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.

[MomwithHope]

Ah that is a stinker. I usually use a bit of double strength plastic wrap with a rubber band.

[Liz]

Italian Sausage and Peppers Sandwich / a county fair fave

Ing 2 lb best Italian sausages 2 tbl ol/oil 3 minced gar/cl 2 red or green bells, chp 2 small onions, chp s/p 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes crusty Italian rolls (1 per serving) 1/4 c tomato sauce (optional)

Method Slice sausages in 1-inch pieces (or use kitchen scissors). Wash/core peppers; chop coarsely. Peel/chop onions/garlic. Skillet sauté sausages halfway cooked, then add peppers, onions, garlic. Simmer over low heat until sausages are no longer pink in center (15-20 min). S/p, add red pepper flakes. Stir in tomato sauce or puree during last five minutes (may be served with or without sauce). Fill toasted Italian crusty rolls with mixture and serve.

To make-ahead for picnic or tailgating, butter split rolls. Wrap tightly in foil. Pack sausage filling in container and keep cold (below 40°F). When ready to serve, open foil slightly, fill rolls w/ sausage mixture and rewrap. Heat thru 20-30 min.

Note: If there are leftovers, add sausage filling, sauce over pasta or ravioli.

[Qiviut]

Our mums are so big I had to buy roaster pans to accommodate the pots. The guy we bought them from said water from the bottom, so that’s why the pans. Mom had deer eat her mums at the old place, so the mums are moved to the porch, behind the rail for watering every night. I am also covering the big hosta pots with row cover.

So I went out around 7:30 to get the mums watered & hostas covered & who is already at the fence, ready for ‘salad’? The big doe who seems to be The Deer hanging around our place. We also have a big oak on that corner of the house loaded with acorns that are now dropping - deer love acorns so that’s likely attracting her as well.

When I told her “What are you doing here? No salad for you tonight!”, she gracefully leaped the fence from a standing position & disappeared into the brushy lot next door. She wasn’t very scared & will probably be back after dark.

[MomwithHope]

Thats a staple for me. No tomato sauce and I use a link not bulk sausage. Same onions, peppers and toss in a few chopped shishitos. I like that soft asiago airy bread cut short for a bun. Spread with light mayo and the lightest amount possible of stone ground mustard. Everything cooked in olive oil.

[Liz]

I got ravenously hungry just reading your version
of the sausage pepper sandwich.........scrumptious.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Adorable Doe interaction. :) Your new Best Friend and Fren-emy, LOL!

My (Walmart) Mums have been re-potted in 10” terra-cotta colored plastic pots with drainage. Never heard of watering them from the BOTTOM, but that makes total sense if they are still in their black plastic pots.

Will you plant them in a garden bed to over-winter? I’ve never had any luck with Mums over-wintering up here. :(

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Your new garden is going to be gorgeous!

It is so worth ‘cultivating’ strong young men into our lives as we age. ;)

[Qiviut]

The seller asked if we were leaving the mums in the black plastic pots & when I said yes, he then said watering from the bottom was the way to go.

I don’t plan to over-winter & I really don’t have room for it if I wanted to. I love the flowers on these mums - the yellow centers & white petals are just lovely. Hopefully, this seller will have them next year.

[FamiliarFace]

We’ve worked the main young man several times before. Started small. Spring cleanup.

The two years ago we had him replace a small retaining wall off of our patio. It was small wood Timbers that had rotted over 20 years. This time we had him put stones there. Our master gardener/landscaper friend and his mentor showed him how to notch them together. He was 19 when he did that job.

Now he’s 21 with 3 years under his belt. He is a young, bright, hardworking entrepreneur kid. Gonna go places and be successful.

PLUS, his new sidekick works all the hard jobs with him, but our friend the master gardener is now mentoring that young man to open his own garden center business. I understand that he will have autumn plants for sale in 2 weekends from now. This hard scape project will be complete, but I still have to get at least some shrubs and perennials planted.

More to come! Their first day of effort looks really great. This is definitely worth paying so that our bodies aren’t destroyed in the process. This would’ve been back breaking work for the two of us, and I wonder if those boys have access to a hot tub tonight to work out the kinks. Maybe a soaking bath or a good hot shower is enough at their age.

[FamiliarFace]

You talk to your critters the same way I do to the ones around here!

My kids laugh when they hear me scold a wild animal. They remember hearing me scold them!

[FamiliarFace]

Maybe that’s what I do wrong with mums. I don’t water from the bottom in my pots. I’ll try that this year.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pumpkins. I always wonder how much they have been sprayed when you buy at a farm stand. No a concern if its just for display, but if for eating its probably good to know. You may not be getting a lot of garden produce because of this years strange weather, but it still sounds like you are having a good summer!

At this point I have one side of the garden planted with the volunteer pumpkin and a Sweet Potato "Wasteland". Its about 90 days since the S.P. slips were planted and they have done very well. I put arches of Fencing over them and tried to train them up though them to avoid the plants setting multiple rooting locations and hopefully concentrate on making Sweet Potatoes. The tips of the plant are edible so I suppose I should work on having them with the buckwheat ramen noodles I bought.

I still have Tomatoes Peppers and basil growing on the other half. I am not looking at 100+ pounds like last year or doing any canning, but am getting a steady stream of tomatoes. I only have a few pepper bushes and they are productive.

So anyway, my volunteer pumpkin is still green and be at he point of turning orange. It is having some problems with the feeder stem which has some damage, and the pumpkin is growing over the vine. (I have lifted it off.) Here is a question for you....If the feeder stem dies or is damaged, will the pumpkin be able to draw nutrients backwards from the vine leader? (It continues to survive with the damage.)

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Stuff done this summer.

Daughter Bridget, who lives in a group home, has had two visits to the hospital to remove kidney stones. Prep for the procedures and follow bring her home for several days. (She does come home regularly to visit and get mani-pedis and hair cuts.) Someone has to stay overnight with her at the hospital. These went well and she seems fine.

Work around my house and yard. There were a number of locust trees sprouting up along my porch through a sidewalk of 8" x 16" paver blocks. They sprang up from roots from the tree in my front yard. In addition I Had an area of collapsing earth at the back corner where a Gum tree stump was located. I have been waiting for the stump to rot out enough to extract it.

I spent most of the month with this project that started with the roots. Projects expand and in the end I ended removing the sidewalk pavers, and digging up the roots. The area with the rotted stump was lost, dangerous space. I ended up building a retaining wall and a new patio. Some of it was done in the early evening in bad light so one section of wall is not perfectly level. I used the same cement pavers, not fancy brick pavers, and the result was pretty good. The area has some slope, and the patio follows the slope for the most part so the water will shed . It looks good and Ms. Pete had a friend over and they went out sat outside on the new patio. So, success!

I had to recoat the blacktop drive, but before doing that I washed the front of the house, knowing that when you do that, all the loose paint chips off. So now its necessary to complete removal of the loose sections, prime, and repaint. Better to do this before the driveway recoat than after and have to wash all the chips and junk off and to get paint spatter (Possibly) on the newly coated drive.

So, the scraping and priming was done, and Saturday I did the prep on bad sections of the driveway and coated it. Its had time to set up and cure which is good, since it looks like it will be raining tonight. SO....this is reduced to a Paint top coat on the primed surfaces once we get some dry weather.

In the meantime I can do some work on my Original Nutone Garage Door opener which detached from its nest between the joists in the garage ceiling yesterday. (Fun!) Its probably time to replace my original 1950s Garage doors. I think I could do it, but would rather just go with a company, but not yet. I think I can fix the opener to go a little further. (This old Nutone opener has been working longer than Voyager 2!)

How is my summer going? The above and I have worn out 2 pairs of jeans and tee shirts and almost worn out a pair of New Balance walking shoes. Getting things done without paying someone else to do them is a win.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“...but our friend the master gardener is now mentoring that young man to open his own garden center business.”

*SHUDDER*

But I didn’t start in ‘The Biz’ until I was in my 40’s. He has YOUTH on his side, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“Here is a question for you....If the feeder stem dies or is damaged, will the pumpkin be able to draw nutrients backwards from the vine leader?”

I can not find an answer to your question - anywhere on the web!

[FamiliarFace]

I can only imagine how successful these two young men are going to be. In 20 years, they will still be young men, though wiser. They’re as polite and friendly as they come. It’s good to see youth having this kind of responsibility and handling it just fine.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Thank you! I was also unable to find this info. The vine has deteriorated, but is not dead. I have been nursing my volunteer along and have a 15-20 lib green pumpkin. I think it is ready to break color and think it will be good if I can nurse it along another week or two, Else......

Forager chef Green Pumpkin Pie

(Liz! They say green pumpkin is similar to zucchini! Exciting! :)

How to cook green pumpkin

[Liz]

Forager chef Green Pumpkin Pie
(Liz! They say green pumpkin is similar to zucchini! Exciting! :)

---

Never knew that-——thx.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Sister-in-Law Gina gave me a jar of this the other day. She sells it at the farm stand she has with her daughter. It’s delish!

Green Tomato Raspberry Jam

4 cups shredded green tomatoes

4 cups white sugar

1 (6 ounce) package raspberry flavored Jell-O mix

Directions

Combine tomatoes and sugar in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes.

Add gelatin to tomato mixture; stir until well combined. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.

Spoon jam into hot, sterilized jars and seal. Alternatively, pour into freezer containers and freeze.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/20953/green-tomato-raspberry-jam/

Gina also makes a Rhubarb Strawberry Jam using Strawberry Jello. Genius!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Here’s the Rhubarb Strawberry Jam recipe:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/35545/rhubarb-strawberry-jam/