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The Garden Thread - October, 2024
October 1, 2024 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

Posted on 10/01/2024 6:10:14 AM PDT by 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!


TOPICS: Agriculture; Food; Gardening; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: food; garden; gardening; hobbies; october
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To: Mr. K
Mr. K: Here is an author who lives in New York. Perhaps he has some local information.

http://whizbanggardening.blogspot.com/

"Herrick Kimball lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. He has been an avid gardener for nearly forty years. He owns and operates Planet Whizbang, a homestead-based mail order company that provides down-to-earth books, tools and inspiration to people who want to live a more self-reliant lifestyle."

https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Whizbang-Idea-Book-Gardeners/dp/0972656405

Johnnies seeds has a lot of growing information From their website: "Johnny's Selected Seeds is a privately held, employee-owned seed producer and merchant headquartered in Winslow, Maine, USA." Pollard has previously posted their planting calenders, so its probably out their on their site.

growers-library/growing-center

61 posted on 10/02/2024 1:11:19 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission (Zone 7B KS/MO border 3:10 pm 776F sunny)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Just spoke to a friend and her area is supposed to hit up to 110 today! The forecast is for more of same the rest of this week and next...Glad I’ll be out of town next week, someplace far cooler (Washington State).

The most beautiful silk floss tree I’ve ever seen is in Disneyland, all places.


62 posted on 10/02/2024 1:16:10 PM PDT by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: Pollard

*GASP* So, you’re officially on strike, too? ;) Wow. This is a surprise.


63 posted on 10/02/2024 1:30:52 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Paul R.

The transfer turned out to be easy. One can flip the “target” trap upside down and sort of slide the traps together with the “door” of each eventually protruding into the other trap. Raise to 90 degrees, opossum eventually tires and slips to now bottom end of target trap. Pull traps apart & the doors slap shut.

Remounted pump float to outside of bucket. Drilled a few extra holes. This will make it easy to adjust, and also adjust where the cable to the float “bends”. Fatigue of those wires is often why these old style ball floats fail (and have short warranty). Spread out that flexing and the thing may last longer than I do (in a best case!)


64 posted on 10/02/2024 2:04:13 PM PDT by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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To: Paul R.

“have A short warranty”. Hahaha.

It was a little hard to find (finer and coarser stainless steel meshes are much more common), but, this looks good:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CRYKQC8L/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A31KYTXVTFZVC9

It’s way more than I need, but it should have other uses too. :-)


65 posted on 10/02/2024 2:17:22 PM PDT by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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To: Bon of Babble

110? Whew! Low humidity though, right?


66 posted on 10/02/2024 2:18:43 PM PDT by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Well I can only take the (incorrect) misbehaved redheaded stepchild treatment for so long. Call me ornery.

Was it a mistake? Probably given the time we’re in.

Has a weight been lifted. Definitely. Other people saw that this guy(my manager) had an unusual fixation on me and dislike of me.

Am I in panic mode. Yes, but I’ll find something.


Strike? Unions had their purpose back in the day but have become something else.

I bought a big pack of TP today. We were down to a few rolls anyway but I still felt a little silly because my buy was kind of based on the strike. Not so silly after all because the young girl at a store in a town further away, said she’s had friends tell her the stores up there are out of TP.

Food ad for the local grocery store says whole chickens, $1.79/lb. Guess what I’m buying tomorrow? They’re not big name frankenchickens either.

Came home and paid bills first thing. Dang phone/internet bill went up $50 this month. Was $94 and is $144 now. No long distance or other usage. They took a fedgov grant to run fiber optic. Bought lots of new equipment. Near Zero new people are on said fiber optic. Rates increased by nearly 50%. Cool


67 posted on 10/02/2024 4:17:47 PM PDT by Pollard (Will work for high tunnel money!)
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To: Pollard

If anyone can land on their feet it will be you. Keep us up to date, Please!


68 posted on 10/03/2024 5:31:01 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: Paul R.

Yes, our saving grace is low humidity.

Still unpleasant to have searing heat that burns up everything.


69 posted on 10/03/2024 5:36:37 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: Bon of Babble
Bon! Have a great trip to WA state! I have never visited it but it is a beautiful state in every photo I have seen! I always wanted to visit and hike around Crater Lake! Will you be going to Vancouver to visit that famous Garden? (I forget the name.) Hope you can.

We are supposed to hit a balmy 90 F here today. Still in a drought situation.

The fig trees, okra, and tomatoes should be fine; The brussel sprouts will be very unhappy! The beets and turnips are small without tubers yet and should be fine if they get past the next couple of days. For some reason I am cursed (or blessed) with being unable to grow zucchini! The cucumber beetles have destroyed any small zucchini before they are large enough to pick! Probably time to pull them up and move along.

Again, enjoy your escape from sunny California to WA state!

70 posted on 10/03/2024 7:58:48 AM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission (Zone 7B KS/MO border 9:41 69F sunny)
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To: Pollard

There are a lot of chicken producers in NC which were probably affected by the storm so reasonable to do! We are fortunate in the middle of the country, I suppose, to not be far from all those chicken farms in Arkansas. (Although I would prefer to buy local free range chickens!)


71 posted on 10/03/2024 8:03:10 AM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission (Zone 7B KS/MO border 10:02 71F sunny)
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To: Bon of Babble; Diana in Wisconsin; All
Bon; here you go! Cat! Picture of my daughter's cat cautiously looking around the garden.
(I have a messy working garden, not really "Architectural Digest" material!)

Gardening (not landscaping) idea. I am using repurposed cat litter containers. I turned them upside down and put 3/4" conduit in the grooves on the
bottoms as supports for nylon insect blocking fabric. I have a 25' soaker hose on either side of the row and can tuck the nylon fabric underneath the
hose. I need to see if I have some clips that I can use to secure the fabric to the hoses at the bottom. I am using these on the cauliflower and brussel
sprouts that would be completely destroyed by cabbage loopers if I did not cover them!

(Shishito peppers that are still producing at the top of the picture! Note the unproductive soon to be composted zucchini lower right!)

Daughter's slinky tiger cat picking his way through the garden and in the weeds under the leafless Viking Aronia bushes at the back of the "floral" border.

(Off to water and weed and mow the leaves under my locust tree in the front yard!)

72 posted on 10/03/2024 8:54:08 AM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission (Zone 7B KS/MO border 10:02 71F sunny)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Love it! Looks a lot like my kitty Winnie who slinks around the garden at all hours.

I just wish she’d stop brining mice and rats into the house, some of them still alive! She does keep the rats out of my fruit trees, so it’s all good...


73 posted on 10/03/2024 9:01:15 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

Thanks! I don’t know much about Washington state - we are also going on to Oregon and will end up in Portland.

We are going to be near the Snake River and I’d love to see where Evel Knievel jumped on his motorcycle!!

My son is planning a trip to Buchart (sp?) Gardens in Vancouver, we won’t be going on this trip - in February so I hope I can tag along.

My niece’s husband is stationed in Hawaii and she is begging us to come so I’m hoping to go there - to the botanical gardens, of course


74 posted on 10/03/2024 9:03:43 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (You Say You Want a Revolution?)
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To: Bon of Babble
I read something that they bring "gifts" in order try and teach us how to hunt! We are part of their cat pack and they expect us to contribute more.

(Thank you NO Mr. Slinky....what is all that cat food on the floor I asks!)

75 posted on 10/03/2024 9:19:49 AM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission (Zone 7B KS/MO border 10:02 71F sunny)
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To: Pollard
Yikes! Scary time to be giving up a job!

Are you leaving for another job?

76 posted on 10/03/2024 1:27:23 PM PDT by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: Pete from Shawnee Mission

First two things I noticed? Lots of BUGS in your sticky traps so they must be effective.

And AWESOME re-use of cat litter tubs to hold up your plastic sheeting! I give ours to Beau who fills them with spent vehicle oil and then when he orders recycled blacktop for the driveway (one full mile of it!) he moves it around with the skid steer them sprays oil on top to seal it. It lasts a good while longer that way.


77 posted on 10/03/2024 2:28:56 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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.


78 posted on 10/03/2024 3:13:34 PM PDT by MomwithHope (Forever grateful to all our patriots, past, present and future.)
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To: Paul R.

WELL...

While looking for stainless steel mesh / screen, it occurred to me to also look for something in either a 20 mesh with considerably larger diameter wire than the usual 0.27” to 0.30” diameter, or find 30 or 40 mesh with a little bigger wire than usual. Not only do we have a window screen and a screen door panel that go hit by flying debris in a couple of our storms this year (I patched the minor tears, but they don’t look so great), we get some of the tiny gnats or flies(?) that can get through std. 20 mesh screens. So, my idea was to find something with an aperture around 0.5 mm / 0.02” instead of the usual 1 mm / 0.40 aperture, but still stronger than the usual fiberglass or aluminum screen material. Stainless steel mesh (30 or 40) in wire at least 0.025 mm would seem to be the answer, but, this turns out to be hard to find in a width big enough to “cover” the “small dimension” of the old screen panels, about 22”. Drat!


79 posted on 10/03/2024 5:17:08 PM PDT by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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Well we already had couple of hard frosts..first one was on the 30th...not a great garden year but it is what it is.


80 posted on 10/03/2024 6:08:20 PM PDT by cherry
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