Join With Me For Morning Coffee?
Posted on 10/01/2026 6:56:54 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.
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.
Augie; Were those Hybridized American Chestnuts? I think there are still some native chestnut trees left in isolated places like Wisconsin.
Good afternoon! Hubby is home after being gone for 6 days, taking care of his Mom (98) who has had a bit of a downturn in her health. She was diagnosed with Bell’s palsy last week. So there has been a new care calendar for her. She has been living independently at home by herself for 10 years. So about a month ago, she started requiring around the clock care. She is a determined woman, and it recently appears that she is trying hard to not give up. She is confused sometimes, and is just now needing help getting dressed, showered, and eating. Still, she’s not giving up. What a fighter!
In gardening news, both of our lilac shrubs, one purple and one white, are reblooming! Most things are ready to phase out, so I will need to do serious yardwork next week. I injured my left foot somehow earlier in the week, but yesterday I noticed that the pain was mostly gone. So outside work will resume, tomorrow or Monday at the latest. (Today we are parked in front of the TV to watch college football. Lots of good games today.)
I have deer, so when it comes to juicy edible, I can just fuggedaboudit! But I can put garlic cloves in the ground for next spring, divide my bugleweed ground cover, dig up and replace two dead shrubs, and lop some branches. Or, not. Allergies galore!
My family has a huge Cabbage Slicer for making Sauerkraut. We swap it out among ourselves; it was Grandma's.
You could lose an entire FINGER using that thing! I see that more 'modern' (but still vintage) slicers had a 'box' on them that you put the head of cabbage in...to prevent any mishaps. We're tough. Old School. Come to think of it, Grandma's Sauerkraut always DID have a slight red 'tinge' to it, and her brother always called her 'Stumpy' for some reason, LOL!
Which reminds me...I have a HUGE head of Red Cabbage in the garden. Gotta think up a few ways to use that up, other than in a salad or Cole Slaw. It might make a good crunchy addition to Tacos, maybe a stir-fry?
Also - with all of my 'Jung Reunion' company tomorrow, I'm going to see who I can 'Tom Sawyer' into shelling beans for me, or shucking popcorn. Suckers. ;)
I’m gonna need a bigger mug! :)
Welcome back. You have been missed. I so LOVE hearing about all of your adventures! I’m so HAPPY for you getting some relief from the pain.
I know Beau is going to need, ‘your kind of medicine’ in the future - a life of building silos, REAL farming, and every manual labor job you can think of (until he worked his way up to ‘Foreman’) along with his traipsing through the woods day or night, hunting - HAS taken it’s toll on his body. Glad to hear that there are some solutions! :)
Oh, Howard. How I love you...and all of the Walker Dogs in the world. Again, so HAPPY you found one another. You have given him his Best Life Ever. *HEART*
Thanks so much! I will! That cat looks so much like my ‘Timothy Two-Tone’ a gray and white Tuxedo. I now have Boyd, who is a traditional Black & White Tuxedo cat.
Their personalities are totally spot on. Though Tim would dress up like this, whereas Boyd would NEVER, LOL!
I like my Four Seasons Wisconsin Garden...mainly because it comes to an END about October 15th.
When I lived in CA (’Sunny & 72’ Every. D@mn. Day!) gardening went on ALL YEAR LONG - it was relentless!
I need my down time in Winter. I’m pretty sure I’m a Perennial. One who needs a good mulching of fall leaves, and then a thick, insulating snow cover. And then a long nap. ;)
I have two ... a mom and her daughter. Her bro’s were placed. They’re Russian blue ... they’re all gray, no white fur. The daughter was born at my place so it’s the only home she knows. Never goes off the property, just sticks around.
Russian Blues are SO beautiful! :)
Sometimes I wonder how much my past activities are catching up with me, crawling through brutally hot attics, probably just as much crawling around in tight crawlspaces, under stages, etc., worming my way through many sections of floor trusses, wriggling my way around under car dashes to install car stereos (one time, that produced a comment from a cute gal watching “Well, you’re just a little contortionist!*), much much more...
*Major mistake on my part, perhaps: I didn’t ask her if she really wanted to find out!
Isaias turned out to be a real dud here. Most of it was to our east / southeast. NWS doesn’t show even a trace of precipitation, and we only got a light sprinkle - also not enough to measure. Top wind speed? 5 mph!
That must be way south. Plant tomato plants in the FALL???
I pulled up 3 tomato vines that had about 6 or 7 green tomatos and brought the entire vine onto the back porch. Not expecting frost, but they were shading a row of Belstar Broccoli that is doing pretty well, but needs a bit more sun. They are sitting on the back porch still on the vine. We will see!
Garden Status. I grew two determinate flat pack varieties from the hardware store. They did not do well, and were not that tasty, but I may have planted them in a difficult corner of the garden. Some roma type fruit, done and over in august, could have bought them at the store. I skipped grape type tomatoes this year. The determinates; Annanas Noir, Trifle, Black Krim. Annannas Noir is a semi determinate. Great tasting fruit but at a certain point it just shuts down and you will get little after that point.
The other two have good fruit, but I need to provide more protection from insects. The Black Krim and Annanas Noir have a lot of cracking at the shoulders so I almost have to fillet the tomato at that point. Good in salad and bruschetta!
Mom with Hope sent me some of her tomato seeds that I will try next year. (Sabre and ?Heart)
Companion planting. One of the tomato companions was basil. I no longer use heirlooms like Genovese basil, great as its taste is. Johnnies Seed has a basil Prospera Compact DMR which is resistant to downey mildew and Fusilarim wilt. I planted about 30 basil plants around the garden in mid May and they are still growing strong in Mid October. I cut the flowering tips until mid september and just let them go after that so the bees have something flowring. I also planted Johnnies Thai basil which is also still going and does not seem bothered by the heat. Most other varieties would have died back by the end of July. These are definite Recommendations!
Sweet Potatos. I tried an experiment this year. in the previous two years I planted my sweet potatoes in ground. They grew, but they were also chewed up by mice or voles.
This year I planted 3 30 gallon black plastic bags with a lot of holes, dirt and sand, fertilizer, and my slips, Korean Gold and Carogold. I placed the filled bags behind a picket fence because I was concerned they would would get too hot. I had long slips and tried to spiral them down into the bag hoping that tubers would form at each node of the 12 inch slip.
Problem. The slips were very slow to start growing and I realized that in their location they did not get as much sun as they needed.
Last week I harvested the smallest bag which contained Korean gold. I only found about 5 or 6 smallish potatoes. I decided that because we still have warm weather I would let the others grow. Today I added some potash and mineral and watered and hope that whatever tubers there are might get bigger with some additional time.
If I do this again I will set them in a sunnier area. It might also be that the section of slip was not robust enough to tolerate being buried. If the additional time helps I will let you know. I might get about one more week. (80s and 90s until next Thursday, upper 60s starting Friday and Sat.)
Butternut squash. I think I have "Early" Butternut, which is good, because the vines still want to set squash. I have three that are turning yellow and 3 that are green and quickly growing. I have pulled up 3 vines that were spent and yellowing. Watered today and expect rain Tuesday and Wednesday. Have 9 squash, may get 4 or 5 more, better than previous years and not bad for a 20 x 30 garden.
I have a Chicago Hardy and Olympia fig trees in ground. The figs from the Chicago hardy (AKA Bensonhurst Purple) are marginal and I will be cutting it down at some point and replacing it with Improved Celeste. (Which I hope will grow back after being cut down each year.) In spring I cut back all the suckers on the Olympia and trained it to 4 leaders and it produced a good number of figs. I harvested 6 or 7 today and expect more over the next 3 or 4 days.
This would go well with Sausage or pork chops and potatoes, a dollop of sour cream, and of course, a good beer!
This is from:
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/sweet_and_sour_red_cabbage/
Red Cabbage; Sweet and Sour cabbage soup.
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 large red cabbage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (or cider or red wine if you want!)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Sauté the cabbage:
Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the thinly sliced red cabbage and toss to coat with the butter. Sauté until slightly wilted, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and vinegar, simmer:
Sprinkle sugar over the cabbage and toss to coat evenly. Add the balsamic vinegar to the pot. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low.
Cover and simmer until the cabbage is completely tender but not mushy. Stir often, about 30 to 45 minutes total.
Every garden should have a "Fairy island" or "Angel Roost" if you prefer, a place that is mostly undisturbed for you overwintering beneficials like lone bees or fireflies. (Some would put their St Francis statue or Mary Niche on it.)
Cream Cheese-Swirled Pumpkin Bread / makes a generous two loaves
Signals "it's fall." Orange cream cheese swirl is a crowd pleaser.
SWIRL: 8 oz cr/cheese ½ c sugar 1 tbl flour 1 lge egg 1 tbl orange zest. BREAD: 1 ⅔ c flour 1 tsp b/soda ½ tsp ea salt, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin pie spice 1 c pumpkin puree ½ c veg oil 2 lge eggs 1 ½ c sugar
Directions Swirl: Combine cr/cheese, 1/2 c sugar, 1 tbl flour, 1 egg, orange zest; beat smooth. Set aside. Bread: Sift 1 ⅔ c flour, b/soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin pie spice; set aside. Place pumpkin, veg oil, 2 eggs, 1 ½ c sugar in lge bowl; beat well. Stir in pumpkin mixture just til combined. Pour 1/2 pumpkin batter into 2-8x4" loaf pans. Spoon cream cheese mixture atop each, then pour on rest batter. Bake 325 deg 60-70 min (pick in center comes clean). Cool bread in pans briefly before removing to wire rack to cool completely. Serve.
That Cabbage Soup sounds great...and I have pork in the freezer. :)
Temps to fall and stay low (60’s) starting Tuesday. It’s still going to hit 81 today. Ugh!
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