Weekly Garden Thread - October 9-15, 2021 [Pumpkin Spice Edition]

October 9, 2021 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly 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 Weekly Gardening 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 our New & Improved Ping List.

NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Augie, Back from your trip! I hope you had a good one!

I grew Heavy Hitter okra this year; it was developed from Clemson Spineless. Jing orange is also good and a heavy producer. The Orange/red does not hold its color when cooked, but turns green. Both available from Baker Creek.

Brush around the pond; Do you have any shade on the south side of the pond? Might be good for the fish to hang out under? Not sure what tree would be best. (Probably not willow or cottonwood. They tend to take over. Alder wood, but its Missouri not Wisconsin. Good to have shade on a trout stream!)

[Augie]

The entire west bank of the pond is a jungle of wild plum, poison ivy, swamp milkweed, persimmon, blackberry, river willow, multiflora rose, black oak, and sumac.

The south side is the dam, so no trees allowed, but there is a 12’x16’ floating dock that provides all-day shade, with 24’x4’ gangway between the dock and the shore.

Most of the pond is in the shade by 4:00pm during the summer months.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Keep some heirloom seeds on hand!

https://www.facebook.com/AnotherReality0.1/posts/169485195349009

Another Reality 0.1 Yesterday at 12:16 AM ·

#Latvia 🇱🇻 Plant seeds can no longer be purchased as they are no longer staple products under the new, stricter blocking regulations. From November 11, 2021, an emergency situation is announced in Latvia for three months.

Separate confirmation of the emergency here, unable to confirm the thing about seeds but:

https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/three-month-state-of-emergency-will-start-monday-october-11-in-latvia.a424863/

"Red mode" stores, which will also serve people without a Covid-19 certificate, can work in places where there are at least 25 square meters per visitor, but will be limited to grocery stores, pharmacies, opticians, telecommunications services, bookstores and press outlets, petrol stations, hygiene goods stores, and animal feed stores.

[Liz]

Decadent frozen torte with creamy layers, graham cracker crust, and homemade butter brickle.

FROZEN CARAMEL CRUNCH TORTE

INGREDIENTS CRUST 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (10 full crackers) 3 Tbsp sugar 1/4 cup melted butter

BUTTER BRICKLE CRUNCH 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup oats (quick or regular) 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts 1/2 cup soft butter FILLING 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, whipped 1 tsp vanilla 1/4 cup powdered sugar 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1 (14 oz) can of sweetened condensed milk 1/2 cup caramel topping (I use homemade)

<>INSTRUCTIONS For crust, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a small bowl. Press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Bake at 350° for 6 minutes. Let cool completely

For butter brickle crunch: Mix all ingredients together and pat into a 9x13" pan. Bake for about 15 minutes or till lightly browned. While still hot, crumble up with two forks. Let cool.

filling: Whip cream till soft peaks form. Add vanilla and powdered sugar and beat for another minute. Set aside. Beat cream cheese in a large mixing bowl till smooth. Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk. Mix well, then fold in whipped cream.

To assemble: Spread half of the filling over the cooled crust. Sprinkle with half of the crunch topping. Drizzle with half of the caramel. Spread on the remaining filling, then sprinkle the rest of the crumbs over the top. Cover and freeze for several hours, or till firm. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving. Drizzle remaining caramel sauce over slices as you serve.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Augie; The fish will be happy! I vote no to the Poison Ivy (who doesn't!) Keep the wild plums, persimmon, blackberry (And add some PawPaws! Can you get rose hips from the multiflora? might pick and use for rosehip jelly! Permaculture!)

(I am jealous!)

Missori McCloud Redband trout! (Closer to Eric than you or me!)

https://www.missouritrouthunter.com/crane-creek.html

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Liz: Decadent frozen torte! The thread rejoices!

Beau will have to let it melt a while and Diane will need to scrape that butter brickle off and eat it herself! Everyone will be happy!

[Liz]

Beau will let the torte melt a while and Diane will scrape that butter brickle off and eat it herself!

Not fair to poor Beau........Diana gets to eat all the good stuff.

[Liz]

Whew.......watta relief......you liked the torte.

Glad I redeemed myself in your eyes.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

:) Nothing to redeem, you were helping Diana!

[Augie]

That side of the pond is a jungle, and I’m going to leave it that way. It provides a nice privacy screen between my pond and neighbor guy’s pond.

I planted a pair of pawpaw trees out there two years ago, but I didn’t put them in the middle of the poison ivy patch. They’re near the fence up by the gully wash inlet.

All the rest of it is left to the birds and squirrels and bunny rabbits.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Beau will have to let it melt a while and Diane will need to scrape that butter brickle off and eat it herself! Everyone will be happy!”

Another Win/Win! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

REMINDER! When you’re planning ahead for NEXT season, don’t forget to consider AAS Winner seed varieties. If you’re a Newbie to gardening, or a Lurker, you cannot go wrong with these varieties. I promise!

I had to look something up for Beau today, and it reminded me to remind all of you!

Searchable database by Annuals, Perennials and Edibles:

https://all-americaselections.org/winners/

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Ah well, I understand. Up here we have Osage Orange trees planted all along the old property lines. (Don’t rot and they make good fence posts!) They sort of screen pasture land from the next farm over.

Poison ivy; I react very badly to poison ivy and if I were in the country and had a dog (Not at this time) or a cat (Daughter does) I would worry about him running around in it and bringing it in to me. Hope that is not your problem!

[cherry]

re cardboard....it works as a great barrier and will eventually breakdown...

I love wood chips and leaves....BUT....they do not break down quite as quickly as you might think....

I use them mostly for mulch during the growing season...

with leaves, the smaller you can get them the better....I've asked the hub to run the lawn mower over them a few times....it helps....

[cherry]

1/3 vanilla ice cream with 1/3 plain yogurt and 1/3 of raspberry/cherry/ or strawberry jello..(I think already made and set)..they used to serve this in the hospital before everything came in those ridiculous small little cups.

[Liz]

Mmmmmmm........sounds good.

[cherry]

need some advice....anybody ever dehydrate eggs?....and what kind of dehydrator would do it?....I have a simple goodwill dehydrator but the heat/fan is from the bottom and I think one with a fan on the side would work better....any advice would be helpful..

my dtr's chickens have been robust this year so far....I just made a big jar of turmeric pickled eggs and she's done the water glass route....

[metmom]

We’ll be mulching the leaves as soon as there are more to mow down.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” The young clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But too bad we didn’t do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of
buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Please share this with another ‘selfish old person’ who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-@ss young person! ;)

From: Butterbin.com

[cherry]

paper bags for book covers....oh how I remember those days......