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.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Current updates.

Garden - Still getting a few cukes, and there’s always kale, a few cherry tomatoes and now to pick and shell all of my drying beans! I still have lots of Zinnia to cut for bouquets around the house. This season I planted ‘Oriole’ and a ‘Cut & Come Again’ mix that ended up being mostly pinks and reds. Everyone enjoyed the garden on Sunday, even though it’s on it’s last legs. Lots of comments about how much work 16 beds must be, but I shared all of my ideas of cutting back the workload for myself as I’m dragged (kicking and screaming) to the other side of LIFE!

House - My house is so clean in preparation for the party that I’ll never have to clean it again! Ya-Hoo! (In my dreams!) That was also a common comment at the party - “I’d have it at my house, but I don’t want to clean!’ LOL! The last BIG CHORE is a good scrub of the kitchen floor, post-canning. Didn’t bother with that as I knew it would be a High Traffic Area for the party.

The Jung Reunion Bash - Couldn’t have been better! We had PERFECT Deck-Sitting weather, too! And an Eagle flew over! And no one could believe how ‘far out’ we live, LOL! I had the BEST co-workers and staff at the Garden Center; some are still working there part time and they tell me it’s just not the same without me. Nice to hear. :) But, they’re still in business, so my Pension is safe! SO MUCH FOOD! We had everything from various dips & chips to shrimp to the Sloppy Joes and at least 4 deserts. A Good Time Was Had By All. And we’re going to do this annually for as long as we’re all ambulatory! :)

Bear Camp - is over for the season. Beau (and all of the dogs!) will be home tonight and he is bringing us a new-to-us female Beagle. She is about 4 years old (her UKC paperwork is being mailed to us) and her name is Schatze. ‘Schatze’ means ‘Treasure’ in German. My Grandma had a dog named Schatze - so this is a good sign! Yes, I know we don’t NEED another dog, but Dolly is 16 now and aging out of the game. Beau likes to hunt rabbit and Dolly is no longer up to it, and she’s deaf. Also, having a Beagle around when we have pups helps them to learn to keep their noses to the ground and to ‘A.B.T.’ ‘Always Be Tracking.’ ;)

Weather - the current heat wave has finally passed. Only hitting mid 70’s today, then DOWN SHE GOES. I am SO looking forward to cooler weather! And the bugs DYING! Getting tired of vacuuming and sweeping up fake ladybugs and box elder bugs. Ugh! I have seen quite a number of Assassin Bugs - but I try not to kill them - they are one of the most useful bugs on the planet for your garden. Also saw the largest Wooly Bear I’ve ever seen with a VERY wide band of brown which means a mostly mild winter. I’m holding him/her to it!

Fall Colors - are fantastic right now. This cool down is just what the trees need to color up some more before they drop their leaves. I’ll post some pictures in another thread.

More Weather - ‘Ryan Hall Y’all’ (You Tube) is stating that we’ll have a HUGE cool-down (and maybe some snow!) but then it will warm up again to normal temps before Winter settles in for good. I am SO READY to Hibernate. It’s time.

Dental appointment today, then back home to make dinner for Beau - which I haven’t had to do for months! Kind of looking forward to it, but I’ll be sick of it soon enough. He’s always grateful for my cooking skills after eating Bear Camp Food for months on end. I knew feeding him was part of the deal when I signed up for this gig. He made that VERY clear, LOL! It will be nice to have him home again to do the heavy lifting around here that Fall always brings. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Public Service Announcement:

“When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

[Pollard]

I made another dashboard in Home Assistant just for my phone. #1 GET OUTSIDE is half the battle. LOL

Move fridge - grabbed it from the side of the road. Had a FREE sign that said it worked good. Son and I about broke out backs getting it into the back of the truck. Never made it into the house because it's so heavy. Been looking at new ones and a basic fridge if not THAT expensive and a lot lighter than this side by side Cadillac with all the bells and whistles, ice, water etc, that we'd never use. So on the tractor works and off to the scrap pile area it goes.

Dry here but will rain tomorrow and the next day. Two inches over the two days is perfect. A nice soak. Also bringing a cool front. Guess we're back to that weather where either a warm or cool front coming in requires rain first.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

You could buy your M.L. seeds from a different seller and see if that makes a difference. Or, when your plant reaches about 18" start side dressing with a high phosphate fertilizer.

I have emulsified fish fertilizer. Its organic, but I have a bag of Triple Phosphate that I use to encourage blossoms. (I recall that my Father did this back in the 1960s.) Miracle Grow has a blossom formula that has a very high P content.

Two other things; I have used Epsom salts in the past. Some say that it has no effect and is a waste of money. Some people recommend using soybean meal in your planting hole to provide nutrients to your plant. I also use minerals at planting time. (Glacial rock dust or something like that.)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Buy a large sheet pan of Stoeffers Lasagne on the way home. Get a loaf of bread to garlic, and stuff for Caesar Salad.

It will free up your time tonight, you will have leftovers, and give you a reason to enjoy the sunset (or rain clouds!) and drink wine with him.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

You’re ‘computerizing’ my infamous To-Do Lists, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Great suggestion - but potatoes are washed and chopped (Red Norlan) to make Garlic Smashed Potatoes and bacon wrapped chops are thawing and I have salad fixings on hand and from the garden.

I WILL put a bottle of Riesling in the fridge, though. Good call! :)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Houzz...discussions on 5 largest heirloom tomatoes

[Pollard]

New top item on To Do List

Fix tractor steering.

Lost all steering this morning. Something in the steering column which enclosed in a tube. Will have to remove instrument panel and maybe the sheet metal section it attaches to.

The tube bolts right to the steering box but hopefully it’s not something in there. Parts for that are unobtainium.

New ignition switch came in for the Ford Focus which I’m thinking/hoping will fix it’s electrical issues so that’s on the to do list but tractor first.

[Qiviut]

I have been wanting a compost pile for 2 years now. I couldn’t decide on a location - anything near the house I figured would trigger a rejection from mom.

Surprise surprise .... she actually suggested a spot that is fairly convenient. She is desperate to rake leaves for some reason & didn’t want to haul leaves all the way to the debris pile in the far corner of the property. I am using some of my fencing panels to make a 5’x10’ pen for the leaves. She will haul leaves & when I mow tomorrow, I will use the mower to make some grass piles so I will have green & brown in the new compost bin/pen.

The holes in the fencing will allow some leaves to escape so I am lining the fencing with plastic bags from the compost I bought & salt pellet bags ... I knew I was saving those bags for something!

It’s 83° & just a tad humid - working in the sun is pretty hot. Mom is resting in a lawn chair & I needed some electrolytes so I need to get back out there & finish the last 2 panels, then start pounding stakes to hold the panels up. I am really dragging today so it’s slow work, but progress is being made :-)

[Augie]

Yeah they're Dunstan hybrids. Chinese/American hybrids. Probably mostly Chinese.

I'd prefer 100% American genetics, but I'm a pragmatist not a purist.

If I were 40 years younger I might look at it differently.

Mrs. Augie collected another gallon or so yesterday.

[Pollard]

You’re ‘computerizing’ my infamous To-Do Lists, LOL!

Oh I've got them on paper and in several places on the PC and on the web. Basic text files, note-keeping program, dashboard notes for WordPress website(s) for the website stuff and now Home Assistant.

I like this last one for home tasks because the mobile app is fast and is synced to the main version. I can update when I'm out there knocking things off the list or adding to it.

---

Tractor steering loss. Interesting set up. Thankfully I have a service manual.

Top end of Worm shaft has the steering wheel on it. It is the steering shaft. Turning the steering wheel makes the Ball nut/rack gear go up and down to move the pinion gear on the Sector shaft. Rack and Pinion. The Sector shaft is also the Pitman Arm which moves the drag link which moves the tie rod ends which turns turns the wheels/tires left/right.

Seems the steering column aka worm shaft lifted instead of rotating the sector shaft. Looks like there's two bearings and one of them acts as a thrust bearing to keep the steering shaft from lifting.

Upper bearing fell apart and by looking at the end of the steering shaft, it looks like the lower bearing only has a half outer race with balls sitting in it. End of shaft looks like half an inner bearing race. Looking at it more, it looks like the top bearing is the same. They're like bicycle rim bearings. It's just four more bolts plus remove Pitman arm or the drag link connected to it to pull the steering box. Kinda the only way to get the balls from the upper bearing out of there.

Came in to look for a bearing.

Top bearing is 38mm OD, 23mm ID and 11mm thick and oh joy. McMaster Carr, a major industrial supplier, does not list anything with those dimensions. SKF (Sweden) nope, NTN(Japan) nope. Ebay, nope.

I see needle bearings with a 23mm ID but that's it. There are no ball or thrust bearings with the right ID or OD, let alone Width. This is the UNOBTAINIUM I've been worried about running into. Well shit, shit, shit. Pardon the language. Milder than anything I may have said out loud.

Guess I get to modify/redesign a steering column and housing. Might turn into a lever that I push and pull to steer for now. (crazy but would work)

And in the middle of working on it, the people I bought firewood from the last two years texted me to see if I'm ready for some firewood.

[Pollard]

Cup and Cone Bearings is what they're called.

The inner race is the cone and outer is the cup. Old school wheel bearings have the same three components but are roller bearings instead of ball bearings.

Still unobtanium but at least I know what they are or were called.

Steering Box with Pitman arm. Steering shaft.column goes down in the top.

Lower end of steering shaft showing worm grooves, Rack Gear. There are balls under the retainers that have the Phillips head machine screws holding them. What's left of the outer race aka cup and chunks of ball cage that held the ball bearings. Looks like the inner race r=or cone was on that smooth section of shaft that shows a little of the groove for the balls of the worm drive.

End of shaft showing the inner race aka cone. It sits down into the bottom of the steering box in a race/cup.

The Pinion of the rack and pinion and I see some water among the oil (that looks like dirty grease). The steering column tube has a rubber plug for adding gear oil, most likely. Everything else with gears takes SAE 80. These days, tractor fluid with an 80 or 90 in the name will do.

I WILL FIND A WAY

I work at a machine shop but bearings and races are hardened after machining and then ground to a mirror finish. We don't do that kind of thing.

There are a few tractor bone yards on the web. I know one that had an MT180D which is the 4x4 version of my MT180. Haven't run across it lately but if I did, I would drive the 6-700 miles to get the whole thing. There are some websites selling NOS - New Old Stock parts and I'll have to seek those out. And there's always jury rigging. Tall lever working the Pitman Arm or drag link.

This sucks.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Augie; Makes sense!

Some one wrote somewhere that you can get 4 or 5 of nuts for the resistant varieties to plant from one of the preservation societies, but it costs about $300 to join!

I am glad that your nerve procedure went well and you feel better! I hope that retirement is going well for the Mrs.!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

NYT Cooking....the next "It" apple might be 300 years old

Excerpt...See NYT link for entire article:

"For more than 50 years, pioneers like Tom Burford of Virginia, John Bunker in Maine and, more recently, David Benscoter in Washington State, have surveyed old property maps, aerial photos, deserted farms, vintage nursery catalogs, county fair records and more to ferret out and identify antique apples, and prevent them from disappearing." ...Snip...

"Genevieve Weston’s ancestors started growing apples in Waukesha County, Wis., nearly a century ago, when her great-grandfather planted his first 200 trees with the help of the Civilian Conservation Corps. ...snip...

Under the banner of Weston’s Antique Apples, Ms. Weston brings their fruit to farmers’ markets around the Milwaukee area each weekend in fall, starting with around 30 varieties in September and climbing to as many as 75 in October, with late-season stalwarts like Calville Blanc d’Hiver (the classic apple for tarte Tatin) closing out the harvest in November. ...Snip... Ms. Weston is quick to add, even within those categories, people are shocked by the diversity."

“If there’s one thing I hear over and over,” she said, “it’s, ‘I didn’t realize apples had so many flavors to them.’”

More at thelink!

[Pollard]

Wow. I really didn't think I'd find 1981 Mitsubishi MT180 tractor steering boxes to be a plentiful item for purchase. Can't buy bearings for them but you can buy the whole box. They also fit Case 234, 235, 244, 254 tractors(Mfg by Mitsubishi).

[Qiviut]

Beautiful morning here - sunny & 63°, going to be around 90° today. New cows next door - they are complaining. Our basement steps handrail is being installed today - yay! Mom & I have been talking about it for 2 years & today is the day :-) It's also mowing day - showers come in tomorrow, a front with gusting winds arrives Friday & a freeze is forecast for Saturday night.

Mom worked herself to exhaustion yesterday & there are now 12 giant bags of leaves to go in the new compost bin/pen. By the time I cleared the site, got the fence panels 'lined', got landscape fabric down to keep grass from immediately growing up in the future compost, & pounded metal fence posts to support the panels, the afternoon was gone - it always amazes me how some projects seem simple, but end up taking a lot more time than expected. Anyway, the leaves will go in the bin today, just in time to get rained on & compressed somewhat so the gusting winds in the forecast won't blow them around.

The compost pen is 5' x 10' so that should give me enough room for starters. The 2 front panels have scrap landscape fabric on them (didn't have enough to do all the panels so I used old plastic bags around the bottom) & open up for easy access & room to turn the pile.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Great apple info. I had two very old apples at my other farm. One was a ‘White Winter Pearmain’ which was commonly used for making cider. A friend from the UW Madison identified that one for me.

https://pomiferous.com/applebyname/white-winter-pearmain-id-6679

The other was a ‘Winesap,’ also a cider apple. Looks like the original builders of my German homestead from 1902 really liked their cider, LOL!

https://pomiferous.com/applebyname/winesap-id-6714

The link above is great for looking up any kind of apple.

[Augie]

Howard thinks I bought the barc-o-lounger just for him. He gets quite indignant about it when he has to share it with me.

I hooked the Ford Flexi Hitch disc to Mr. Clarence on Sunday and let Pops have some play time. I've got a bag of Bluestem grass seed and some prairie wildflower mix that I'm going to sow in late fall/early winter. I figured it would be good to knock the weeds down and get the ground scratched up a bit before planting time.

[Paul R.]

That’s interesting, esp. (to me) the part about there being different varieties of Mortgage Lifters. But, in general I’m not after large fruit size, except if I got some really nice big Mortgage Lifter fruits, I was going to trade some to a kid who lives on the road to the bank, and has a veggie stand. I figured a few big fruits would draw attention for him, and I could trade for veggies I don’t grow.

To me, (my) Mortgage Lifters are just another bland tasting tomato, except for a one or two day window when ripened on the vine they get nice and sweet. One day later they start going bad. OTOH, they take up flavors pretty well, so if you want a neutral base for cooking, they work. They also seem to be a “tough” plant that can survive difficult conditions fairly well, but they seem to need near perfect conditions to flower and set fruits. I have huge trouble getting that right, while other varieties* do well. Big fruits also can create support issues, if I don’t stay on top of things. (Getting harder and harder...) :-(

*I’m going to try to root some Bonnies Original cuttings and overwinter them for an early start next spring. They have been very vigorous plants, with good production, right beside a couple of my recalcitrant Mortgage Lifters, I might add. Ditto for the Sun Gold (orange color cherry type) tomato plants. My later season fruits off the SG’s were better tasting than the early season fruits - dunno why, but the last couple months they’ve been delightful. :-)