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.

[MomwithHope]

I am up to 117 on the pawpaws. Also pruning the group of trees, have some tall suckers to cut and I think this will cut back on next years harvest. Pruned many branches hanging too low. Already gave away a bunch. I am only counting to compare with last year. 202. I baked a zucchini bread yesterday. Had a slice with some pawpaw on top and a small spoonful of vanilla ice cream. Very yummy.

[MomwithHope]

Sorry about the double post, kept getting the bad gateway page.

[Qiviut]

Today is the day we are supposed to be getting insulation in the attic - hip hip hurrah! Normally, per the contractor, the old insulation is removed, but we have so little (less than an inch) that they are just going to blow insulation in over it - works for me.

Our house is an old ranch & they bumped out the roof and made a 2nd story - it’s very spacious, gives the house upstairs two large guest rooms, a large multi-purpose room, full bath, wide hall & lots of storage in odd places around the dormer windows. The issue is that there’s only one HVAC unit for the whole house & the ducts/vents upstairs are an old heating system - not much air, hot or cold, gets upstairs. We really need 2 units & better duct work, but that would be a major, costly project. The insulation should give us an additional 10 degrees or more (per the contractor) of heat or air, depending on what is running. He said we’ll definitely notice it on the electric bill, which sounds good.

I’ve opened the gate & moved the car so they have access to the driveway next to the house. I think the hose is going in one of the dormers that is directly across from the trap door to the attic. We were not able to do the insulation earlier because we still had the old slate roof & couldn’t go across the slate shingles without causing major damage to get to the dormer window. With regular shingles, there’s no issue.

As much as I want the insulation, I will be glad when the job is over - I really get nervous and hate it when workmen are tramping around the house.

[Pollard]

Find all my receipts and it might be close to $200. That'll pay for the rest of the chain link fence top rail pipe for tunnel sides. I have enough for a prototype bifold side now.

Benefit of an old beat up truck is strapping 21' long pipes down the side of it. Stick them through the side view mirror frame, strap to side of back end of the bed and down to front bumper.

Part of the $200 worth of odds and ends was a $70 sump pump. Somehow, I will get it to go down that hole. Straight fitting for a 1/14" hose will replace the garden hose adapter elbow. Gonna take the base off and trim or leave it off and will still have to cut a notch or drill a hole in the tank for the 1-1/4" hose. The pump will probably live in the tank once I get it in there.

image might not post with FR being kinda broken

Right now to transfer from the tank in the back of the truck to another tank, I use PVC pipe from the outlet to dump water off the back end of the bed into the bottom third of a plastic 55 gallon drum and have a sump pump in the drum with the hose going into the top of the other tank. Have to open the dump valve just the right amount which changes depending on how much water/weight is left in the tank. Very much a pain. I want to plug it in and be able to walk away for 10 minutes.

Same problem with tank heaters. None of them big enough for 275 gallons will fit down a 6" hole.

I don't have the house tank on a trailer anymore. It's sitting on a stack of pallets for now but I'm going to build a stand for it from PT 4x4s. Without the trailer tongue, axle and tires, and with the tank stationary, it will be easy to build a little shed attached to the house for the tank. Insulate it and it won't freeze often. I have a 6" duct fan so when it's nice and toasty in here, I can pump warm air into the tank shed.

Tested the little 5 ton electric splitter on some very dry 6" chunks, including a couple red oak. Did fine. Kind of a pain because you push down a button to turn on the electric motor, then push down on a lever for the hydraulic ram. That takes two hands which means you can't keep one hand on the chunk of wood. Lean away and hope a chunk doesn't fly up in your face? I'll be rigging a foot pedal for the hydraulic to free up one hand. A two stage foot pedal would be nice. Stage one pushes button, stage two for hydraulic ram.

It weighs 100 lbs and has tiny wheels and sitting on a tailgate puts it at the right height to use. I'll build a stand for it with bigger wheels to roll it around like a wheel barrel. That's two stands with wheels I need to make. I have a horizontal metal band saw that's about the same size and weight. Either that or build a table for outside that's tailgate height with a ridge board two foot higher to sling a tarp over it for a roof.

I bought a 10'x10' tarp yesterday. Why? Because I've never seen a 10x10 tarp before. Seems like a handy size for covering a pile of compost or what not. A pile is usually kind or round so a square tarp...

Also need to install a couple of 20 amp outdoor outlets. The splitter pulls 15 amps. You can run about 16 amps steady from a 20 amp breaker/circuit. A 15 amp is down around 12 amp constant draw. Rule of thumb is 80% to prevent breaker getting hot and nuisance tripping of it.

Laundry day. Just looked at the three grocery store ads but I really only needed to look at one. They all have bottom round steak/roasts and tri-tips on sale and Red Baron pizza for $3.99 ea. It's more about atmosphere than selection or in my case, the one a mile from the laundromat and self service car wash. I should have bought all the pichana steaks they had last week for $10/lb. Good stuff for the price.

[Pollard]

Funny. On the box it says pumps down to 1/8” but the sticker on the pump says minimum 2-5/8” water level to operate pump. Guess it needs that much to get flowing but will then pump it down to 1/8”.

[Qiviut]

Insulation update: not happening today.

We have a ceiling fan in the attic & that cannot run with insulation around it, will be blowing everywhere - needs to be disconnected. Additionally, we have a couple of outlets, a light fixture & I think the ceiling fan that have quit working so there’s an electrical issue. It will be MUCH easier to work on that sort of thing if there is not an attic full of new insulation.

The insulation contractor (super nice guy) is calling some folks he knows to get a licensed/insured electrician out here to get the fan disconnected & any other issues fixed that ‘might’ require access from the attic.

The good news is that both the contractor & the guy who will be in the attic are telling me I will notice a HUGE difference in hot/cold upstairs .... we have what amounts to no insulation in the attic at the present time.

Sigh ... always something, but it’s better to do things “the right way” and avoid worse problems down the road. It’s an old house & old houses do have ‘personalities’ & problems.

[FamiliarFace]

I miss them already, even though it’s only been a couple of days. About a month ago, we had a LOT of activity at the feeders. I think it was some migrators that saw the provisions here (I have 4 feeders - one on each side of the house), and Humberto and Harmony didn’t like the intruders at “their” feeders. They’d chase the newcomers away.

[Paul R.]

Yesterday’s report (I dozed off yesterday evening and never hit “post”, evidently!)

= = = = = = =

Our weather has been GORGEOUS the last few days! Yesterday was warm and dry with (again!) “bluebird skies, and today was the same — in fact, NWS’s 3-day history shows “clear” for every entry. I’m trying to remember when I’ve seen that!

Depending on several variables, the remnants of Isaias may give us a soaking Saturday, and possibly some stormy weather. At this point rain amounts look to be under 2”, and that would be just fine, but I have to get a few things wrapped up!

[Paul R.]

Of course, the best bet with Menards is to catch stuff on a good sale / clearance AND get the rebate. They do have some good sales, sometimes. :-)

[MomwithHope]

I hear you about workmen in the house. Blown in is the best we have well over a foot in our attic. One of those super insulated houses 1984. They told us the ceiling was R58. Can’t remember, the more the better. Our walls have batting 2X6 walls. Well worth it, we do not use much LP and supplement with a wood stove if we need to. You’ll be glad this winter.

[MomwithHope]

Just read your second post. Glad you have a good contractor.

[MomwithHope]

WE had lots of migrants heading south too, then just one female maybe two for a couple of days. We only have one feeder, used to have two but too many hummers and lots of fighting. And the two neighbors south also have feeders. The one we have left is the most easily seen. Took the feeder down and scrubbed it after mot seeing them for a couple of days. Beside the honeybees had discovered it and were swarming all around it.

[Paul R.]

NWS has bumped up our odds of getting soaked by Isaias to over 90%, Saturday evening. It’s interesting how that system just sat around for days, and then was forecast by the NHC to really accelerate toward the USA / is now doing so. Hopefully it will not blow up too much: The real worry is along the Gulf Coast, of course...

HERE (and now), our tomato plants are loving this weather. Hopefully we’ll get a nice round of tomatoes to “blush” (at least) B4 we get a frost. Even one of the Mortgage Lifters has set a few fruits, and another has a few more flowers, but those take so long to mature that we’ll have to be really lucky!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Sigh...always something, but it’s better to do things “the right way” and avoid worse problems down the road. It’s an old house & old houses do have ‘personalities’ & problems.”

Preach it, Sister! 1906 Farmhouse, here. ;)

[Paul R.]

Heh! You just reminded me to check the online ad at our “local” grocery store that most often has Red Baron pizzas on sale. They run a little smaller than some of the other brands they sometimes put on good sales, or Walmart’s “Great Value” brand, but are tastier, IMO, without having the sodium levels completely through the roof.

I need to make a run to town, mainly for feed for the chickens, and said grocery store, is a few miles more, so “I have to have a reason.” ;-)

[Qiviut]

Since the 2nd floor was ‘bumped out’ of the originally one floor ranch, there are some slanted ceiling areas. The contractor is planning on filling all of that in, too. We should be ‘snug as a bug in a rug’ with all that insulation both above & partially on the sides. Without a space heater in my bedroom, it gets as low as 50° & probably lower when we get down around zero. It’s pretty “toasty” in the summer, too. My brother visited in June & ended up sleeping downstairs in a recliner - too warm for him upstairs.

[Pollard]

That reminds me. They’ve got all their drip and sprinkler stuff on clearance right now. 30-50% off.

[Pollard]

A free $66.00 coming your way!

Feels more like loaning money to someone I don't really trust and hoping they pay me back.

[FamiliarFace]

If iI had yellow jackets or wasps swarming my feeders, they’d be down in a hurry! I’ll probably leave one feeder out for another few days just in case there’s a straggler. The latest I’ve seen hummingbirds come through was a few years ago on October 17th or 18th. We had an extended summer that year, with a pretty mild winter. Maybe 5 or so years ago. Might’ve been in 2017. That was the month and year mom died, and she loved seeing hummingbirds. In a way I thought it was a message from her that she was fine and wanted me not to be sad. Miss her.

[FamiliarFace]

Well, the ladies all asked for the recipe! The caramel sauce drizzled on top was the closer. I’m very happy that they enjoyed it!