The Garden Thread - May, 2024

May 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[Diana in Wisconsin]

The MONTHLY Gardening 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 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/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]

Beau adds SeaFoam to all of his stuff - he loves it. We just bought a bunch when it was on sale - which is RARE.

Our Catalpa trees (3) are still working on leafing out. Friends were here two weeks ago and were wondering why we were keeping dead trees in our house yard when they KNOW Beau is good with the chainsaw, LOL! I ‘splained Catalpa Trees are the last ones around here to leaf out.

I’m behind you for blooms by a few weeks. But they are one spectacular tree! Surprised they’re not as popular, but they can be pretty messy.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Hey, Look! There’s a ‘Project Paw Paw’ that wants to make Paw Paws more accessible to everyone. :)

https://www.projectpawpaw.com/about

This info was in an older ‘Mother Earth News’ magazine I was reading the other day.

[MomwithHope]

Thanks, I’ve seen that page before. I have been busy putting mesh hairnets on the tiny fruit clusters. Using tiny wooden clothes pins from the dollar store. Have done about 35 clusters so far. Many more to go. The reflective streamers are working too. Birds are staying out of the trees. Fingers crossed. The trees are way too big for netting.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

My mature (about 4 years old) and my Baby (just a year) Cherry trees are both LOADED with fruit this season. I will be netting them for sure.

Apples are looking good, though the last wind storm we had actually pushed them East a bit! I figured that out when I was mowing the other day - suddenly couldn’t get under the Wolf River when it wasn’t a problem a week before - and it’s not heavy with fruit, yet. None of them were uprooted at all - just cosmetically they look kinda dumb, LOL! But, ya know, *I* lean a little more to the East than I used to, too! ;)

Miss Peach Tree isn’t doing much this year - she totally exhausted herself last season. I think neighbor Lisa, her daughter and I had to have picked 5, 5-gallon buckets worth of peaches from just the one tree!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“It is impossible to hijack the Gardening Thread.”

Found this article a while ago. It’s from 2018 but still timely. I’m not the hugest Prepper on the planet, but I DO like to be prepared for bad weather as I live in Snow Country and Tornado Country. My Dad was quite the Prepper, though. Learned a lot from him and my Depression-Era Grandparents; both sets! I’m ALWAYS worried about economic collapse due to our STUPID government spending and I’ve always been one to stretch a buck! ;)

The A to Z Guide to Prepping for an Economic Collapse

https://simplefamilypreparedness.com/collapse/

[Pollard]

4 inches is a lot. We're getting some heavy rain with pea sized hail at the moment.

I was just about to look up insect netting for my new Bok Choy/Tatsoi fixation. Such cool looking plants, nutritional, easy to grow with some caveats regarding bolting when it gets warm OR when it gets cold. Really weird and seems to depend on what part of Asia their from. They would look a lot cooler without holes in the leaves though.

I was out there at 2pm and did a taste test. Not the best time of day but probably means something. Chijimisai was the best. Cross between tatsoi and komatsuna and it beat the tatsoi right next to it. I've had komatsuna before and it beats that at the mid afternoon, grab a leaf and eat it test.

Don't know if I'll ever grow it this nicely but I'll try. I love veggie porn pics and Baker Creek is good at it. All it needs is a nice steak sitting there.

[FamiliarFace]

*** It was frustrating having green tomatoes just sit there for two months not ripening.***

You do turn those green tomatoes into Heaven by frying them, don’t you? I know I would!!

[Pollard]

I hope there's still one of these left after I get wiggle wire, track and plastic.

New unit from the manufacturer is $370. I need an analog input module to read what position the drop down sides are at so I can do 80% closed etc. Without it, it's either 100% open or closed.

Seller has "more than 10" and these controllers don't sell quick because they're not a consumer product yet they're not full blown, well known industrial name either. Stuck it on my watchlist and I'm sure it will be there when I'm ready for it.

[Pollard]

I’ve been growing mostly cherry tomatoes and that would be a lot of tedious effort. Could be the next fad food though. :)

[CottonBall]

thx Diana, there’s a lot of good reading there!

[FamiliarFace]

Ah!! They might cook a little faster! ;)

[Pollard]

They can grow wild here and the state nursery used to produce and sell them but quit doing it. They seem to require a niche little growing spot as they’re an understory tree and like it moist but not wet. Also picky about soil makeup. Same as any forest food, hard to bring to easy cultivation. I wish them luck though.

Oh, sorry about all my tatsoi/bok choy excitement. It’s just something new and different than the American standard veggies, greens, spinach and huge heads of whatever the standard cabbage is. Seems easier to grow too. Tatsoi has more vitamin C than oranges and loaded with vitamin A too. Even has a lot of protein for a veggie.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I have a good friend who is crazy for all the Asian Greens, so I hear about them on a regular basis.

She’s also stopped eating ‘meat’ except for Salmon for the health benefits, so I might have to break up with her after 45 years. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Glad you liked the article. I found things I’d never thought of before so it was worth a read-through.

Did your soil warm up sufficiently yet to get decent bean seed germination?

Mine aren’t in yet - it’s been so wet, it’s cooled down the soil temp. Grrrr! It’s going to be ‘one of those’ growing seasons; I can just tell right out of the gate!

Planting ‘Saychelles’ green pole bean for fresh and canned Dilly Beans this season and ‘Good Mother Stollard’ as my drying bean; I’m adding to my dry bean stockpile now that I’ve found a winner in, ‘Mother.’ ;)

[gloryblaze]

The deer and who knows what are wreaking havoc here. I bought a bunch of mothballs, and was surprised at the price, as I thought they were practically free. Lord, do they stink! I recognized the smell from somewhere, some time long ago and forgotten. I have sensitive nose and eyes, and the things made me nauseous RIGHT NOW.

Anyway, I put a few down and the damage stopped on my lillies and none to Hostas so far and it stopped on the young lilaces (yes, liliacs). And they survive the rain and lawnmower discharge better than I expected. So I did a search on them to see if they will hurt plants, as I have a LOT more to plant and, oh, man! They are regarded as DDT on steroids.

So, from normies, I seek common sense experience. Will they hurt the plants over the growing season? I’m using two to a plant, more or less, on the ground. To me, the whole area stinks to high heaven, but I can take it.

Anybody else use them?

[Pollard]

Beef and Bok in the Wok

[Liz]

Asian Vegetable Noodle Salad
A nice 'n easy do-ahead meal on a hot summer day.

Ingredients 5 oz rice noodles your garden's choice Asian veggies 2 tbl each canola oil, soya sauce, lime juice, 1 tbl each fish sauce, honey, chp fresh ginger-root 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 tbl fresh-chp cilantro 2 clementines in segments 1 ½ cup cooked chicken

Preparation Cook rice noodles as per pkg. Rinse under cold water.
In boiling salted water, cook Asian vegs 3-4 min. Drain; run under cold water.

Dressing--In server, mix oil, soya sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, honey, garlic and ginger.

Final--Add noodles to Dressing, stir/coat well. Stir in vegs, cilantro, clementines, chix. Serve.

[spankalib]

In the movie; “The Rookie”, they put human hair on the baseball field to deter the deer. Maybe worth a try.

[Qiviut]

I have been following the DarkHorse podcast since the beginning of COVID and found there IS common ground between some more liberal types & people like me (staunchly conservative). Bret & Heather are admittedly liberals, but they listen & discuss & admit when they are wrong. We certainly don’t agree on everything, but they do not demonize people who don’t agree with their points of view - surprisingly, for self-proclaimed liberals, many of their viewpoints align with conservative values. They are also evolutionary biologists so when they get to the ‘natural’ world topics, the discussions are particularly fascinating.

Bret interviewed Ben Davidson while the solar storms were going on. The subject is fascinating, but I have to admit knowing what is going on with earth & the other planets is scary as all get out. Hint: it’s not Bill Gates’ & Lurch Kerry’s version of ‘climate change’, not even close.

So watch if you’re interested and/or want to be informed. Ben is not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ - Bret reviews his credentials at the top of the podcast. If you are already a prepper or inclined to be one, Ben has comments on the topic near the end of the podcast. He also leaves us with ‘hope’.

https://rumble.com/v4ucpc6-apocalypse-when-ben-davidson-on-darkhorse-live.html

[gloryblaze]

In the movie; “The Rookie”, they put human hair on the baseball field to deter the deer. Maybe worth a try.

Thanks, but there isn't enough hair on the floor of all the salons in town to cover my place. I've tried all the conventional solutions but none get past the rain washing away except the mothballs - so far. I was primarily interested in whether they would poison the soil and kill the plant. My retired nursery owner acquaintance wasn't even sure, so I guess no one knows, here or anywhere, lol.

I'm about to find out.