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.
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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.
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Or maybe...
https://www.amazon.com/Bluex-Bulbs-BlueX-G14-Light/dp/B0BVXH1SFP/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&sr=1-6
A little more expensive per bulb, but more “task oriented” light quality without getting too “blue”.
Are those repellent to varmints, or do they draw them? (I’ve terminated THREE opossums the last few days. One old hen wa slightly injured, but it appears she’ll be ok.)
“was slightly injured”
Your mortgage lifters sound like my super 100 Cherry tomatoes. The plant grew taller than I can reach, so I let it bend over my porch railing, which it grew near. That plant has to be at least 8 feet tall, but because I let it bend, it has sprawled all over other bushes and the porch. When we had nice summers temps of 70s and 80s, it flowered prolifically, and every day I harvest a couple dozen cherry tomatoes from it. We can’t eat them fast enough, so I use them in salads, marinara, and give away some to neighbors.
Today’s high will be in the higher 60’s and low will be in the high 40’s. Yep, it’s Fall alright!
Seeing vibrant colors was another great result of the cataract surgery. In fact, during the surgery on the first eye, seeing colors I’ve never seen before was other-worldly. I wonder if Heaven is as colorful as what I saw that day.
My older sister (73) has cataracts, but she is too afraid to have the surgery. It wigs her out. I tried to tell her that they can put you under if a sedative isn’t enough. She insists that she won’t, but they can’t adjust her glasses any more. (I think she just likes to complain about things, and makes excuses for why she won’t have the surgery.)
I had no one in the family that would go out looking for mushrooms, so I used a field guide by Alexander Smith. The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide. Ann Arbor Press. He was the professor of botany and director of the University of Michigan. Its pretty much geared for collecting in Michigan. It might be a good resource for you. Right now have settled for dried chantarelles, porcini, and shitake.
We buried black underground sprinkler pipe to the barn and put in a spigot. Great until the freeze up but it sure beat carrying water.
I’ve got a great old mushroom field guide which came in very handy at times. Always buy one with color pictures/ Worthless otherwise IMO.
I found some really old (maybe 10 years) old tomato seeds given to me by an very old volunteer at the local bptanic gardens whom I befriended. Still in the note from the mail wrapped in tin foil. The seeds look good. It’s the German Goant wci I looed up. Pbably will not grow any maybe 1 bush and will be curious to see if the seeds are still good. The pictures I’ve seen from totally tomatoes show a lot of guts, more of a sandwich tmato.
BTW I made Liz’s tomato soup and just finished a bowl. Outstanding. I’ve not made tomato soup from fresh tomatoes before. Use the Belarussian Heart ones I made enough for tree bows, will freeze the other two I haven’t added the cream.
Mmmmm.......that tomato soup recipe is one of the best.
I use sorghum syrup occasionally. It is not the same as molasses, which is from sugar cane. If you are in a temperate area you could grow your own sweet sorghum, crush it, and boil it off like maple syrup and make your own sweetner. (I prefer sorghum syrup to maple syrup and molasses, but prefer honey to all of them.)
I have NOT tried it but whole grain white sorghum takes about 40 minutes to cook for a pilaf or side dish.
I have tried whole black sorghum as a cereal but had a hard time getting it to cook enough to make it easily chewable. Looked at some recipes today and it takes about 1hour 15 min in a pressure cooker. I purchased because it had a high level of anti-oxidants. I will try it again and see if it will mix it with some wild rice and mushrooms. At this time, as human food in N. America this exists mostly in the Gluten Free niche. The result is that it is a bit pricey and available mostly in specialty stores like Whole Foods or Amazon. I would want the grain from N. American sources since you cannot be certain about pollution from third world producers.
A link to a site that discusses sorghum for farmers and consumers, for human and animal use. (Some recipes.)
"One of sorghum’s superpowers is adaptability to climate challenges such as heat and drought, requiring an amazing 36% less water than other grains.1 That’s a savings so significant, it could supply the annual water usage of over 16 million homes. Nationally, 91% of sorghum acres are fed by rain alone."
(AS CATTLE FEED) "Sorghum is the smart choice for animal agriculture for numerous reasons. Not only does sorghum fit well into a low-cost formulation of feed rations but it has an ease of feed acceptance. U.S. sorghum has little to no tannins as well as a low incidence of mycotoxins. Research and end-use development of sorghum are ongoing to enhance its use in animal agriculture.
https://poultry.extension.org/articles/feeds-and-feeding-of-poultry/feed-ingredients-for-poultry/cereals-in-poultry-diets/feeding-sorghum-to-poultry/
"Sorghum use in poultry diets has been limited in the past by the presence of tannins, which reduce nutrient availability and cause poultry to refuse feed. The sorghum varieties available in the United States today are tannin-free. As a result, sorghum can completely replace corn in poultry diets with only minor changes to the other dietary ingredients."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There was an "AI" video about "Grains that help prevent muscle loss after 60" It included Sorghum and summarized to:
"GRAINS THAT HELP RETAIN OR BUILD MUSCLE AFTER 60"
But now you have something different. You have specific research-backed options that target the root of the problem:
• Buckwheat with its complete amino acid profile.
• Oats supporting mitochondrial protection and gut health.
• Millet delivering the leucine signal your muscles need.
• Sorghum reversing measurable strength decline.
• Spelt improving protein absorption in aging digestive systems.
• Teff increasing mitochondrial density.
• Amaranth activating muscle repair pathways.
• Wild rice, restoring muscle protein synthesis at a level that stands out even among these.
(I almost think I should be saying..."Coming to you from Kansas City, this is your daily Ag report!" ;)
Haha - My (2 each) Sungolds and Super Sweet 100’s grew up and over their 6’ cages and (the Sungolds) into my 10’ Cannas(!) and (the Sweet 100’s) into 8’ supports I’d provided for them, and then also bent down and went into a section of fencing and other nearby tomato plants (also with the 8’ supports. I think I gave the 100’s too much nitrogen via chicken guano after they grew poorly early on — when we finally got a nicer stretch, it was as if they’d been saving it (the nitro-boost) for better weather. Productivity has been “fair”, even with Super Phosphate added, but enough for us. If I can get 1 more round of fruits off them from what’s flowering now. before frost, it should be stronger, I think, with all this plant to work with. (The present round looks good too - lots of half-grown fruits are coming along.)
The Sungolds have been steadier producers at a modest clip, but growth also really took off the last several days. They are REALLY good for snacking and salads — the flavor is a little less sweet, but overall better now, compared to the 1st couple batches that were a little TOO “candy-ish”..
I have a couple Early Girl tomato plants still going pretty well, too. One has many fruits that should start ripening by this weekend, I hope. Pots and a partial sun location (and shielding the pots from the sun) seems to have done the trick. Usually, planted in-ground, mine are dead or at least on the way out, by mid-August at best, and really surprised me this summer by surviving that lengthy blast of heat a few weeks ago, in pretty good shape. They are (to me) very bland, but take up flavors ok, so, they are fine for many sauces and such. :-)
Speaking of potted plant experiments, my 2 Habanero Pepper plants both did ok, but, I wasn’t expecting plants over 18” tall or so, and when I finally got around to reading up on them more, I realized mine (I think they are the “orange” variety — the starter pot did not specify) should make it well over 2’ if treated well, maybe even 3’ tall, and likely need more sun than I gave them. So, I think I’ll try transplanting the stronger plant into a ~4+ gallon pot I have spare , and hopefully can find a spot to overwinter it indoors. This would be partially for wifey, and partially part of my quest to generate a large volume of very hot pepper flakes to ward off the varmints that get into our garden.
5 MINUTE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE
ING: graham cracker crust 8 oz tub Cool Whip 8 oz bar room temp cream cheese
1/2 c sugar 1 tsp vanilla pt fresh strawberries, some crushed/sugared, some sliced whole
METHOD: Cream room temp cr/cheese, gradually adding in sugar. Add vanilla; whip fluffy.
Fold in Cool Whip. Pour into crust. Garnish w/ strawberries. Refrigerate an hour, til firm. Serve.
It’s only been raining about 12 hours, here (it started off very light, here, until about 6 hours ago), but this system is really overperforming — NWS had repeatedly backed off on amounts, to about 3/4” at most, and we have well over 2”. The NWS office is reporting over 3”. This does seem to be slowly winding down - possibly we could get another 1/4”.
No complaints - we needed a good rain!
I had to go back to the September thread and find the tomato soup recipe. Here’s the link for those who missed it like I did. Sounds so yummy!
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4393846/posts?page=503#503
Great.......thx for the link.
Amazing! You have such wonderful varieties in your garden—helped by west coast weather and no dee (darned rascals)!
That is a great story! The idea of eye surgery is very scary for many people, but it really worked for you. It must be so nice not to have glasses sliding down your nose when you work in the garden!
That is a lot of good info, thanks.
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