the greenhouse heater

the new heater in the greenhouse


its a nice 'oil radiator' style heater


inside the greenhouse view of the new cord 'hatch' and the new garage outlet


the cords are strung up around the greenhouse shelf supports to keep them from touching the floor, but also to create a lower point, in case condensation occurs on the cords, that it wont travel from outdoors up and around thru to the heater.


the tray of lettuce out in the greenhouse


the tray of radish greens out in the greenhouse, a little droopy because the greenhouse still heats up in the sun, even it the nights get down to freezing.



79`F INSIDE the greenhouse, but only 40`F outside. sunshine makes a huge difference.

minion crochet

mom crocheted a minion hat, little minion slippers, and big minion slippers


and a minion purse

powerwashing the porch steps

the porch/sunroom sticks out off the back of the house. it has steps on three sides. the north side is perpetually in the shade, and tends to grow moss. so about every other year my dad brings up his power washer and we make it go away. its a rather time consuming chore, as the moss likes to stay where it is.

the moss gets pretty bad on the north side.


i didnt think to take pictures until after i'd already started


the first pass


farther down. dont mind the leaves, they were falling constantly the whole time i was spraying. i did sweep off the steps before i started. the leaves just kept coming.


even the stringers underneath the steps have to be sprayed off, which requires some creative bending and maneuvering to reach properly.


dont they look SO much better?!!?


the nice clean steps on the east side. they're only half in the shade, so they dont get as bad as the north side, but the right end, closest to the camera, gets bad. the left end stays pretty good. the unpictured steps on the south side are nearly always in the sun, so they stay pretty clean.


here is an old picture of the porch on the back of the house, before we replaced the rotted steps.

greenhouse heater cord hatch

my new extension cord for the heater in the greenhouse. it LOCKS! you push the button in, plug in the cord, and let the button go, and you cant unplug it! it stays plugged in until you press the button. i got one of these extension cords for my leaf blower too. that cord was ALWAYS coming unplugged. i LOVE these cords, they're awesome.


i made a special panel on the outside of the greenhouse that can swing all the way closed when the cord is out.


the flap swings opens to let the cord plug thru.


then slides mostly closed while the cord is plugged in.


blueberry oatmeal cookies


train puzzle


of my four different pear tree varieties, only the luscious tree turns red. the other three only turn yellow.

doggy videos

puppy REALLY likes to destroy the sunflower heads. he just bites and rips and spits. molly comes up and is all what the hell are you doing? i dont get it! hey- i'll eat that!


conversations with molly

sugar beet vs sweetpea

i planted lots of things in the first raised bed that didnt come up this year. an entire row of sugar beets, an entire row of rutabagas. of both of those rows, only one sugar beet came up. and while it was growing i couldnt tell if it was a sugar beet or rutabaga. i'm not familiar enough with their large foliage to tell the difference. it wasnt until i pulled it up this fall that i knew it was a sugar beet.


but only one wasnt enough to go to the trouble of boiling down and trying to make sugar. so i gave it to sweetpea thinking she might like the greens.


its rather huge.


sweetpea investigated it


nibbled a bite or two, and then ignored it.


after it was ignored, i decided to peel it, make it more edible for sweetpea. the sugar beet was pretty hard.


the peeled bits she nibbled on


but didnt eat very much of it

pulling up the beans and trellises, putting the garden to bed

i pulled up all the beans and the trellises


pulled out some of the tomato cages


some tomatoes still left


empty garden. beans used to be here.


tomatoes


brussels sprouts


asparagus ferns


ripening green tomatoes with the help of a couple apples (and a fruit fly trap lower left)