The Victory Garden Thread - June, 2026

June 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.

[Paul R.]

Today was another warm one, but with just enough breeze to not be really oppressive. Evening was actually worse, as the wind went calm. Ugh.

[MomwithHope]

I will agree about the grouper. I should have said it was #1 but it has been so many years since I had any. Over 40 years was the first time, in the carribean. And then in 2005 we were in Florida. We had grilled sandwiches then at a dive of a restaurant on the SW coast. Wish there was any to be had in Michigan.

[FamiliarFace]

We will be leaving tomorrow for 8 days in Florida, and i love having grouper and red snapper when I’m there. Yum!

I’ve done all I can in the garden before leaving. It’s not finished but it’s close. The pet sitter will water one section every other day or every third day, depending on if there is any rain. It’s slated to be in the 80’s while we’re gone.

Today is hubby’s last official day of work! They will probably offer him a retainer for consulting work to help with the transition. The person they hoped to hire to replace him turned down their offer, so they’re still working on that. I’ll be surprised if they’ve named a replacement by Father’s Day, but you never know.

Hubby has had a bunch of well wishes from his team and the upper management of his company. Many, many unexpected gifts (usually gift certificates) to restaurants, an airline voucher, home improvement store. I can tell they genuinely love and respect him.

Last night, the higher ups took us our for fancy dinner at one of the oldest steakhouses in Indy, called St. Elmo’s. What a meal! It was lavish! We had a private room. There were ten of us, and I’m telling you, that must’ve been quite the bill! Almost everyone had filet, but some had other cuts of steak. I had lobster tail, since I don’t get that very often, and of course, a few nibbles of hubby’s filet. Incredible meal, and lots of fun stories. Maybe perks like this are why some business people keep working.

[Liz]

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake / Oatmeal Cookie Crust
Looks like it came from an elegant French pastry shop; homemade in a jiffy.

Ing--Crust 1 c crisp oatmeal cookies, 1/4 c melted butter. Cake 1 c ea white chocolate rough-chp, h/cream, full-fat cr/cheese 3/4 c mascarpone 1 c raspberries (or use strawberries). TOPPING 1 c h/cream 2 tbsp conf 1 1/2 c fresh raspberries 3 lge meringues in pieces

Method Press combined cookies/butter into springform. Chill; make Filling. Micro-melt/pulse chocolate, cool slightly. Beat cream, soft cr/cheese, mascarpone w/ wooden spoon til thickened–don’t over-beat. Stir in melted chocolate smoothly. Spoon onto base adding raspberries; fridge 3-24 hours.

Final--Topping softly whip cream/tbsp conf. Blender puree 1/2 c raspberries/tbsp conf, then sieve. Pile atop cake cream, meringue, raspberry sauce, fresh raspberries, drizzling w/ raspberry sauce.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Here we go again! Yesterday's storms were awful - these look even WORSE! Lost power for a few hours yesterday and I suppose I will again, today. We are saturated! Everything is soggy - including puppy, Grover, and mule, Ithaca! I have actually watched the WEEDS grow in the garden, while everything else in there is miserable. :(

Image should update as the day DRAGS on! Rain should be here by noon with the Big Fireworks starting at 2pm.

[MomwithHope]

Have a fun trip. If you are near Arcadia I would recommend this. After I messaged Q about grouper I went looking for the place we went to twice while on a Florda visit 2005. The Nav-A-Gator. Off the beaten path, Older dive vibe. Looks like they cleaned up the inside used to be walls of posters and bric a brac. And they have outdoor seating now. On google they have a picture of their grouper sandwich and I could print it off and eat it. It took me 30 minutes to find the name of the place. Highly recommend. https://www.nav-a-gator.com/

[MomwithHope]

That sounds like a nice send off for hubby.

[FamiliarFace]

Thanks, I’ll be on the lookout. Probably will stay mostly on AMI, but will mention to the group and see if there is interest!

[FamiliarFace]

He’s been having a great week. Everyone has been so gracious and supportive.

[Paul R.]

It looks like the system might have lost some intensity? I’m not seeing any white (or purple or black!!) inside the reds and yellows, and only tiny bits of white in the NWS “radar-lite”. (I don’t know what colors your radar source uses above red.)

Down near Sterling, IL, it looks a bit “interesting”. (More white in the NWS images.

https://radar.weather.gov/station/kmkx/standard

Still pretty soggy!

I just revised some plans due to the predicted rains for us jumping up in predicted precipitation for Saturday-Sunday, while tonight’s look more modest. Of course, this time of year, “more modest” could still be another “1-1/2 inches of rain in under half an hour” event like a couple days ago.

Sat-Sun look for us like the waves of rain you are getting today. Then we cool off and get a few quite nice days — at least hopefully that pans out, as wifey wants to go on an outing. I’ve already talked to our neighbor about keeping an extra close eye on the place. :-)

[Paul R.]

Ryan Hall is reporting a very large tornado hitting Streator, Il. :-(

[Paul R.]

Tornado warnings in Wisconsin now, too! :-(

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

May interest you. Invasive Fish removed from Illinois River

Removed from THE Illinois river, not AN Illinois river! I imagine you could make a lot of fish emulsion fertilizer from 50 million pounds of Carp! (Easier than the 1 fish one corn plant Squanto method!)

I last fished in the 1990s on a fishing charters out of Egg Harbor on Green bay. There were 7 passengers. One person caught a salmon. The rest of us bobbed around for 2 hours and got sunburned. Oh well.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

It rained from 11am to 6pm, today. At times, torrential, but my phone didn’t go off every 2 minutes like yesterday and we didn’t lose power. Lesser winds, too.

Everything is a soggy, slimy mess, but the critters are all OK; I just did barn chores. Electricity is off to the chicken coop. I tried to reset the breaker, but still nothing. It may have been zapped at some point. Beau will be back on Saturday. Until then, lower temps in the 70’s and less humidity so, ‘The Girls’ should be fine. They must’ve been bored today; they gave me four eggs, LOL!

I’m going to have to spend time this weekend pulling back straw mulch on the raised beds and...praying! I estimate that we got 5-6” of rain in 2 days and there is lots of flooding in the low lands below us. ;)

ENOUGH, Mother Nature! You WIN, LOL! OK - let’s go straight to DROUGHT for the REST of the Summer, shall we? Thanks! :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Uck! Glad you are both OK.

[Paul R.]

Looking @ current radar, I would not want to be out on Lake Michigan right now!

There’s still lots of storm action in SE WI, NE IL, and moving into NW IN. Ryan Hall reports 2 or 3 new tornado warnings every time I come in the house for a few minutes. :-(

(I discovered that brief punch of powerful easterly wind in our storms a couple days ago damaged a few shingles, so I’m up and down the ladder patching that, now. I waited for the sun to drop low enough I wouldn’t cook in 10 minutes!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

One of our ‘Culver’s Barns’ was knocked over in this last round of storms. People are very sad...but the owner vows to make it right again!

https://notthebee.com/article/beloved-culvers-barn-destroyed-by-storm-in-wisconsin

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Liz]

Spinach Tortellini Soup / good do-ahead
Delicious, looks fancy. Tastes even better next day. A culinary school recipe.

Ing 2-14.5 oz cans chix broth 10 oz pkg frozen chp spinach 9 oz pkg
cheese tortellini shaved carrot strips ¼ tbl ea dried basil/gar/pwder s/p.

Directions BTB spinach/broth. On med-low heat, stir in tortellini, carrot strips; cook/stir
uncovered 3-5 min; tortellini float to top. Add basil, garlic powder, s/p, grated cheese.

Chef notes: add chp onions browned w/ garlic, cooked chicken for a heavier meal.

[Paul R.]

Some old fishing reels I got working???

And hopefully my daughter makes a good impression down the line, of course!