watered twice. Need to refill gallon jugs and Beau needs to find my hoses and get those hooked up for me when he comes back tomorrow afternoon. A few days of HOT, then back into the 60’s, which the cabbages, kale and broccoli will appreciate! I need to find the box fan for the chicken coop, too. Gotta keep those girls comfy in the heat!

This has been one weird spring - and even though we’re 7” AHEAD on rain for the month, and the well is full and the water table is better than it’s been in a few years, we REALLY need more rain! I was crunchy, crusty dirt from head to toe when I hit the showers after mowing today. ;)

[Qiviut]

Grover was my grandfather’s name :-)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’m raising these pups for our friend Thomas. He and Beau have thrown in together on dogs as they bear hunt together all the time.

I texted him last night and said, ‘It’s customary when raising pups for someone else that you get to KEEP one of the pups. I’ve decided I’ll take your newborn Baby Girl, instead. ;)

He thought I was joking. Not sure yet if I am, LOL!