Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Oct. 17

Edible Gardening/Putting Things By

From the famous Pat* in Idaho:

This is an orange bell pepper. It is just over 1 inch tall. It identifies as a pumpkin.

Perfect.

Getting ready for pie season?

Winter Preparation

Household items you may want to replace because they're expired

I'm not sure that all of these categories are valid as "dangerous when expired", but it's worth thinking about.

Fall Travel Season

Courtesy Kentuckiana Humor

Fall colors seen from a kayak, from a cousin

Salmon Berry, Washington State

Tractor in Utah County, Jake R. Peterson

Three Sisters, Canmore Alberta
Jamie Almquist

Gardens of The Horde

Neal in Israel bought a new macro lens. Here's a great photo of a daylily.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

If you would like to send photos, stories, links, etc. for the Saturday Gardening Thread, the address is:

ktinthegarden at g mail dot com

Remember to include the nic or name by which you wish to be known at AoSHQ, or let us know if you want to remain a lurker.

Week in Review

What has changed since last week's thread? Gardening, Home and Nature Thread, Oct. 10

I closed the comments on that post so you wouldn't get banned for commenting on a week-old post, but don't try it anyway.

Zinnias from Switzerland

Posted by: K.T. at 01:14 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Stepdad brought in all his tropical plants the other weekend.

They really enjoyed being outside all summer. The banana grew at least 3 feet taller, the lemon and olive both doubled in size and are growing fruit (not sure what found the olive to pollinate it, the flowers are gnat sized) and the noble orchid had mostly recovered from being in the store pot (we re-potted it in a long box)

Posted by: FeatherBlade at October 17, 2026 01:27 PM (VPwH2)

2 Good afternoon Greenthumbs
Thursday being one of last nicest days of year I cleaned out the compost bin. Now can start filling it up again with the new crop of leaves.

Posted by: Skip at October 17, 2026 01:32 PM (Ia/+0)

3 That 'expired stuff' link proves why cast iron is the superior cooking hardware

Posted by: RandomDave at October 17, 2026 01:34 PM (aJQbY)

4 Expired stuff - plenty of items on that list here. Scampywife left the 9V batteries out on the counter last weekend. Which was the annual non-verbal message to swap out the batteries in the smoke detectors.

Posted by: scampydog at October 17, 2026 01:39 PM (41CYW)

5 mmmm, salmonberries! So yummy. Only problem is bears think they are yummy too, so pack heat!

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 17, 2026 01:41 PM (ee9bx)

6 Everybody loves tractors.

Posted by: Eromero at October 17, 2026 01:42 PM (oJjJL)

7 Good afternoon! It's a very temperate 57F, bright and sunny day here in Cowtown. Mowed the lawn and had a sammich and a cookie, and a nap on the patio afterwards. Perfect lawn and gardening weather.

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at October 17, 2026 01:42 PM (3Ope8)

8 We were in the freeze zone last night, so I picked green beans and cayenne peppers yesterday, just in case, but did not pull up the plants, just in case. It did not freeze, but I have about a pound of peppers to do something with. There are a lot of cayennes in a pound.

It's warming for the next week, so production will continue. It's nice to have a productive garden, but odd to have it start in mid-September.

Posted by: huerfano at October 17, 2026 01:46 PM (2Xqig)

9 Reported my wife has a plant experiment in basement, under a solar light trying to grow a cabbage, tomato and a pepper plant.
The cabbage is biggest. Tomato it getting above the plastic shroud around this experiment, and pepper is smallest mayve 6 inches high. So far all are growing.

Posted by: Skip at October 17, 2026 01:47 PM (Ia/+0)

10 From previous thread:

86 Wife has the heater running, at least it is working as it should
Posted by: Skip at October 17, 2026 01:13 PM (Ia/+0)

I did that earlier this week as a test and jinxed us into two days of mid-90's temps. Should 'SHOULD' drop-down to mid-80's today but lately weather service hasn't been too accurate about daytime highs for some reason....

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at October 17, 2026 01:47 PM (QGaXH)

11 Nice photos! I'm about to hit the trail and drink in the fall foliage. *pats hip flask*

I just bought a giant white pumpkin. I'll save some of the seeds and try and grow some myself next gardening season.

I'm not the only one planning for next year's crop, am I?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 17, 2026 01:56 PM (kpS4V)

12 Re-stocked the Cayenne Pepper decanter with 16 ounces of fresh, dry, red pepper from HEB for US $7 something versus the usual US $10.99 from Kroger (also 16 oz) ... the only difference is, HEB weighs it out on a scale into a zip lock bag whereas from Kroger it's in its own plastic container. I go through one of these (16 oz.) in about 8 months.

Posted by: _Jim at October 17, 2026 01:58 PM (Z+enJ)

13 The last picture is of dahlias, not zinnias.

Posted by: Derak at October 17, 2026 02:02 PM (vgtjr)

14 Eris, I'm seriously considering a few things that are low-maintenance. Turnips, maybe? Potatoes?

Posted by: RandomDave at October 17, 2026 02:03 PM (aJQbY)

15 Squssh, plant it ant will grow over everything

Posted by: Skip at October 17, 2026 02:14 PM (Ia/+0)

16 Fire-season has arrived in So. Cal also.

We're not in any immediate danger, concrete doesn't burn....

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at October 17, 2026 02:15 PM (QGaXH)

17 I advocate its possible to build a fire proof home from outside fires, certainly enough materials these days to do it

Posted by: Skip at October 17, 2026 02:24 PM (Ia/+0)

18 The last picture is of dahlias, not enemas.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at October 17, 2026 02:24 PM (20rp9)

19 16 Fire-season has arrived in So. Cal also.

We're not in any immediate danger, concrete doesn't burn....

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at October 17, 2026 02:15 PM (QGaXH)

Cedar fire started October of 2003...burned 273,246 acres of land in San Diego County, California, destroyed 2,820 buildings and killed 15 people. There were still burning embers in December 2003...
That was a bad one. Stopped a mile from my house...

Posted by: Gerbils United at October 17, 2026 02:26 PM (l3cgK)

20 18 The last picture is of dahlias, not enemas.

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at October 17, 2026 02:24 PM (20rp9)

Had a niece that put a tampon on the Christmas tree...but never an enema...

Posted by: Gerbils United at October 17, 2026 02:28 PM (l3cgK)

21 off furry sock...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 17, 2026 02:29 PM (l3cgK)

22 15 Squssh, plant it ant will grow over everything

Posted by: Skip at October 17, 2026 02:14 PM (Ia/+0)

The ants in my backyard crawl over everything...I even found them in my pecan tree...

Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 17, 2026 02:30 PM (l3cgK)

23 Three 2007 fires in SD County were much bigger and worse. Only a timely change in weather prevented the pretty much complete destruction of south bay areas like Chula Vista. Would have been the largest insurance casualty event in US history, by a good margin. 10s of thousands of structures destroyed. (this was the Harris fire that was along the border)

Notice in so many comments on the San Juan Capistrano (not San Clemente) fire that the false template is firmly planted in what passes for many people's minds.

Under video of houses threatened by a fire in normal brush on a million-year-slope, they denounce the lack of "management". You clear-cut 500 yds of brush behind that row of homes, you get mudslides. And the cut won't matter. Embers travel up to 3 miles, super-heated air flows like a flooding river. Just another example of mindless paganism in which every thing that happens in the universe, or doesn't, is simply the result of guvamint doing something, or not. No hope of the public ever getting more of a clue, and long the case, but still is a head-shaker.

Posted by: rhomboid at October 17, 2026 02:34 PM (U/Byj)

24 And there are abundant options for very fire-resistant home designs.

Posted by: rhomboid at October 17, 2026 02:35 PM (U/Byj)

25 Probably too late to the thread, but there are seed clusters on the path that are about the size and color of tennis balls, and they look like cauliflower. Anyone know what trees these come from?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at October 17, 2026 02:37 PM (CHHv1)

26 21 off furry sock...
Posted by: jim (in Kalifornia) at October 17, 2026 02:29 PM (l3cgK)

You forgot, huh?

I've done that too. LOL!

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at October 17, 2026 02:39 PM (QGaXH)

27 Anyone know what trees these come from?
Invasion of the body snatchers

Posted by: Commissar of plenty and festive little hats at October 17, 2026 02:40 PM (+6e2h)

28 24 And there are abundant options for very fire-resistant home designs.
Posted by: rhomboid at October 17, 2026 02:35 PM (U/Byj)

I'm more at risk of coastal flooding (ocean in two directions) than fire (40 miles of concrete in the other two directions).

Posted by: Anonymous Rogue in Kalifornistan (ARiK's phone) at October 17, 2026 02:43 PM (QGaXH)

29 I planted thimbleberry and blackcap raspberries in my old raspberry plot that succumbed to some sort of root rot. They grew very well, especially the thimbleberries that put out those giant velvety leaves on stalks that are shoulder height. Unfortunately after 4 years the thimbleberries refused to put out a single fruit, so I have dug them all up, in preparation of putting in some Marionberry starts
I expect to be fighting thimbleberries for several years since it spreads via rhizome and is quite aggressive.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 17, 2026 02:45 PM (rbvCR)

30 Osage oranges?

Posted by: Reader at October 17, 2026 02:46 PM (JrHfD)

31 Ok, I don't care if it is an AI generated photo. Those bed pillows are disgusting.

Posted by: Orson at October 17, 2026 02:50 PM (dIske)

32 30 Osage oranges?
Posted by: Reader at October 17, 2026 02:46 PM (JrHfD)
________________

I have a bunch of those. Never park your car under them.

And a cool thing about them is those trees and their fruit were around when Mammoths and Mastodons walked the Earth. Osage Orange trees were essentially kept plentiful because these extinct animals would eat the fruit and disperse the seeds across North America.

Posted by: Orson at October 17, 2026 02:55 PM (dIske)

33 I'm not the only one planning for next year's crop, am I?
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at October 17, 2026 01:56 PM (kpS4V

I have divided my garden into areas, and I rotate planting areas in the garden from (in sequence order) Potatoes followed by bush beans when I dig the potatoes in July, Corn interplanted with squash on the second year, Tomatoes and peppers that I mulch with chips around the cages for the third, and a "fallow year" of cabbage, onions, swiss chard, radishes and the odd volunteer tomato if I have room so the chips get dug in and broken down for the potatoes the following year.
The onions are an ongoing experiment to see if I can get enough grown to make it worth while to dedicate a whole area, or if maybe I need to dig up more lawn.

I tend to overthink the whole thing, but I like getting plants into dirt, I look forward to it every year. Planning addresses my jonesing.

Posted by: Kindltot at October 17, 2026 03:02 PM (rbvCR)

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