The Victory Garden Thread - July, 2026

July 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]

Wow great story.

[MomwithHope]

Those eggs crumbs just fall off the plate, huh

[MomwithHope]

Friends had great success with an outside small yard. posts about 2 feet tall, chicken wire all around and across the top for hawks. Never lost one and the chickens had grass and bugs to eat.

[Qiviut]

It’s wonderful to be back in the garden. The French Tarragon is planted - generally deer resistant, but this is a small plant so I’ll put a Dollar Store wire basket over it at night until it’s big enough to not taste so good.

I have one more spot in the herb garden ... what to plant? I want perennials & I have the most common ‘woody’ perennial herbs that come back every year: Rosemary, sage, thyme, lavender & oregano & now French tarragon. I have lovage that surprised me & came back this spring. NO mint - been there, done that - will plant in pots, not the raised bed. Chives are mentioned & that’s the way I’m leaning.

As for annuals, I think I’m doing them in pots next year. I love basil but it got eaten up last year in the raised bed. I ended up buying a basil in the produce section at Walmart & growing it on the bathroom windowsill in the shop that has a sunny exposure. No basil this year unless I find a decent sized plant soon. I also had lemon verbena in the raised bed - it was a pain to dig up after it died so maybe I’ll do that in a pot as well next year.

The herbs are all trimmed & cut back - the smell is wonderful while doing it. Sage is the strongest, followed by thyme & oregano ... rosemary did not get trimmed. I love them all - wish someone would make herbal perfumes.

[Liz]

Don’t throw away broccoli stems—they are crunchy, sweet, and highly nutritious. To prep, cut off the woody bottom, and use a vegetable peeler to shave off the fibrous, tough outer layer. Then, chop them into coins, sticks, or thin strips and roast, stir-fry, or air-fry them.

Crispy Air-Fryer Broccoli Stem Fries
The tender interiors with crisp, savory edges, are a perfect snack or side.

Ing: 2 peeled stems 1 tbl olive oil, tsp gar/powder s/p, 1 tbl grated parm.

Instructions: Toss peeled stems cut into sticks or “fries” w/ oil, gar/powder, s/p, Parm. Arrange single layer in air fryer basket. Cook 400 deg 15-20 min, shaking basket halfway thru til golden brown.

---

Other Great Ways to Use Broccoli Stems

Asian-Style Stir-Fry: Julienne peeled stems into thin matchsticks and stir-fry with garlic, soy sauce, a dash of sugar, and sesame oil. They only take about 1-2 minutes to cook crisp-tender.

Broccoli Stem Pesto: processor chopped, raw stems fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts (or sunflower seeds), olive oil, and parm for a unique spin on classic pesto.

[MomwithHope]

I have been wanting to share a shishito recipe. I’ve shared it before a few years back and I am pretty sure someone here posted it originally. I did tweak it a little. I am going to make some with the leftover frozen shishito bits from last year. I make sure they are super cleaned out and heat up some olive oil in a skillet, really just toss the fresh bits and when they cool bag ‘em up in small snack bags. I roll the air out and then put the baggies in a quart ziploc. they keep extremely well and it’s so easy to use them throughout the winter, sometime a whole baggie in a meal or I break off a chuck. Lat year I had so many and I am thinking of you FF I think you will be loaded.
So for the Shishito pepper sauce (great on anything, omlette, steak, especially good on any grilled protein.

Shishito pepper sauce
In skillet, 1 tbl. Olive oil
8 ounces of cleaned and chopped shishitos
2 chopped shallots or smaller amount sweet onion
2 crushed garlic cloves (or more)
Kosher salt and pepper. I use my homemade Lawrys seasoning
Saute together about 10-15 minutes until peppers are soft.
Add 1 cup heavy cream
1 oz, (or a little more) shredded parmesan
Pinch of fresh ground nutmeg.
Stir for a bit, it will get thick.
Turn off heat and let cool.

Great on steak, chicken, any grilled meat, even a slice of toast. I freeze any extra in small deli containers. Will keep in the fridge a few days.

I have lots more to post but its siesta time and church tonight. But here is a nice shredded carrot salad recipe -

Carrot Salad

1 lb carrots, peeled and grated thru the cuisinart
½ medium sized onion sliced thin
1/2 cup good olive oil
salt, ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoons ground coriander
½ teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
1 garlic clove crushed
1 Tablespoon of white vinegar (or more or less, to taste), optional

[FamiliarFace]

Your herb garden sounds like mine. Chives are a great choice for that space you have left. You will love your French tarragon!

After I harvested the lemon verbena last year, I dug up that plant, stuffed it into a pot, and successfully overwintered it using grow lights. It managed to stay healthy enough to replant in the herb garden, and it looks now like it’s deciding to grow again.

The 4 remaining shishito plants from seed are finally looking like they’re ready to plant. I have no more ground space, so I will be planting them in containers. Today we are going to a wedding, so it will have to wait for tomorrow (if there’s no rain).

[Augie]

Yesterday was bad. Really bad down Pollard’s way. The Black River went from 4’ to 21’+ in a matter of hours. Lots of damage. People missing. Just awful.

We got 1.1” rainfall in about 30 minutes late yesterday afternoon. 10 miles north of here they got 4”+ rainfall, hail, and a lot of wind. Trees down on roads and power lines. Big mess.

Mrs. Augie and I spent a little time pulling weeds in the victory garden before it rained yesterday. My back has been super pissed off this week and I’m falling further behind on maintenance. I’ve been piddling at getting framework and wire up over the top of the chicken yard. A couple hours a day is all I’ve been good for and everything else is suffering. I finished one section a couple days ago. Now we’re able to shoo the chickens in there before they take to the trees so they’re all going to bed in the brooder house where it’s safe.

The owl finally got the last of our old hens and I’ve been waiting on the ground to dry up so I can get to the old chicken pen without tearing up the yard. I’m going to pull down all of that fencing, then pick the henhouse up with Nanner and move it to the new chicken yard.

We’re hoping to pull more garden weeds today if the rain moves out. I noticed yesterday there are a couple spaghetti squash ready to harvest, and the zukes are starting. Pole beans are over 8’ up the trellis and looking good. Peppers aren’t super happy but they’re trying.

I think the tomatoes are a lost cause. Last year was bad with 5.5” of rain in the couple weeks after transplanting. This year with 12”+ in the month after transplant is worse. I don’t think they’re going to snap out of it. But... that’s why we preserve the harvest when it’s good, right?

Oh... the kimchi I made a couple weeks ago... absolutely fantastically delicious. Mrs. Augie and I have already wiped out the first jar.

[AFB-XYZ]

Ha ha! Well, I guess some of them do have “help” . . . 😁

[Liz]

CLOTHES PIN COOKIES

ING: pkg Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry, 4 tbl flour 1 c ea 2% milk, sugar, Crisco, tsp vanilla

METHOD: Partially thaw puff pastry. Cut into strips. Wrap strips around wooden clothes pins. Bake golden 375 deg 18 min. Remove from clothespins a few seconds after removing from oven.

FILLING: Combine flour and milk. Heat to thicken (is not lumpy). Cool. Elec/mixer sugar and Crisco to look like whipped cream. Add flour mixture and vanilla; beat fluffy and creamy. Use piping bag to fill cookies. Serve w/ conf sprinkle.

CHEF'S NOTE: Can also fill cookies with thick jam.

[TheConservativeParty]

Re: gardening memories

In the 1970s, being cash poor but land rich, we had a veggie garden so huge we planted it with a 2 seater tobacco planter that was in a barn when we moved there circa 1970. One day a SNAKE was in a flat of veggie plants we had on the planter with us (me and my brother). Good times. Ha ha.

When my city dwelling relatives visited back then, my aunt called our garden The Garden of Eden.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Knowing your folks, and their love of growing things, I’m sure it WAS Heavenly. :)

[Pollard]

Recipe for Kimchi please!

Took a 10 second video where I turned back when trying to get to work yesterday. I managed to pause it at a lightning strike and took a screenshot of that frame. Had to do a 7 point turn to head back home. When I went back through another water over road spot, the truck scooted sideways a little. Noticed on the way home that there's a 36/39" field fence on the right(in this pic) and its' covered with debris all the way to the top.

Rare instance of being thankful for lightning.

My Ford has little useless back up lights, maybe 1x1-1/4".white lenses molded into tail/brake lens. Need to get more lights on the truck aiming both ways. Driving in that madness with average 1991 headlights and crap for backup lights sucked.

Took this pic down by that creek yesterday. T-Post is 4 foot so that 6 acre bottom land had 3 foot of fast moving water.

Oddly enough, we only lost power for a few seconds once.

[Paul R.]

I came in to catch the local weather forecast - too late - and instead watched NBC Nightly News make a fairly lengthy report on the situation in SouthEast Missouri. To the East, Southern IL and Western KY, quite a few roads were closed (some for the 2nd night in a row, a few got washed out, and there were a handful of rescues, but not so bad as in SEMO!

After last year’s soggy mess, all our tomato plants are in pots or in a new spot: A flowerbed “out front” that is less than 10’ from the ditch along the road in front. So far, so good.

I’d re-cleared said ditch further on down where it is under trees, 3 days ago, so, (when so cleared) the ditch drains to under a foot of water in it within a day of even very heavy rains such as we got here. Our soils don’t allow water to percolate down very easily at all, but, there IS some movement of water laterally along the clay layers. If I have a 1-1/2’ deep planting hole dug, 6 hours after a big rain, it will still be almost full of water. 24 hours later (assuming a break in the rains), the water will be almost gone.

We’ve had so many rainy days that my attempts to subdue (spray) poison ivy and keep weeds and grass out of the light use parts of our gravel driveway have mostly failed. If this keeps up, I may have to mow the driveway!

I have an excess of plants, including tomato plants, needing bigger pots - I’ll try moving them to the “old” garden “in ground” if it looks like we’ll finally get protracted normal or dry weather. Granted that NWS did NOT predict these extensive and repeated July rains a couple weeks ago: They showed us as “normal” to “one color” above normal for precipitation. If the wet pattern continues, well... slightly stunted plants and fruits seem to be a better option than drowned plants. I still have a pretty good supply of fertilizer I bought on clearance last fall, too.

At the moment: We are having a moderate t-storm. At least it is “garden variety”!

[Paul R.]

Whew!

Ditto here on the power, except twice. That brevity of outages is a good thing in this sort of situation: I do have battery backup on the sump pump setup, but that wouldn’t last forever. (Theoretically I could swap batteries with the car or run a long feed from the generator - the latter until I used up our “emergency” gasoline.)

Our Tahoe has two batteries but would use much more gas. It does have quite good headlights, though, without blinding oncoming vehicles. Kudos to the engineers on that one. :-)

[Paul R.]

Apparently the bear doesn’t know that collies are mostly hair! Like a lot of 70’s rock groups - hahaha!

We had collies when I was a kid: My experience is that collies LOVE to run, and one in particular got so fat catching rabbits that we cut his food ration by 2/3. One time he brought a rabbit to the front porch, and my Mom got home and thought the collie had killed and partially eaten a neighbor’s miniature dog!

I was always amazed that this slightly fat collie could, with sheer speed and agility, chase down a rabbit.

Later, Dad started letting us bring the collie along when we bicycled even several miles. “Just be sure he comes back with you!” He always did (super-loyal dog) and... well, I did say “Collies love to run”! I think he liked running with us kids on our bikes even more than chasing rabbits! He lost a little of the fat, too!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Yeah, well, I’ll have to put in a Work Order for that and we’ll see if it gets done in, oh, 5-8 years. ;)

Beau really put his heart and soul into the chicken coop inside of the barn. The Girls have tons of room to run around, nice windows and a lovely roost. They get greens from the garden every day - but I haven’t been feeding them bugs, LOL! Electricity, lighting, a cooling fan when it’s hot. An electric water warmer when it’s cold. He thought of everything. Nesting boxes that we can harvest from OUTSIDE of the coop and all the other luxuries a peanut-brained chicken could think of.

Let’s just get my kitchen porch finished first, shall we? ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That Carrot Salad is right in my ZONE! Thanks! :)

[MomwithHope]

Just sharing about the outside chicken yard. I remember you telling us about the nice coop he built. If you want some entertainment, take an overgrown zucchini or 2 or 3 and put it through your cuisinart shredder or noodle maker. Set it out in a long tray and those chickens will suck those in like spaghetti. Was fun to watch but gone very fast.

[MomwithHope]

That carrot salad will be better the second day.