The Garden Thread - September, 2025

September 1, 2025 | 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]

Well, there ya go! Thanks for sharing.

I don’t have to gear up in ‘hot and humid’ to prevent chigger bites; there’s a lot to be said for living North of the Mason-Dixon Line! ;)

Do you just let your skin dry out? Or does it help to apply lotion of some sort?

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Cross-Ping. Article about talking to your houseplants. I not only TALK to mine, they all have NAMES, LOL! (And are thriving!)

https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4339039/posts?page=7#7

[FamiliarFace]

My big accomplishment for the day. Researching about monarchs and temperatures. They don’t like it below 55. Tonight it will be in the mid 40’s.

So once the new habitat arrived (almost twice as big as the other one), I got it set up inside our basement and spent quite a bit of time making sure I could bring in the current habitat (to fit inside it), plus bring in any other caterpillars still hanging out on the milkweed plants. I transferred 25 more, with lots of milkweed to munch on. Took me almost an hour. I *think* I found every caterpillar out there, but I know I may have missed some little guy.

Even if only a few of these survive, I think they have a better chance indoors for the next few evenings than they will outside. We’ll see.

[Qiviut]

Caramel sauce turned out. Cleaning the pot might be another matter!

Shallots are a little darker than I would like, but they are still delicious. Recipe said it takes about 10 minutes, but the shallots weren’t turning well past 10 minutes & all of a sudden, they were dark brown! Next time I will take them out of the oil as soon as they start turning. I was watching them ... they turned quick!

[Liz]

I’ve made caramel-———best bet is to put hot water
in the pan——it should all melt away after a few tries.

[Paul R.]

Daughter-san got here very late Saturday @ 4 pm - the original target was 1:30 pm. So, we hurried on in to T-Mobile, got the new phones* and had them set up, contacts transferred and such, and made a quick stop at both Wally World and Aldi. Aldi had “Korean” pizzas on clearance - they are actually not too bad.

*We get 4 phones (T-Mobile promotion - best deal - $100 for 4 lines, plus $100 up front for the one phone being a flip phone & we’ll need cases for the smart phones). There are only 3 of us, and my brother in CA for now has declined to hop on, so to speak. So, I get the flip phone for general use and the smart phone for backup and the few times I actually need a smart phone. The new flip phone does a LOT of what the smart phones do! Even the downsized new smart phone models, esp. once in a protective case, are too big and still too fragile for me to carry around in a pocket while doing most of the things I do (including gardening). All set up, and with a “Korean” pizza from Aldi in hand, we then headed home to try out the new phones and service here, and...

No signal in the house on the ground floor. I mean, NO signal. The signal close to the house, say, within 30 ft., is dead too. Signal upstairs is very weak (1 bar “in and out”) at the “strong” spots / times. PHOOEY!

The new phones, even my new flip phone, have a feature by which the phone(s) can connect to our Wi-Fi router, and calls get routed by the Internet, to their destination. But that only works within range of the router (and the “extender” in my daughter’s room.) Our exterior walls are masonry, so, that basically means “within” 20 ft. of the house.” I do have a 2nd “extender” that I can place in a heavy plastic storage unit that’s on the back side of the house, but, I need to run power to it.

In practice, this means having to remember to switch back and forth between transmission / reception modes. With unlimited data from our ISP (I think - better check), I don’t think we’ll run out, as we don’t watch movies and such on our phones.

The kicker: We have good signal (3 bars on the flip phone) from the T-Mobile tower(s?) if I go the ~200 ft. (”east”) out to the garden and beyond. And if I cross the road on the other side of the house (”west”, TOWARD the silos) I get two bars. It seems like a repeater out in the garden(!) would work well, but, since I already have the wi-fi extender, then I just need to remember to turn on the cell-via-internet- when I’m in or near the house.

Sheesh!

[Liz]

SLOW COOKER SHREDDED HONEY/MAPLE CHICKEN
Serves 6 over rice or sandwiches w/ lots of great teriyaki bbq sauce.

Ing 6 boneless skinless frozen or thawed chicken breasts 3/4 c honey 3/4 c maple syrup 1/2 cup teriyaki or soy sauce 1 minced gar/cl 2 1/2 tbl tomato paste 1/4 c water pepper to taste 1 tbl veg/oil 2 tsp sugar 1/2 tsp br/sugar 1/2 tbl ground ginger

Method Place chicken in Crock-Pot (thawed or frozen). Whisk rest ing well. Pour over chicken. Cook on low 6 1/2 hours for frozen; 5 1/2 hrs if thawed. Use forks to pull apart into shreds and mix w/ sauce. Let sit on low for another 20 min. Serve over rice. Use leftovers for sandwiches.

[Augie]

Cool and dry over the weekend here in the Middle of Misery.

Retrieving #1 Marine Daughter's golf cart from the crash house then turning around and going to the racetrack used up most of Saturday so I had to chore extra hard yesterday to make up for it.

I finished the batch of apple butter that I started last week. Canned 11 pints. The not-quite-full 12th jar went straight to the kitchen. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. I didn't really follow a recipe - seasoned it to taste and cooked it down until I was happy with the consistency. Pops is a Grade-A jelly snob and he gave it two thumbs up so I'll call it not bad for my first time making it.

After I cleaned up the mess left from making the apple butter I picked another five-gallon bucket of HoneyCrisp apples. Sliced up and froze enough to make three pies. A quart ziplock holds enough slices for one pie if you pack it fairly tight. Three apple pies isn't enough to get us through a winter so I'm thinking I'll repeat that exercise after work one evening this week.

I got one of the raised beds topped up with composted horse poo, turned that in, and watered it down. I'll re-fluff that this evening and toss some kale seed in for a fall/winter crop. I haven't decided what I'm going to plant in the 2nd raised bed, but I need to yank the basil plants and get the soil amended/turned before it can be replanted.

Mrs. Augie has been nurturing a Catalpa seedling in a pot all summer. We finally picked a spot to plant it. The ground is so dry that digging a hole is almost impossible so I soaked the spot it's going with hose water half a dozen times yesterday in hopes of making the digging easier. That was enough to remove the sod and leave a depression that I can continue to water until the ground is soft enough to finish a proper planting hole. I expect that it will take a day or three to get that done.

It's a little late in the season for it, but I'm thinking I might put some turnip and rutabaga seed in the ground and see if it will make something before winter gets here.

With me being gone Mrs. Augie got to spend most of Saturday supervising Howard. In spite of her best efforts to the contrary, she's falling in love with him. She even mentioned that I should clean up the big dog crate and bring it inside to see if it's possible to crate train a half-grown hound. I guess we'll find out soon enough. lol

[Liz]

MEXICAN CORNBREAD BAKE

Ing 2 cans niblets 1 lge onion 4 oz diced jalapenos (chiles or green pepper) 2 lbs shredded fave cheese 1 1/2-2 lbs cooked chp meat, drained 2 eggs 1/2 c milk 2 pkgs Jiffy yellow cornbread

Method Brown/drain chp meat; add diced onion. Mix cornbread as per package. Layer cornbread, meat, then cornbread in 9X13" pan; bake 350 deg 45 min--check frequently--doneness depends on oven. Garnish w/ sour cream, chp colorful veggies. Serve.

[FamiliarFace]

That looks yummy, Liz, especially with seeing coleslaw topping it on the sandwich.

I remember making something very much like this, only I used pork. Our son was touring with his band that time, so I had the crockpot waiting for them on the counter, with buns and coleslaw and potato chips next to the crockpot. They got in really late that night after their show, maybe 3 or 4 in the morning.

When I heard sounds, I went downstairs to find the 3 boys chowing down, with coleslaw on the bun with the sandwich. One of them even added the chips directly to the sandwich, too.

Fun memory.

[Liz]

MEXICAN CORNBREAD BAKE-—correction

Method Brown/drain chp meat; add diced onion-——and rest of ing-——then layer prepared cornbread, meat, cornbread in 9X13” pan; bake 350 deg 45 min—check frequently—doneness depends on oven.

[Liz]

That Shredded Chicken looks yummy, Liz, especially
with seeing coleslaw topping it on the sandwich.

---

So you were way ahead of us recipe posters-—
reminiscing about putting slaw in sandwiches?

Sounds good——your way.

[FamiliarFace]

I willingly give all the credit the starving young men for their ingenuity. After their show a few hours away, they drove on unplowed snow and ice covered roads for a longer than usual drive. They ate their sandwiches, downed a quick beer each, and settled in for the night. Mama Bear was happy everyone was safe and sound. We let them sleep in before they headed to their next stop.

[Pollard]

No fun

Coming home from work Fri, lost oil pressure evidently but the light never came on so I didn’t know until I heard engine noise and it started losing power. Gauge said no oil pressure and about that time it stalled and the truck’s sitting at the entrance to a neighbor’s field. Had 35 lbs when I left work.

Gonna retrieve it tomorrow now that work week is done. Never overheated and never heard a rod knock. All top end rattling so the engine might be savable. It’s not normal for an oil pump to go from 35 to 0 lbs. They usually get lower over time. I had a neighbor years ago with the same truck/engine and lost oil pressure suddenly with no knocking. Ended up being the center camshaft bearing had spun.

For now, I might just buy something else for Winter. The truck still needs a lot of front end work.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"After I cleaned up the mess left from making the apple butter I picked another five-gallon bucket of HoneyCrisp apples. Sliced up and froze enough to make three pies. A quart ziplock holds enough slices for one pie if you pack it fairly tight. Three apple pies isn't enough to get us through a winter so I'm thinking I'll repeat that exercise after work one evening this week."

Right behind you in this department. My apples (Liberty, Haralson & Wolf River) are ready to pick - I just need a bucket and some motivation, but I'll do it this week before it gets HOT again. (D@mmit!) Been LOVING this Fall-like weather, but I knew it wouldn't last!

"With me being gone Mrs. Augie got to spend most of Saturday supervising Howard. In spite of her best efforts to the contrary, she's falling in love with him. She even mentioned that I should clean up the big dog crate and bring it inside to see if it's possible to crate train a half-grown hound. I guess we'll find out soon enough. lol"

Tell Mrs. A that, 'Once you go Hound, you never go back!' And any hounds I've had to keep in the house due to them being born off-season in the middle of winter, (Seneca, Tigger, Oneida) did just fine crated at night...though they want OUT EARLY, like 5am.

My Basset HOUND, 'Rufus' showing Plott HOUND, 'Cayuga' the ropes around the farm:

Rufus is the Dog Love of my Life. Had him for 15 years and he was never sick or injured a day until he had some mini-strokes and that was all she wrote. I have a million funny pictures of him. He made me laugh every day of those 15 years. He'd BETTER be waiting for me in Heaven - or I'm not going. *HEART*

[FamiliarFace]

I hear your vehicle woes.

A few weeks ago, our son came for a visit. He mentioned that the car was driving poorly, but he had it serviced in April and they said he should be good to go for “quite a while”. He began to have problems on occasion right away, but he was working so much he just didn’t have free time to take it back in.

So anyway, he was here, but flew out a day later for a 9 day trip to Europe, a badly needed vacation that he had been saving up for.

On a hunch, we decided to take his car to our dealer and have them look at. Well, it turns out he had been driving without transmission fluid, and we don’t know how long. They couldn’t find a leak, so it was either a slow leak, OR the other mechanic never filled his fluid. It was BONE DRY.

At any rate, the car was safe again, so when he got back, he felt better about driving it again. He called the manager of the dealership where he had it serviced. We had been customers of theirs for over 20 years, probably longer. The manager said he couldn’t help him out with an explanation. So THAT formerly good relationship is now OVER.

Somebody screwed up and won’t fess up, but our mechanic here is aghast at the condition his car was in, and how he was treated. No one knows how long he was driving without TF, but it’s a concern. How much damage did that do to his car?

[MomwithHope]

Good work Howard!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Bummer! Car/truck troubles are always a PITA! Hope this can be rectified quickly and on budget for you.

[Pollard]

At very least, the $2500 truck is not running for the foreseeable future. Long term plan was to put an older body on the frame/drivetrain.

Blue Collar Way

Looking at a “good running” 04 Suburban with same engine and alloy rims that might be 17” and I need 17” rims to put the $1000 tires I have on the truck that’s broke. Has nice extended mirrors. Many parts the same.

Suburban needs a rear brake line. Possible sign of rusty undercarriage.

$1500 - get engine and maybe rims and some other odds and ends. Sell or scrap remainder of Suburban for $6-700 at some point. Not a bad storage shed meanwhile.

[Qiviut]

It actually cleaned up more easily than I thought using just hot tap water.

The Caramel Apple Cheesecake pie was a big hit!