Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 06/01/2026 6:10:43 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The MONTHLY Victory Garden 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 Victory Garden 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.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
18 pepper plants in pots. Warm spring so the seedlings were transplanted in early April. Several feet tall by now. Going all kinda non-GMO. Bone meal, worm castings as well as Alaska Fish Fertilizer and Alaska Morbloom. Getting pretty good at making a batch of worm tea.
https://youtu.be/xeRjnF0BgBA?si=s97I21A5-8r1eLx7
It was a soggy weekend here in Central Missouri. Inch of rain Friday, another inch Saturday, 2.2” Sunday. We’re going to have fun mowing the yard when the ground is dry enough to get over it.
The birdhouse gourds I started are ready to set out, but I’m afraid I’ll sink to China if I step foot in the garden.
Been picking snow peas that were supposed to be snap peas for the last week. Pole beans are mostly up. 2nd planting of sweet corn spiked yesterday. First planting is ready for a top dressing of nitrogen. Tomatoes were mostly out of their transplant funk before the deluge came - they certainly didn’t need 4+” of rainfall right now.
Collards are sprouting in the greenhouse. Basil is sprouting. Two more American Senna popped up over the weekend. Still only one of the six Red Canna seeds has come up. No sign of peach or pawpaw.
Cabbages are rocking. Spaghetti squash looks good. Cukes are up about 3”. Kale in the raised bed is big enough to start picking on. Beets in the raised bed are sizing up.
The sun is shining today so I might try to dig in the spud bed to see how much varmint damage has been done.
My pond hit the overflow over the weekend. First time in three years it’s been full.
Mostly waiting for the ground to dry up at this point.
I wish you all the best with your cataract surgery. I developed cataracts pretty early. The best part about removing them was that doc got to put in multi focal lenses, so now I can see teeny tiny print, all the way out to driving distances. I asked if there was a zoom version like binoculars give you, but they haven’t invented those yet. I hope everything goes great for you like it has for me. My experience was life-changing.
Well, I can’t resist:
https://youtu.be/_xyhl4sZPlc?t=224
(end at 4:05 for these purposes)
Granted that you have to have the means.
Most times, the unshucked corn on the cob from WalMart has been pretty good, the last few years. Tomatoes are a different story.
I was discussing catfish, last month, which illustrates your point regarding “meats”, well. The industry (selling catfish) laments having done poorly, but, I think they mostly blame the wrong reasons...
Thanks for the encouragement. My family has said same - it was life changing!
My optometrist wouldn’t give me the referral for years - even though I knew I needed the cataracts removed - they interfered with my sewing - I need good, close-up vision for that!
Went to a new optometrist and she told me I should have had it done years ago and instantly approved me for cataract removal.
I didn’t go with the lenses you wrote about - they are outside of my insurance and are $2500 each, my ophthalmologist thought I’d be fine with a torc (?) lens in one eye ($1500) and a regular lens in the other (covered by insurance). Can’t wait to “see” the results.
Maybe now I can see my grandkids better!
My little maintenance project did not all go well. One light ran fine with the replacement bulbs, the other ran fine for about 4 minutes and then went bzzzZZZAAATT!! - and went out. The bulb is ok (retested in 1st fixture.)
The fixtures are both rapid start types and should be compatible, but, old ballasts often can’t hack it, according to my web search. In this case, Brave Search failed, but Google AI gave a great reply:
(Sorry for the slightly run on text below, I only partially corrected that.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me:
Why did a led replacement bulb put in a 48” t8/12 fixture kill the ballast? the fixture is rapid start, the bulb only says not to use in a pre-heat fixture, and it worked for about 4 minutes before the ballast (i presume) failed. the bulb still works, in another 48” rapid start fixture.
Reply per Google:
The replacement LED bulb killed the ballast because of an impedance mismatch and overheating, which commonly happens when plugging “ballast-compatible” (Type A) LED tubes into older magnetic or aging fluorescent ballasts. Because the bulb still works in a different fixture, it proves the bulb’s internal driver survived, but your first ballast could not handle the unique electrical load of the LED.
Why the Ballast Failed in 4 Minutes.
Age and Existing Degradation: Fluorescent ballasts degrade silently over time. The sudden change in electrical demand from the LED bulb often acts as the final “shock” that pushes an old, compromised ballast into total failure.
Impedance Mismatch: Type A LED tubes are designed to mimic the resistance of a standard fluorescent gas tube. However, if the ballast’s output frequency or internal circuitry doesn’t align perfectly with the LED’s driver, the ballast will experience an over-current condition, causing it to burn out almost instantly.
Thermal Tripping or Meltdown: Many older rapid start ballasts utilize magnetic coils. When paired with an incompatible electronic LED driver, these coils generate immense heat. Within 4 minutes, the ballast either melted its internal insulation or permanently tripped its internal thermal safety fuse.
How to Proceed
Do not buy another “plug-and-play” bulb or replace the ballast. The most reliable and energy-efficient solution is to completely eliminate the ballast from the equation.
Keep the current bulb for your other working fixture. Do not risk swapping it back and forth.
Convert the failed fixture to Ballast Bypass (Type B). Buy a Type B LED tube (also called a “direct-wire” tube). Cut the ballast out: Turn off the breaker, cut the wires leading to the ballast, and connect the building’s main AC power wires (Hot and Neutral) directly to the socket holders (tombstones) according to the Type B bulb’s instructions.
Bypassing the ballast removes the failure point permanently, saves more electricity, and ensures your lights turn on instantly without humming or flickering.
>>I’m moving this month to a new property I’ve been preparing for about 2 years. Planted and succeeding so far are:
WOW!! What a massive amount of work and what a harvest to look forward to!
I’m on the MA/RI border and we’ve been getting nights in the 40s. I’m too old for digging in real dirt, so I’ve made my first investment in grow bags, self-waterers, and trolleys. But because of the nights, I’ve been taking in the bags and pots at night and carrying them out again every morning. But tonight is supposed to be the last night in the 40’s. Fingers crossed that my arm toning exercises are about to be a thing of the past.
Tomatoes, bush beans, pole beans, cucumber, sweet peppers, romaine, sage, rosemary, cilantro, mint, parsley, basil.
Magnificent!!! Really love the bird bath in first picture, too.
Toric lens. Meant to help correct astigmatism. My husband has that in one eye now. He’s had complications from a previous surgery for a macular pucker, which thankfully has improved very much. He’s still waiting for his 3 month post op appointment that has been rescheduled once already. Doc will likely need to do an adjustment in July or August.
His other eye is just starting to develop a cataract. We think that one will be more straightforward like mine were.
Doc told me I might need readers for sewing, but that hasn’t happened. I think I’m getting to live happily ever after with these multi focal lenses. Yes, mine cost the same as you mentioned, not covered by insurance, but at least the surgery was. To not need to buy glasses ever again is worth it for me.
If you have any questions after your surgery, let me know. I’ll try to help, though I realize every case is quite different. Praying for a fantastic outcome for you!
Thanks! I have a very young, energetic surgeon who has assured me everything will go great - no restrictions except for no water in my eyes and no lifting for a week. He is excited to restore my sight, especially how I see colors.
Off in 10 minutes when my son finishes up his work call - already put in the first set of drops!
Ours too! Had some last night to go with hubby’s most delicious fall off the bone baby back ribs last now. I made coleslaw to round it out. Lovely dinner.
So sorry about your tomatoes. Hope the new batch stays safe.
I was letting a strawberry stay red for 3 days but the day I was going to pick it, something got there first and ate it and the unripe one next to it. Impressed they found it among all the greenery. Thinking I should be putting the bags on tables. Also will no longer feed the chipmunk peanuts near the plants.
I’ve had poor luck with seeds. Only the bush beans and pole beans and cucumbers seem enthusiastic about growing. 3 Sunset Gold tomatoes are holding their own and tiny, while 4 didn’t germinate and the other 3 died sad, slow deaths. The yellow squash didn’t even bother trying to germinate and let’s not mention my carrot disaster. Thank goodness for garden center plants and Bonnie Plants. Though my last set of strawberry plants from Bonnie came UPSIDE DOWN! Roots up and leaves at the bottom of the plant. Dry as dirt and the dirt everywhere in the box.
Yes! The color thing is very real! I think you’ll be very pleased with your results!
I wish you could have sent an inch of that to us. Most of the rain either went west of us (you) or to the east*, or north or south of us, too. Looking at my impromptu "gauges", after things cleared for good, it looks like we totaled 3/4" or so, so, that only helps our drought a little. It's better than nothing, but the question is whether or not the spigot will turn off completely the way it often does for us, in early July.
*There's evidently been plenty of rain in the majority of the Ohio River watershed: The Ohio River @ Shawneetown, IL, is actually at minor flood stage.
Qapla’!
Yum!
Congrats! All that sounds wonderful.
Nice to see you. Good friend has rid us of 3 groundhogs so far.
I have a piece of cattle panel as a back fence to clip tomato plants to. I use the spooled green long twistie tie. I also use the long green coated metal stakes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.