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.
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Whups - I discovered I still had this window open!
Anyway, maybe wireless collars (such as for dogs) would be ok, since there is no physical restraint. Then again, maybe goats will behave differently than dogs do, with wireless collars.
Dunno about that one. Just that I would not try it.
No favorite in particular. I grow camparis every year with seed from ones at the store. They do last log and are bigger. I read last summer - someone posted a link here - about picking tomatoes early after they have had their first blush. I am going to do that this year.
No, all I’ve heard mentioned recently is the omega block, but that affects the midwest more than us.
Seems New England gets its own kind of weather.
By late week, the forecast is 80’s and 50’s at night.
Go figure.....
Fortunately our pond is rather deep on the shoreline except for maybe 20’ of it as it is a straight drop off all around. The herons cannot hunt because there in no place to walk/stand/hunt, perhaps an asphalt rake and waders is what might be the answer, yikes.
Hmmm, thought about building an offshore ‘wet’ nursery with a high fiber base to keep the water plants together and then transplanting the unit into the sandy pond. Where is an Apollo engineer when you need one?
Yes, have investigated varieties of iris that thrive in a super-wet environment, the problem is it a straight drop-off of a couple feet. Am going to get some anyway and see what happens, thanks!
They’re not available to the general public, yet! ;)
I just did my Morning Inspection. Overnight, raccoons dug up three newly planted peppers and took off with two of them. I was able to save one of the Chervena Chuska. Grrrr!
Good thing they didn’t touch the Jalapenos and that peppers are six for a dime come High Summer. ;)
(I wish, but peppers DO go down to 75 cents or so!)
These past few evenings I’ve been turning on the house A/C for an hour or so before bedtime. That’s been working great to get the humidity out, and then I turn it off and the ceiling fans take it from there.
We’re getting a slight break from the mid-80’s; highs still in the high 70’s, but some much needed rain on and off all week.
Subject to change. By the minute, some days!
Going to hop on the mower early, then prep things for lunch and tomato planting today with Mom and Kathy. :)
Lina Sisco beans, some Glad corms and tucking in Zinnia and Marigolds will be the final stretch!
Kind of late to get them started now, but here’s a listing of tomato varieties that are grown commercially and/or for market, so you know they have a long shelf-life. You can probably get seed for some, but maybe not all. Big John and I always grew ‘Celebrity’ for market and local restaurants, and they now have some additionally improved strains of the plant.
https://custommapposter.com/article/the-best-commercial-tomato-varieties/1342
Also, make sure the tomatoes you are harvesting are stored properly once picked for the longest shelf-life you can get out of them. I try not to pick too far ahead of what I’m going to use in a day. They stay fine on the vine in my experience.
https://www.farmstandapp.com/20317/methods-for-extending-the-shelf-life-of-tomatoes/
Also, in my experience, the mid-sized tomatoes last the longest and cherry-types the absolute longest. Any of the big slicers tend to have a shorter shelf-life because they are usually so wet.
https://www.farmstandapp.com/20317/methods-for-extending-the-shelf-life-of-tomatoes/
The last year I grew tomatoes, I picked at first ‘blush’. They sat on the kitchen counter (not in a sunny window) & ripened right up. No more bird pecks, bugs, etc. just perfect ripe tomatoes that tasted ‘homegrown’ :-)
I just planted two more shishito plants from seed and one cherry tomato on my side yard. Not visible from the street, but my neighbors that can see it told me that they won’t rat me out to the HOA. (They hate snoops as much as I do.)
I hope like crazy that the animals won’t try to get them, but I am blind on that side of my house until hubby gets a camera over on that side, which we have talked about for a couple of years. Now may be the time to install one.
I have completed my front walkway plantings (for the most part) and the meditation garden. Next up are the deck, the stairs to the deck, and the landing just off of the driveway. After that, I have a few additional things to plant in the backyard by the firepit.
I realized last night that it’s lightning bug season! Which means the hammock needs to be set out, and the fire pit area tidied up!
Oh, one other surprise yesterday. I went for more potting soil at Walmart yesterday, and as I arrived at the outdoor garden section, there was a beautiful Monarch butterfly fluttering about. It landed on a bloom of a plant I’m not familiar with. This is WAY TOO EARLY to see a Monarch in these parts. I wonder how it got up here so fast. Anyway, if it wants to follow me around, that would be cool. The swamp milkweed is just starting to open its blossoms, and the common milkweed has buds all over them. The butterflies should enjoy my patches for them!
I’m not adverse to shooting vermin.
I’m wondering if our badger is responsible for the seeming lack of garden destroying vermin on our property.
I shouldn’t say anything.
If it’s bad, it happens and if it’s good it goes away.
Did you post the link?
This might be the article. I did a google search and this looks familiar.
https://thedallasgarden.com/tomatoes-harvested-at-first-blush-just-as-good-as-left-on-the-vine/
I do have some Celebrity plants started, so, I should more carefully compare how they keep.
That 2nd link of yours has some good tips. :-)
Otherwise, except for cherry types (which I also have, in “Sweet 100’s”), yeah, I’ll be lucky to get more than a week or two of harvest out of anything I start now. (I’m in zone 7a.)
Great link, BTW, for the USDA’s updated maps, by state: Just substitute your state’s 2 letter abbreviation in the address. For examples:
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/system/files/WI150_HS.png
or
https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/system/files/MO150_HS.png
I was (very late getting to it) about to install our “extra rooster” in his summer home: More space, easier access for me, but unheated coop) when I noticed 3 volunteer tomato plants growing inside the fencing. I dumped him in, and, sure enough, withing maybe 15 seconds he started eating one. I’ve had great luck with volunteer tomato plants — I shooed the roo away and got some treats to distract him while I ran to get a hand spade and nab those volunteers. They are in a (sealed bottom) container now, with water - I’ll put them in spare 4” Bonnie’s pots in a bit, until I can do more with them. I have 4 small white pines to plant today, too, but 1st I have to take out a 5”+ diameter walnut tree — another one too close to the garden — dang, I hate to take it down, but...
I should have cleared an area on the far east end of the property 30 years ago and started some walnut trees there. The one big one, mid-yard, has been producing unwanted (location) volunteers for at least 25 years. I should have dug some up and moved them east. Prior to that, Dad had seedlings too, from strains with top notch genetics. :-(
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