The Victory Garden Thread - October, 2026

October 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.

[Qiviut]

We have propane & looked into a gas fireplace - costs started at 2 grand & there are venting issues since the chimney is capped. We already have a realistic looking electric fireplace that has a heater on it - I think it will heat 400 sq feet. We really haven’t run that yet - I may give it a try on some chilly mornings.

As for relining the chimney, wood fireplace, etc., that is not on the project radar any time soon. I was mostly thinking VERY fondly of my Aunt’s wood stove in her beautiful country kitchen. Sadly, her husband passed away unexpectedly at 41 or 42, massive heart attack while snow blowing. Being way out in the country by herself & trying to contend with Vermont winters by herself prompted her to move to San Diego, CA where she had previously attended a tennis clinic & fallen in love with the weather. She met her 2nd husband there & they ended up moving to FL. She passed away about 10 years ago.

The handrail tech is coming out for a “site check” on Monday so at least I get to talk to someone in person. He is also a guy with experience - the female I’ve been emailing with trying to get something set up & an estimate has zero (”0”) common sense. She actually sent me a diagram with the handrail starting at the top of the first step (bottom of the gate) ... in other words, at our feet. I about blew a gasket on that one, but recovered without saying too many bad words (mom was nearby).

[Paul R.]

In warm humid weather, I’d imagine dew on the plants in the morning would do the trick, but we were 47 deg. this morning - the insects likely are not too active until the dew burns off...

[Pollard]

When mowing yesterday, I remembered the row of potatoes I planted. Need to dig them up before I cover the tunnel ground with black poly. I know you're supposed to dig potatoes when the soil is dry but this soil gets hard when dry. I might have to water the bed before I can dig them. Might be able to rake the cut grass over the bed and wait a week and not water or water and cover with grass to let the moisture even up.

Tech stuff; I installed Home Assistant home automation software on my NAS. Searched their forum for the type of control modules I have and a guy had a Python plugin for them. Installed it and now I can see my modules in Home Assistant. I'll be able to create unlimited automations now, including doing things that the modules themselves can't like send me a text.

Home Assistant uses Areas; Living Room, Kitchen etc. They had an icon for Hoophouse for an area so I used it and named it Tunnel. Sweet. So glad I found this guy's plugin. Would have taken me forever to figure this out, if I even could have.

Tunnel page. I don't have any sensors or relays connected right now so the only data is the supply voltage of the X-400. Everything can be renamed as I've already done for X-400 Supply Voltage. It was Supply voltage 1. The stuff showing as Unknown are from other modules that aren't plugged in to the network at the moment. There will be a lot more items when I have all the modules plugged and and sensors/relays connected to them.

I have it on the NAS for testing but I can also install Home Assistant on the web server. That's when I'll be able to have it send me a text and I'll be able to see the tunnel modules from anywhere via the web.

There; plugged the house module into the network. I've been rearranging network cables working on the TV box and NAS and it got unplugged. Still runs it's automations. I just couldn't access it for a day. Added my Red LEDs which light up the coffee maker without blinding me at 3:30 am. It's all set up but I've been meaning to add something to turn it off. It turns off at 6am but on my days off, I sometimes I manually turn it back on. The modules don't keep great time and aren't connected to the web to get accurate time. Sunrise is variable and I want it to turn off once it's light out. Home Assistant knows my time zone and what time dawn/dusk are so I set it up to turn off at dawn. I'll probably have to add an offset to dawn for it to happen when it's actually light enough like half hour after dawn. This module is in the Kitchen area so I click Kitchen and see this.

Time to get my butt outside.

[Liz]

Chocolate....what could possibly go wrong?.......chuckle.

[Qiviut]

Are those grates on what looks like the culvert pipes (left side)? If so, I would think they would catch trash coming downstream, but then I’m not a bridge designer either :-) Hope the new bridge holds up. Several low water bridges around here washed out last year & caused detours when we had a couple of incredible ‘gully washer’ downpours. A lot of the rural county roads are gravel & being near/in the mountains with steep downhill grades, they were washing out as well - heard all about it from our asphalt paver who was hauling gravel for repairs. It’s not been as bad this year.

[Pollard]

No grates. The three culvert pipes look to be 16-18”.

Will be interesting to see how it works out.

They also dumped some fresh gravel on either end of the bridge so it’s pretty decent now.

Menard’s tomorrow to spend $$$. Been saving up a little and living cheaper to help.

I’ll be able to start commuting in the little car now that they fixed the bridge/road. That’ll save quite a bit of moola.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

11% Rebate in our area right now. Hope it’s in yours, too!

Our last big ‘spend’ was for all of the materials needed for the kitchen porch re-hab. We got a NICE rebate certificate for that. I’m pretty sure we’ll find SOMETHING to spend it on at Menard’s in the near future. ;)

The materials are shrink-wrapped on the trailer. Still crossing my fingers that Beau and Foster Son Mick can ‘git er done’ before the snow flies!

I LIVE on that porch - it’s basically an extension of my TINY kitchen. I’m almost more excited about THAT upgrade than a new bathroom; and we REALLY need a new main bathroom!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I meant to answer you earlier this week. I had to look up ‘Greasy Grits’ beans:

“(Phaseolus vulgaris) Pole bean. This old Appalachian and mountain folk heirloom used to be common in much of the Midwest and South. The Greasy Grits bean has recently been rediscovered and is highly sought after and celebrated by foodies, chefs, and nostalgic gardeners alike. A signature smooth, shiny sheen to the bean pods earned them the name “greasy,” but the superior nutty, mellow, umami flavor is what keeps Greasy Grits the king of Appalachian heirloom beans. Matures in 90 days for dried beans.”

https://www.rareseeds.com/bean-greasy-grits

I have become OBSESSED with growing drying beans the past few seasons. I currently have ‘Good Mother Stollard’ and ‘Lina Sisco’s Bird Egg Bean’ drying on the vines.

I’m going to add ‘Greasy Grits’ to the rotation. Thanks!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[left that other site]

😎
COOL!

[FamiliarFace]

Cute!

[ryderann]

This site is a fairly recent discovery for me. She grows her bean seed isolated from each other so there’s not much chance of crossing.

https://www.threshseed.com/collections/beans#collection__main

Scroll down toward the bottom of the bean listings for the Appalachian beans. I’m going with Fat Man and Pink Tip Greasy for next year. Be sure to let the beans fill out to the point of almost splitting the pod before picking. The pods will be changing color. You want to pick them just before they go into the drying stage. No doubt they’ll need stringing, but that is relaxing for me. Some varieties will have tough pods at that stage, so just remove the beans and cook them. They’re what’s called “shellys”. Dried beans that are cooked are called “soup beans”. Soup beans and cornbread make a yummy meal. When the soup beans are almost finished cooking you can thrown in some greens...chard, kale...if you want.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

This Yankee is, ‘Gettin’ Her Southern On’ when it comes to beans and cornbread for supper, LOL!

Thanks for the link and other recommendations. :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Selected from this FR Seam of memes: FR Seam of Memes

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Your stream crossing looks pretty good. I can see debris building up on the upstream side, but I think they hope it will shed debris by sloping to to the downstream side if you get a significant rain that overflows the crossing. Qiviut asked if there were grates. Since they do not have them I wonder how much time they will spend cleaning them out. Probably no much in the township budget for that.

They should probably get some water level markers in before winter to help you figure out if you really want to cross when the water is coming over the top.

[Albion Wilde]

[Paul R.]

Kinda looks like me on a bad day...

[Pollard]

I’m bad about sending in for rebates. Doesn’t help that the two times I did, I never received anything back. Anymore I go by the before rebate price, $329 on the electric splitter, $293 after rebate. I do have some more receipts around here and bought some stamps just for the purpose so I’ll try it once again.

I hate the gamify aspect of it all. They know half the people won’t bother so that 11% becomes 5.5% to them and they probably add 7.5% to pricing to begin with. Win, win - 2% extra profit and all they have to do is print rebate forms. (and laugh all the way to the bank)

Heading that way in a few. The sky is lightening up.

[poconopundit]

Hey Liz,

This Kale Soup looks delicious. And you presented it beautifully in text.

I’m blessed by the fact that my wife is a splendid cook.

But what sort of dish(es) should I try making to say thank you for her talent and persistence over the years.

Sorry to put you on the spot with such a sweeping question, but I figure you probably have some advice to give me.

Your commentary and cooking recipe fan, poconopundit.

Arigato Gozaimasu.

[Liz]

..... what sort of dish(es) should I try making to say
thank you for her talent and persistence over the years........

---

In my book, Japanese cuisine....and cooking techniques....are tops.
So you have quite a hurdle to overcome.......chuckle.

I have heard that Italian restaurants are proliferating in Japan. So you
might want to log on to an Italian cooking web site to get some recipes.

Of course, in the US, Italian cooking IS American cooking.