The Garden Thread - August, 2024

August 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!

[Pollard]

I don’t know if I can bend it as I go, levering on the screws, or if I’ll need to bend an arch on the tracks first using a bending jig, that I’d have to make.

Gonna have to make a bending jig.

[MomwithHope]

Before we got our generator, 4 years ago now, for 36 years I stored water in the garage and barn for flushing toilets and for the goats in large kitty litter jugs. Separate tap water with a couple of drops of bleach for drinking water and brushing teeth, about 8 gallons. Plus we have one of those water filter pitchers with a bunch of filters. With no electric, water was the biggest challenge.

[Paul R.]

Agreed on that last! I’ve been “out” fishing so little this year!! I was going to try to get away for at least an evening at a local WMA (Wildlife Management Area) pond, this weekend, but the well pump adventure shot that down!

I ended up getting one of the Menards “Barracuda” pumps (just about the only pump actually in a store nearby) and the darn thing wouldn’t take a prime! After IIRC 9 tries, I gave up, and decided to dig into the old pump. With some difficulty (meaning considerable PB Blaster, time, a propane torch, and a breaker bar, I finally got the front end apart, and, my goodness, it was almost completely full of mostly hardened, rust infused sediment. Well (pun), that certainly explained it being locked up. Once apart it was fairly easy to free the impeller, and once free, the motor ran just fine. So, I spent at least an hour chipping and wire brushing all the crap out of the rest of the front end, cleaning up and reseating the seals as best I could, and then reassembled the pump. Plug it in, “nothing”. Discovered the GFCI outlet (I’d switched outlets) had tripped. Oh, yeah, I’d temporarily tied the neutral and ground together earlier - earlier circuit is not GFCI. Rewire - plug in - loud “spark” sound, and nothing. Oh, what the heck?! Discovered the motor capacitor in all the moving around had a loose connection. Tighten ‘er up, try again, voila! Reinstall pump in wellhouse (no small task, the way the well is set up, prime the pump, fire it up... YEAH!!

Go into house, find wifey (and daughter-san), exclaim to wife: “Love, we have water again!!!” Wifey immediately begins to start some laundry... I go out to water the garden - barely in time for a couple of the tomato plants, I think, and one cuke has had it. Well, it was weak anyway for some reason.

This is the 2nd time I’ve fixed this pump. 1st go round was when the motor capacitor died. I replaced it with a couple “audiophile grade” 400v polypropylene caps that added to the same value. They’ll probably last longer than either the pump or me! They were supposed to go into a speaker system build, but, at this rate I’ll never get to it... And, water is more important than a new speaker.

BTW, for anyone dependent on pumps and such, the motor capacitor failing is VERY common. I can’t imagine how many well pumps and so on end up in a landfill when it was just the capacitor that went bad. If you can finagle in (or in an external housing) some proper value (mfd - they add if in parallel) and higher voltage mylar or polypropylene caps, like I said, they’ll likely outlive you even if you are young. (Same in speaker systems!) In the case of motors, turn on spark suppression helps capacitors and any switches or relays involved last, too.

Oh, also...(!)__ the installation instructions and drawings for the “Barracuda” pump were screwed up too. You don’t feed the over-pressure relief back into the household plumbing!!! Geez-o-Meez-o!!! Among other things.
Maybe I should offer Menards my services for writing (or at least reviewing / editing) their house brand product manuals!

[Paul R.]

I do much the same but with rain water, unsanitized, for plants. I do rinse the container often. Supposedly it is better for plants. ?? I’ve never drunk it, though.

[FamiliarFace]

I don’t have a rain barrel, though I would like to. At least the hose water isn’t run through the water softener chemicals. We have pretty hard water here, so I need the softener for inside to help keep things clean. Too much lime.

I would drink this water if push came to shove though. I would boil it before drinking or using it in cooking. I think it’s ok for the plants though.

And I add a tiny bit of chlorine in between fillings, then rinse that well.

[MomwithHope]

I appreciate what you went through. Before I was married I owned a small house in a small village. Outside the back door was a manhole cover and the well pump was in a pit. I replaced two motors when I was there, with rebuilt ones from the hardware store. Pain in the rear each time.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I’ve read her book, and it makes total sense to me - but I’m not folding/rolling t-shirts and underwear. Mine or those of anyone else! ;)

Another concept I love is one of those super-organized closets where you have like FIVE pieces of clothing that all mix & match.

That doesn’t work for me, as 99% of my clothes are work clothes and who cares? Obviously not me, LOL!

[FamiliarFace]

Whenever I see things super organized in real life, it looks great but makes me uneasy. I like things organized and orderly but not intensely so. I hang almost all shirts except work tank tops that I keep folded and in a drawer.

My spice drawer is sorta alphabetic, but not totally. In other words the beginning alphabet spices are grouped near each other, then middle of the alphabet, then later alphabet are towards the back. Rubs for grilling are all grouped together. Extracts are together in one section. But it’s not true perfect ABC order which would drive me crazy.

My kitchen is probably my most organized room. The bonus is that I can manage to keep it organized too.

What I do like about Marie Kondo is her method of getting rid of things. If is doesn’t bring you joy any more, it’s time to give it a hug, tell it thanks, and get rid of it.

[Augie]

It was definitely nice to get out on the water. Was the first time Judy Badoomba has been in the water since last December. We didn't do any fishing - just went for a nice boat ride.

We launched at a ramp located on a little creek about two miles upstream from the Missouri River. Ran out and went upstream to I-70 to check out the bridge work over the river. MODoT has one new span open, the old bridge blown to smithereens and hauled out of the river, and is making good progress on the second span.

From there we ran back down a few miles and beached on California Island, which isn't really an island anymore. It used to be a real island but it was blown to smithereens by the floods of '93 and '95. Now it's a giant sand bar - ~3/4 mile long x ~1/10 mile wide. Mrs. Augie likes to wander about and pick up an interesting piece of driftwood/shiny rock/mammoth tusk/etc. She didn't find any museum pieces yesterday but did manage to come home with a nice sack of rocks to put in her aquarium.

[MomwithHope]

Nice pics nice boat!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

That looks like a great place to explore and a good way to spend the day!

Reminds me of the Wisconsin River, though our water is SO HIGH this year, the normally plentiful Sand Bars are well under water.

I’ve canoed and camped on that river and sand bars many times through the years. Absolutely love it. :)

[Qiviut]

Can you rent a goat? LOL!

**********

Why yes, yes you can (in our area)!

https://rvagoatsandhoney.com

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beau seems to want goats for some reason. If he does, I will encourage him to GET A WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM and rent them out after they’ve finished cleaning our woods and pasture!

Personally? I’m not a goat lover. When I spent my summers on my Aunt’s farm as ‘free labor,’ caring for, feeding and milking the goats was one of my chores and I HATED it! Hated. It. They smell! They’re MEAN! And they have The Eyes of Satan, LOL!

However, I LOVED it when she’d let me help her in the garden. Go figure. ;)

Garden plants didn’t complain and did NOT kick over the FULL milk pail - seemingly in SPITE of all of your hard work filling said pail!

(I KNOW there are others here who disagree on ‘The Goat Situation’ - MomWithHope!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“water...in large kitty litter jugs.”

Brilliant! I usually give those to Beau to fill with spent oil from our vehicles and skid steer, which later goes on our mile-long driveway to secure the recycled asphalt he orders and spreads every few years.

I’m taking two of them (that I know of) back and rinsing them out and filling them up with fresh well water tomorrow!

Thanks! :)

(An indoor plumbed toilet that can be flushed WILL be a LUXURY in the coming years, I’m thinking...)

[MomwithHope]

Only the bucks stink. Make that a deal breaker with Beau. Also no Nubians. A high strung and noisy breed.Any Swiss breed would be good and if you can find dehorned ones all the better.

[Paul R.]

That sounds like a hard spot to work. My wellhouse is too small too. At least we added to it’s height a little when we did some remodeling, but it’s right below a window we did not want to block. So, it is still cramped and tough to get the pipes (kinda heavy) positioned to re-crank into the pump.

Plus, the fitting that screwed into the outlet (combo elbow, flow control, priming access[flow control fully screwed “out” , and shutoff [flow control fully screwed “in”) of the old pump boke off trying to get it off. This even with (again!) many applications of PB Blaster, time, tapping on it, heating with a torch, etc. It turned out to be made of thick but soft Chinese crap pot metal. It’s threads probably seal better / easier than brass or iron, but, the tape I’d put on the threads, last go round, failed to help. I ended up having to carefully chip the bottom of it out of the pump outlet. The consistency was, I’d say, about like polypropylene, maybe just a touch harder.

Then to replace that part, NOBODY has a “T” such as is shown in the manual. I ended up spending almost $20 to come up with an assortment of several parts (A 1” Sched. 80 “T” and reducers.) I’m completely flummoxed this isn’t a std. part. (Needs to be a “T” rotated 90 deg., bottom leg (input from the pump outlet) 1” threaded, top and side legs (”out” 3/4” threaded. That then snugs up to the existing piping (which includes a union so it can all be pulled apart, with no changes to the plumbing past that.

I also bought a new pressure relief valve to screw into the top “outlet”. Problem is, that valve is now the priming access, and each time you put it back in, the threads need a new shot of teflon tape or pipe joint compound, to not leak. So, the 8 or 9 attempts to prime the “Barracuda” pump got pretty frustrating.

The old pressure gauge is unreliable too - it hangs up just below 40 lbs. when pressure decreases. Tap it and it then falls to 20 lbs. (or zero if the pump power is off and system is allowed to go to zero.) But it’s still reliable on the way up, thank goodness. Will have to get a new gauge...

The big funny: I was so “happy” when I got the new pump in and all ready to go. Due to the pump brand, the guitar riff / intro to that Heart tune “Barracuda” ran through my head as I powered it up on the 1st priming. But... Only weak little surges of water were delivered - barely a trickle. After the 9th try (the owner’s manual indicates several attempts may be needed) I wasn’t mouthing “Barracuda”! Good thing I didn’t check my blood pressure then...

The funny is that that darn riff is STILL stuck in my head. Well, I could do worse!

Maybe I’ll be sure to play the intro to Uriah Heep “Pilgrim” before I return the new pump to Menards, just in case they give me static about returning a display unit (had no box, etc.)

[Qiviut]

I found out about the goat business when a guy showed up on the doorstep & said he was here to price having his goats clear our place. At the time, our place was pretty manicured so I was obviously confused & when he saw that, he mentioned a name. It was the neighbor next door whose place WAS horribly overgrown and for sale. The goats never showed up next door & the place finally got sold this spring.

My niece learned how to milk goats a few weeks ago. A friend owns them & hasn’t been able to go on vacation because of the milking. One goat is so mean, she has to be put on the ground - whoever is milking has to sit on her to keep her down. Personally, I would not keep a goat that mean.

[Qiviut]

Back at the old house after 10 days at the new place. From the ‘desert’ to the ‘jungle’. I mowed the entire farm (9-10 acres) before I left and now the grass is shin high in places and GREEN. At the new place, under drought conditions, there are patches of brown with some grass here and there. I mowed/trimmed before I left .... we got some thunderstorms while I was there and that had helped a little bit.

Debby ... 3-5” of rain where we don’t really need it ... only 0.5 to 1.5 (could be less, more depending on westward track) where we DO need it.

It was brutally hot for the 10 days at the new house - I couldn’t work outside for long. I did get the shop (no air, just a big fan) better organized and all my battery operated tools (drills, saw, etc.) are now plugged in and charged up. I did make it to Lowe’s and got my cedar planks for two raised beds. I have to cut 4 x 4s for the corner & only had a small battery operated circular saw. The ‘big’ circular saw (here at the old house) won’t cut all the way through, but will do more than the little one. I didn’t put anything together because of the 4 x 4 issue - will figure it out (might get my brother to cut them with another saw he has that I know will do the job).

All 6 of the shingle packs are now at the new place, posts (I found some decorative ones in the pole barn) for the chain across the driveway, quite a few paver blocks and my washstand planter are there as well. One of the big slate slabs I set in front of the shop door looks “off” ..... I need to pull it back up, level up underneath & reset. I decided that would have to wait for the next trip because I now have a bit of sciatica from lifting way too much while loading/unloading the trailer. I have exercises that normally take care of the sciatica so I should be ok in a couple of days.

The rose bushes, eaten up by the deer look SO bad. I am going to cut them off for now and dig up the roots at a later & cooler time (will leave enough main stalk to help me get them out of the ground). 3 days ago, I was sitting in a chair on the patio (two level - was on the one closest to the house) checking weather on my phone .... looked up and there was a doe deer standing next to the rose bushes and looking at me ... the stinker. She ran off when I moved to take a picture of her. She’s also eating the huge forsythia bush just off the driveway & parts are getting noticeably bare - the deer haven’t touched the forsythia here at the old house.

I did have company twice during the last week - a cousin & her husband brought some pictures and got a house ‘tour’. Another cousin & her daughter stopped by - they’ve been at the house before. The company was nice, but took large chunks out of the day. Finally visited/met the next door neighbor - they have a little farm store & sell eggs & beef. I can buy half a cow from them in the future, which is good. They recently built a huge concrete structure and I found out that is for storing silage (not manure - whew!). The cows bellow a lot when they first arrive, but we don’t hear it in the house, just outside. My granddad had a dairy farm, so most things “cow” don’t bother us.

This next trip I would like to take compost, but I have to dig it up & load it. Debby is going to dump a lot of rain on it so if I don’t get it done today/tomorrow, it will likely be too heavy. Mowing the place will have to wait until Debby clears, which should be Saturday.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Personally, I would not keep a goat that mean.”

I do love a tasty, tasty Gyro! :)

https://www.foodonthefood.com/food_on_the_food/2011/05/goat-gyros.html

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Wow! You are really tackling the big jobs! Can’t wait for you to be settled in, in one spot. :)

According to my phone this morning we had a tornado in the area, but I slept right through it! From the looks of the radar before I went to bed, I was expecting BIG Thunder - and never heard a thing. So, everything is wet, but no branches or even twigs down, so I obviously missed nothing. ;) Heading to the local news site to see if anyone else had any bad luck overnight.

I started canning this past weekend, and will keep my kitchen set up for canning but in some disarray for the foreseeable future, which is SOP for this time of year. Oh, you want to visit? Bring a good chopping knife and I’ll put you to work, LOL! Canning supplies have not been an issue at all, unlike in past seasons.

Again, so glad you’re making progress! :)