The Victory Garden Thread - June, 2026

June 1, 2026 | Diana in WI/Greeneyes in Memoriam

[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.

[Paul R.]

Well, the temporary roof repair was good enough to keep water out during last night’s almost inch of rain in about 30 minutes. I’ll “improve” it a bit more tomorrow morning, with things dried out decently, I hope. I’d better not dally - rain is expected by afternoon.

Today was wifey’s birthday so we went out to eat a late b’day lunch, then she had church stuff going late afternoon and early evening while I ran errands in town. That latter was just as well - we DIDN’T get our forecast humidity break today, so working on the roof would have been a bit miserable. It’s tough enough, being a steep roof - which seems to have become steeper now that I’m a septuagenarian...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I make that quite often. It’s in my, ‘rotation.’ We love the stuff! :)

[Liz]

Italian Chocolate Cake
Layers of chocolate cake, cheesecake, creamy chocolate topping. Serves 12.

Ing 1 box chocolate cake made as per pkg, 2 lb tub ricotta 4 eggs 3/4 c sugar 1 tsp
vanilla 3 3/4 oz box instant chocolate pudding mix 1 c milk 8 oz tub Cool Whip thawed

Method Make cake as directed; bake in sprayed 9x13" pan topped w/ cheesecake 350 deg an hour (pick comes clean). Cool completely 24 hrs. Spread Topping over, cover/fridge 6 or more hours. Serve dusted w/ cocoa powder.

Cheesecake: mix well ricotta, sugar, eggs, vanilla. Carefully pour atop unbaked
cake batter evenly. Topping: Make chocolate pudding as per pkg; fold in cool whip.

[Menes]

Delicious! Thanks a bunch for this recipe, dear Liz! 😀

I will just have to bake half a recipe- or I‘m in danger of eating the entire cake at one meal.
And I don’t want to win the „Michael Moore Memorial All-you-can-eat Competition“, as, for all my love of delightful food, I like myself slightly slimmer 😂😂😂🍰

[Diana in Wisconsin]

[Liz]

I don’t want to win the “Michael Moore
Memorial All-you-can-eat Competition”......

---

lol

[Paul R.]

Ugh. Dewpoint of 75 deg. F today, and not as much breeze as was forecast.

Storms later - I hope we don’t recreate the SE WI, NW IL, and Northern IN scenario of a couple days ago.

[Paul R.]

Hi, “All”! A question, based on many of you being on wells, using whole house water filters, etc.

I haven’t the $$ at present to step up to a big / fancy system, so we are just using a 30 micron 2.5” cartridge filter coming in to the house from our medium shallow (around 30+ ft. deep) well. Then a second such filter plus a screen filter in the hose feeds the washer, as the OEM filter in the washer itself clogs easily and is not only hard to get to, the washer’s filter itself is not easily removed and is quite hard to clean.

A 3rd 2.5” activated carbon filter further cleans up drinking water at the kitchen sink. The initial filter, which is 30 microns, gets most of the crud coming in, which is mostly sediments. After that, the water is pretty good, as evidenced by our long change out periods before the secondary filters get loaded up. The water is slightly hard, but taste is fine any time the well is producing visibly clear water to begin with, even lacking the drinking water filter, so the carbon bit may be overkill. Bujt, I bought a bunch of those filters cheap on clearance a while back. :-)

Our well water is quite clear in appearance pretty much any time NOT shortly after heavy rains. I had the well casing checked (cool little camera rig) a while back, and it is fine.

This is all working just great except that said 1st filter DOES load up quickly, especially if we’ve ben having heavy rains. Almost all of said load is tiny fibrous stuff, and then once you get a thin layer of that on the outside filter surface, then effectively the filter becomes about a 5 micron (or less?) filter and gums up (muds up) rapidly, especially after a hefty rain.

Pleated filter elements have worked best (longest) due to their greater surface area. The supposed advantage of variable density spun polypropylene filters (to be able to absorb particulates throughout their greater volume of filtering media) never comes to fruition. Their outside first 1/16” or so “surface” clogs quicker than do the pleated filter elements. However, attempting to back flush the element doesn’t work. (Trying to backflush our used / “dirty” pleated filters pretty much destroys them.)

I am considering going to 50 micron for the initial filter. Then, might the greater volume of absorption media in a spun polypropylene filter become advantageous over a pleated filter? Does anyone have experience with this?

Another stopgap might be going with another of those filters like the one that feeds the hoses to the garden. It has a stack of washable small disc elements inside. It fixed our problems with spray openings in garden hose sprayers clogging up. :-)

[Paul R.]

Thanks in advance!

[Albion Wilde]

Lots of rain this past week in Balt-DC. Everthing greeny-green.

[metmom]

Thanks for the ping.

It’s been HOT here but we’ve been getting rain this year and the garden is going great guns.

The asparagus is about done. Got a month and a half out of it and almost all the seedlings I planted last year have turned out to be male plants. So I should be done with putting anything new in. Now it’s just enjoying the harvest.

The snow peas are coming in. My Brussel spouts have survived so far, thanks to the Dollar Tree wire wastebaskets.

I’ve harvested and am drying sage, oregano, and thyme. They’re just setting flower buds so next year I’ll have to get them in May.

EVERYTHING is doing well and on schedule. What a blessing to have a great year.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Glad to hear of your successes! :)

I got the mowing done, today. Mom & Connie came over for lunch, and then they helped me weed some in the walkways between the raised beds.

Putting down those shingles worked for a few years, but the shingles break down and now the weeds are getting to be a problem, again. I’ve got to check out a few more ideas for tamping down the weeds BETWEEN the raised beds. They. Are. Relentless!

My crops are a bit behind due to raccoon digging but everything will catch up. I staked and tied up the peppers today and also did some more tying on the grape vines to point them in the direction I want them to go. Beau cut them all down for me last fall for a much-needed re-set and 5 of six are coming back strong. I also have two Rugosa-type roses he cut back, and they seem to want to live, so I’ll find a way to make that happen. My other roses look terrific. Peonies are at the end, so they need some attention. Day Lilies are blooming like crazy, so they are nice to see. Sunny Yellow and one Red.

I have a few spots where I need to add more pole and drying beans, and Mr. Chippy has been VERY busy stealing sunflower seeds from under the bird feeder and ‘planting’ them wherever he can find some soft soil in a planter. It’s kinda cute - and they pull out easily.

If only the animals would WORK WITH ME like they did in old Disney movies, I would be well ahead of the game!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Waiting to see if anyone has dealt with this. We don’t have any sort of filtering system on our well water. It’s 350’ deep and crystal clear.

I would LOVE a water softener, but Beau is against them for some reason. I think he doesn’t want to lug salt - because there IS a water softener down in the ‘scary’ basement. I’m sure Linda (deceased wife) insisted upon one. It sure would save me on having to use vinegar and Lime Away on faucets, sinks, the John, the coffee maker, and anything else that uses or carries water around here.

We’ve also both suffered with passing kidney stones, but I can’t find any PROOF that hard water causes them. Darn It, LOL!

I’m just LUCKY he lets us HAVE running water. *SMIRK*

[MomwithHope]

I am no expert and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn recently. When our house was built we had the water tested. Pretty good but high in iron. We had a large tank and water softener system put in using pelleted salt. It works well but we wanted the sodium out for drinking water, so we have two Amway water treatment systems under each sink, upstairs and downstairs with separate faucets. We use that for all drinking water and they do a great job. They have a filter that is carbon and coconut fiber I believe and also treat with UV.

[MomwithHope]

I got three of those Dollar Tree wire waste baskets too they work great.

[Liz]

Oven Baked Ribs
Tastiest, easiest plate of BBQ ever, served w/ all the fixin's.

Ing 1 rack pork ribs 1/4 c W/Sonoma Smokehouse Rub
1 c Memphis-Style Sweet & Smoky BBQ Sauce Veg oil.

Method Pat ribs dry with p/towel. Brush lightly w/ veg oil (helps dry seasonings adhere), then thoroughly coat both sides w/ dry seasonings. Tightly foil; bake on sheet tray 300 deg 3 hours. Remove to counter; readjust temp to 350 deg. Remove foil; coat ribs w/ BBQ sauce. Bake 30-45 min til sauce has caramelized. Remove to counter; let rest 15 min. Slice, serve w/ ramekin of BBQ Sauce, Mac and Cheese, watermelon wedges, buttered corn bread.

[metmom]

I hear you on the wees between the raised bed problems.

I suspect our resident badger is why we’re not having problems with woodchucks and racoons.

I had a grey fox keep an eye on me the other evening when I was picking snow peas. He didn’t seem scared of me at all.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Please update that calendar to reflect June 27th as my wedding anniversary! 34 years this year

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Ugh.
My garden is running late again this year.

My tomatoes are doing great. Watermelon and cantaloupe finally getting going up the trellises. Peppers are waaaay behind and the okra, which usually emerges as a volunteer, is sbsent.

I’m going to put out some okra seed this week.

I did Brandywine, and a few new varieties....Thunderbird and Italian giant.

[MomwithHope]

Those look good. I have always thought ribs in the oven done properly are the best.