state fair pictures

mom and i went to the state fair. according to wikipedia, The Minnesota State Fair is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance. It is also the 2nd largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair.

pretty flower, huge leaves, nearly as tall as i am. its canna lily!


another pretty flower, different flower, same huge leaves, same tall plant.


see, huge leaves, tall plant. the red flower and the orange flower were interplanted with each other.


a neat metalwork shop


sea turtles, bottom right


more turtles


breakfast - scone with strawberries and cream cheese frosting. SO GOOD!


agriculture/horticulture building. days of yesterbeer, history of beer in minnesota (they had beer tasting, but at 8-9 am, im not really up for beer.)(blown up so i can read it)










pretty pattern made up of live flowers


mom says my zucchini was bigger


the root systems of
back row: peanut, big bluestem (prairie grass), purple clover, alfalfa, buckwheat, corn, potato
down in front: soybean, kentucky bluegrass, dandelion

this blew my mind a little. i didnt realize they had such DEEP roots!

my pears were bigger than ALL of these! mom says i should try entering them and my zucchini next year.


grapes grown here in minnesota! (despite our harsh winters). i wanna grow grapes someday. but i just want grapes for eating or jam making, not wine grapes.


elephant


seed art. all these pictures are made of seeds.






even the kids get in on it.




3d seed art


nicholas tesla






tee-hee


scarecrows




from the bee/honey section of the agriculture/horticulture building


calvin and hobbes cross stitch, creative arts building


piggie bums, crocheted afghan (teehee)


paper art


truck bed liner sprayed on a pair of jeans. i worked at a company who manufactured the equipment (that i assembled) that heated and mixed two separate components and sprayed them out as one, like truck bed liner.


a cute little drummer figurine made of nuts and bolts and little bits of metal.


i used to play piano, so this made me grin. "chopin lizst" (shopping list)


wooden train planter (my dad likes trains)


the train engine planter


the best meat rub i've ever tasted, honey lime rub (they have a booth at the state fair i buy from)


picked up a new thing to try, garlic dill dressing/sandwich spread


picked up a new bar of soap from the same company i got my beloved tea tree soap from


this year i bought 'herbal citris' = lime, grapefruit, bergamot and sandalwood


turtle cookie cutter


free backscratcher!


other free loot


free fans! (its hot in august!)

ground cherry jam

i made ground cherry jam for the neighbors.


cooking it down




the neighbor i made it for gave me these jars to use. it went straight into her fridge, thats why i just poured it into jars instead of canning it proper.



GROUND CHERRY JAM recipe
5 c. berries
1/2 c. water
4 c. sugar
1/2 can (6 oz. size) frozen orange juice
4 tbsp. lemon juice

Remove husks and wash berries. Measure berries and water. Bring to boil and cook until berries burst. Add sugar and frozen orange juice concentrate (not diluted!), and lemon juice. Cook for 30 minutes stirring often to prevent scorching. Jar and seal.
- http://www.cooks.com/recipe/w0j80z8/ground-cherry-jam.html

sweetpea likes green beans

sweetpea eating green beans


crunch n munch


more squash bugs


black eyed peas drying in the greenhouse


a lovely green bean

summercrisp pears

summercrisp pears ripen early!
i need to remember that!

these ripened on the tree and thus rotted a bit. one fell on the ground and was half eaten by ants. i left that one outside.


the truth of those pretty pears, the other side of the picture.


i saved a bunch of white clover seed from the aisles in my garden. its getting a little out of hand, and got invaded by another weed that i couldnt separate from the clover. i plan to lay down black plastic and just kill everything off. with this seed, i can hopefully reseed once the old stuff and weeds are all killed.


this is a 5"x7" envelope. i saved a lot of seed.

butterfly in the greenhouse

a butterfly found its way into the greenhouse.


pretty

it did eventually make its way back out on its own.

not so pretty. the spiders built lots of webs in the greenhouse!


some pears fell on the ground. 2 parker (left), 1 patten (right)

ground cherry pie

i made ground cherry pie. this is a strawberry picking flat i re-purposed to hold the cherries while they dried out for a week or two before husking them.


molly wanted to sniff them


peeled the husk back


fed it to molly. she gobbled it up too quick for the camera to catch.


bucket of ground cherries


husk for the compost bin


pie!




i use a pie shield to keep from overcooking the edges


pie


it turned out too sweet for my taste. too much sugar in the recipe, or my ground cherries must have been extra sweet. but my neighbors were delighted to have it.

garden, raised bed, and doggy pictures

green tomatoes. they stayed green FOREVER this year


watermelon


a couple different vines of the blackeyed peas, the leaves are all weird. all the way up the vine.


the leaves are curled, like shrinkydinks.


the leaves and pods are just beginning to turn brown and dry up


cabbages


brussels sprouts just starting to form


i bought purple coneflower seeds for my dad. the package said plant in summer. it was june. by mid august, this is all the bigger they'd gotten. i think the package lied. i think they need to start early.


the raised bed with ground cherries, and PUPPY! see how his tail curls up over his back? thats apparently not a flat coated retriever feature. what kind of dogs tails do that? maybe puppy has a little shiba inu or husky or something in his mix. its not tightly curled, but its ALWAYS curled up and over.


mollys tail at best only ever sticks straight back, never curls up like puppys. but sometimes i call her thumper because she's got quite the wag to her.


zoomzoomzoom! puppy in the lead, molly on the right. the mailman came. they run from one side of the house to the other. half the time molly doesnt have any idea whats going on, but if puppy is running, then she's running too!


action shots are hard to get in focus. these dogs, they're just so fast! zoom! back to the other side of the house!