The Victory Garden Thread - November, 2026

November 1, 2026 | Diana in Wisconsin/Greeneyes in Memorium

[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.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Qiviut, you have amazing contractor adventures! I am glad you got a good electrical contractor and they found and fixed that short! Dangerous!

I hope the insulation guys help with your heating bills. I have no suggestions about your basement snake! Clean everything up and leave a bowl with water and sprinkle flour around it to see if anything comes to drink?? Good luck!

Hope your food restrictions help, and glad your finger is healed from the mandolin accident!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Sweet Potatos...

NYT Sweet Potato and Cranberry Layer Cake

Unfortunately I cannot copy the picture link so you will need to go to the link to see it.

17 steps! Ready in 4 hours! I will not be making this cake, but it is still impressive looking!

I could see making a carrot cake in a jelly roll pan stacking 3 layers, using cranberry filling between layers, with, of course, cream cheese frosting!

[Liz]

A felicitous use of ing for a holiday treat...... to be sure.

[Qiviut]

I’m not sure what we’ll end up with - need to know options & pick what will work for us. There is no power at the end of the driveway so would likely need a battery with solar to trickle feed the battery. This is why I need a gate contractor.

[Qiviut]

That is a beautiful cake!

[Qiviut]

I have been very fortunate getting contractors & so far, they’ve all been ‘keepers’ - added to my contacts should I need them again.

Everyone I’ve talked to who has had insulation added to their home says it’s one of the best home improvements they made. The contractor says we’ll notice a significant difference in temperature & a reduction of our electric/propane bill - I’m looking forward to both!

The snake will be an ongoing ‘adventure’.

Two days without a bandaid on that finger & it’s doing well.

[Pollard]

Many people simply dip it in butter but we always used about 50/50 butter/cider vinegar.

Never thought of it back then when I was a kid and didn’t know the risks of shell fish, but later I wondered if the vinegar was to help prevent issues.

All I know is that parents plus six kids ate it every couple of weeks for years and I don’t recall anyone getting sick.

I’ve been meaning to pick up some snow crab legs. It’s cheaper than the top cuts of beef these days.

[MomwithHope]

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[Paul R.]

I’m not sure what we’ll end up with - need to know options & pick what will work for us.

That sounds like our health insurance. The basics aren't too bad, such as the cost of Medicare Part B, but there are so many alternatives and when I try to research them, searches done at different times and worded slightly differently come up with different answers, which vary from advice from two different local agents (who / which disagree with each other...)

I really think a service of medium to large churches should be to offer counseling in this area - most would have members who are in the biz, and almost all Christian churches these days have congregations heavily tilted toward "the older demographic".

Rant off. I need to get cracking on getting more plants in, etc. We have a good chance of a killing freeze this weekend. :-(

The one section of tomato plants still doing very well (but with many slow growing fruits) I may try to double cover, as it looks like after this weekend we'll be "safe" maybe until Thanksgiving.

[Paul R.]

Dang, FR is really “doggy” this morning.

[FamiliarFace]

I hope you find a solution that works well for you!

[Pollard]

Yeah we can't do a whole turkey for just the two of us so I might get some breasts and if the weather's decent, smoke them. Grocery store wants $2.88/lb for those.

[Pollard]

504

[Pollard]

Hey my birthday is on Thanksgiving this year.

If I’m going to run the smoker, salmon. Yet another thing that’s cheaper than a ribeye but hey, I might just splurge and get ribeye too. Surf and turf. More apt to find KC Strip out here but that works too.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Pollard; Shellfish allergies. Hives and my throat closes up.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Lobster. I think most people use Lemon Butter. I read something years ago that using something like Tabasco sauce on oysters provides some protection from bacteria since it has both vinegar and the pepper.

Oddly, while I have shell fish allergies, it does not seem to include Scallops! I wonder if it had something to do with what they eat.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Article on a Heritage grain rediscovered in Italy;

MSN repost of Smithsonian Article on an Italian Farmer growing an Ancient form of wheat.

"Sometime in the early 1990s, Claudio Grossi, a 40-year-old farmer in Parma, in northern Italy, was cleaning his attic when he turned up an old sack full of seeds that he couldn’t identify. The bag, he was sure, had been left by his late great-grandfather, who’d started the farmstead around 1915. Grossi had no idea how long the seeds had been sitting there, deprived of water, soil and sun. Dry and cracked, the kernels looked so old in the palm of his hand that he doubted anything would ever sprout from them. He carried the bag down the stairs, shook the seeds out into a pile of manure and then forgot about them.

To his surprise, the seeds soon sprouted a few different types of wheat. One was particularly striking: At six feet high, its plants were about twice as tall as commercial wheat. But the most remarkable feature came when it developed ears—the grain-studded parts at the top of the plant. All of the wheat types Grossi had previously seen grew only one such ear. But the tall wheat grew a full seven ears, always in the same pattern: a long one with six shorties bunched up around it like little fingers. Even the kernels themselves were bigger than those of average wheat. And unlike the typical pale-yellow wheat kernels, they came in a rainbow of colors—yellow, black, red, white and even green, sometimes all on the same stem.

Grossi, a grain farmer his whole life, had never seen anything like it. “I thought it was a freak of nature,” he says. He couldn’t find a mention of it in agricultural books. ...snip....Working with the lab of Teofilo Vamerali, then a professor at the University of Parma, Perobelli determined that the grain was Triticum turgidum—literally “swollen wheat” in Latin. Known in English as “poulard wheat,” it had originally evolved in what today are Turkey, Egypt and other nearby Mediterranean countries. And searching agricultural references, Perobelli found that it had been grown in Italy, too, until farmers shifted toward higher-yield commercial varieties. That solved the mystery of the seed bag stashed away in the attic: It had survived because Grossi’s grandfather saved some of the heritage grains........snip......more at link in cluding how it bakes up in bread!

(Going out now to get a bag of Jovial all purpose einkorn flour! Yes, different from the above!)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Beau’s birthday is on the 24th, so his falls on T-Day quite often.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Glad your finger is on the mend!

Leaves are falling by the bushel baskets, now, but there is still some lovely color around. Not to worry - we don’t rake - other than a big pile we rake to the north side of the house for winter insulation.

What REALLY needs to happen is that the crawl space under the (added on) kitchen needs to be insulated. Not sure why that’s not happened in all these years...*SMIRK* Other than Beau doesn’t FIT in there and there is no way in h#ll you’d get me in a small, enclosed space! Ugh! (WHAT? PAY for someone to do insulation for you? The nerve, LOL!)

I still have kale, and Nasturtium and Marigolds in bloom! It really hasn’t been that cold and we got a nice rain yesterday and on Tuesday. Looks like a freeze night coming up soon, though.

All but one porch railing is up. I think the other post and the last railing are going up today. The stairs are being completely rebuilt, but I get the feeling that’s going to now be a spring project. Listen - I’ll take what I can get around here! ;)

I’m running to town for groceries and other errands. Friday I am goofing off with my BFFs and we’re hitting a local outdoor mall and then lunch at Biaggi’s (Italian!) I really don’t need anything; it’s just our usual social get-together. We will hit Bath & Body Works, Work Market, Home Goods and Marshall’s, for sure. We’ve decided to stop driving to Milwaukee to shop - the stores are not what they used to be and it wastes precious shopping time!

Brisket is doing well. Little Schatze got her foot run over by the truck (Beau) so she’s been on meds and bed rest for a week. It doesn’t appear to be broken, and she IS eating, so no trip to the Vet.

Mom needs a trip to the Vet, though! She’s had a nasty virus for nearly a week now. She’s on her second round of meds, but says she is feeling well enough to go get her hair done today.

Yeah - YOU try telling her to settle down, LOL!

Have a Great Day, Everyone!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

10 Tips for Preparing Your Garden for Winter

The Old Farmer’s Almanac

1. Harvest and store Vegetables

2. Prepare Herbs for Winter

3. Mulch!

4. Prepare Your Berry Patch

5. Prepare Your Perennials

6. Winterize Your Roses

7. Prepare Trees and Shrubs

8. Turn off the Water - Put Away The Hoses

9. Help Wildlife and Fill Bird Feeders

10. Do all the Needed General Maintenance

Details at link: https://www.almanac.com/10-tips-preparing-your-garden-winter