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.
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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.
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RED GERANIUMS
by MARTHA HASKELL CLARK
Life did not bring me silken gowns,
Nor jewels for my hair,
Nor signs of gabled foreign towns
In distant countries fair,
But I can glimpse, beyond my pane, a green and friendly hill,
And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.
The brambled cares of everyday,
The tiny humdrum things,
May bind my feet when they would stray,
But still my heart has wings
While red geraniums are bloomed against my window glass,
And low above my green-sweet hill the gypsy wind-clouds pass.
And if my dreamings ne’er come true,
The brightest and the best,
But leave me lone my journey through,
I’ll set my heart at rest,
And thank God for home-sweet things, a green and friendly hill,
And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill.
Mom & dad bought our lake place when I was a senior in high school. Memorial Day was spent at the lake, but we never knew what we would get. The house didn’t have heat & I can remember one year shivering under blankets & not wanting to get up in the cold air. Some years were a total washout. Most were a mix of sun & clouds. Occasionally, we got the perfect weekend weather, although the lake was still cold - my brothers were out skiing anyway.
The family cookouts were the best & standard picnic fare - hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad & Cole slaw, corn on the cob. Watermelon & ice cream for dessert. Once in a blue moon we splurged on rib eyes. Just thinking about the food has me craving a slightly charred hot dog :-)
Mom gave up the lake place to the boys. Their kids & grandkids love the place & have their own summer traditions started there. I miss it, but I’m also happy here in the mountains.
CANNOLI CHEESECAKE / pure decadence
Ing Crust: 1 1/2 c cannoli shell crumbs (or graham crumbs) 2 tb sugar 1/4 c butter, melted. Filling: 3 tubs (about 3 1/2 c) extra smooth ricotta 1 1/2 c sugar 1/2 c flour 1 tb vanilla 2 tsp orange zest 7 eggs, lightly beaten. Garnish: mini choc/chips/ filled cannoli
Method Wrap 9" spring form securely with double layer of foil. Combine/press crust ing evenly in bottom, 1/2" up sides. Bake 350 deg 10 min; cool. Filling: beat smooth in mixer bowl ricotta/sugar. Beat in flour, vanilla, orange zest. Add beaten eggs singly, and blend on low just to incorporate (do not over mix). Carefully pour into pan. Bake in bain marie (lge baking pan w/ inch of hot water) 350 deg 75 min til center is almost set.
Final Carefully lift out springform pan and place on rack to cool 10 min. Remove foil; run knife at pan edge to loosen; cool an additional hour then remove sides of pan. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with mini choc/chips, filled cannoli.
My garden is going gangbusters this year, so far.
If only we ate weeds, too.
We have been keeping track of wildlife we see on our property and so far have a healthy variety, but today, for the first time, I saw the badger. Mr. mm says he’s seen it before. But I was out early this morning doing stuff around the porch to avoid the wasps, and it was out also.
It’s good to know we have so vermin controlling wildlife around.
The only porcupine I’ve seen was dead. We found it this spring in the woods.
And I saw a fox once, and lots of tracks in the winter.
I would be terrified to see a Badger in person! Beau has seen them in the northern woods when hunting...but only once in his life so far.
Porcupines? OMG! You can’t even guess the amount of $$$ he’s spent through the years when his dogs mix it up with a Porky! They usually only do it ONCE! ;)
They have to sedate the dog, then remove all of those quills from their FACE! Grand Nite Champion, Treeing Walker Coon Hound, Lakota, learned that lesson late in his life. He was fine, afterwards.
hah
.
It’s the kind of night for a fire in the fireplace, a bowl of hot chowder, oyster crackers & a hot toddy of some sort. If I had a working wood stove, it would be in use.
We were perhaps 100 yards away and it was going in the opposite direction.
I googled them up and will give them wide berth.
Good! Because you don’t want EITHER of those critters heading in your direction! ;)
We make enough racket when out in the woods to alert them.
But we will be far more cautious now.
We started ‘warming up’ at the end of the day. The breeze was less and the temps rose - to 65!
We got SO MUCH accomplished today. The new lighting in the kitchen is installed. It’s like staring at the SUN! Three more installations in the laundry/pantry and over the kitchen sink tomorrow - I guess Mick and Beau didn’t want to overdo it today, as I was already OVERJOYED...to see...how dirty my kitchen floor is with the new lighting, LOL! (Wait! Can I re-think this...?)
*Rolleyes*
Mick knew just how to install it as he does this in apartment re-vamps that he works on for a living. TWO handy guys in the house today - YAY!
I spent my time mowing the lawn and REPLANTING the half-dozen Broccoli plants that the ‘coons decided to dig up overnight. They’re so funny! They’ll do this for a few days in a row when something is newly planted, then move on to mayhem and mischief elsewhere.
Tomorrow, my main goal is to get more fresh mulch down on the greenhouse beds and a few spots across the front of the Manse and do more weeding. I put out a dozen new solar lights in both the garden and across the front of the house. You should be able to see our place from SPACE at night, now. So far, puppy Grover has brought me ONE solar light that he felt needed to be moved. I’m sure more will follow. ;)
Might get the sweet peppers into a bed tomorrow as starting on Tuesday the temps skyrocket back again into the 80’s.
Beau and Emma Jolene have a hunt tonight, so Mick and I are going to watch Brewer’s baseball and chill. Beau grilled burgers and brats for us, which is a, ‘Wisconsin Must’ on this holiday weekend.
Life Is Good! :)
If I had to guess, your state’s dept. of natural resources either started stocking blues or put in a bunch of big rip-rap somewhere that provided spawning and recruitment volume for the blue catfish. Sometimes populations have a sort of critical number, and if under don’t reproduce and survive into “non-vulnerable” size (recruitment) well. But I suppose it’s possible that one year, conditions favored survival, either in the lake or upriver, and the population sort of turned that corner. Now, the blues may be eating lots of the predators that used to suppress them! I’m just guessin’, though. Your state’s local fisheries biologist likely has the scoop.
Being close to the old channel really helps, that much I do know..
Oh, yeah. I’m jealous. :-)
Nice one indeed!
We are “ok” on that (noise) until maybe 10 pm. But, after that and well into the morning...
Yes, that would make sense...
Beets, turnips, lettuce, and potatoes are happy, celery and broccoli too! Onions and Garlic seem indifferent. Sweet potatoes and tomatoes are not enjoying it at all. (Lawn is happy though.)
The weather here has been “all over the place”, too. After zapping a lot of our usual bulb-spring-flowers (most of those plants themselves seemed to survive ok), a lot of my veggie plants don’t seem to know how to acclimate to going outside, even when they are in the same pots they were in, inside, I ramp them up” with the amount of sunlight, etc. Usually they just take off. Now it looks like we are going to swing from too dry to too wet, but at least there are no more big temperature extremes lined up... yet.
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