february in minnesota

this no snow thing is so weird.

this picture was taken by sticking my camera out the doggy door. because the porch doors were all frosted up.

adorable

birthday pics

homemade pear sorbet from my very own pears!


my birthday gift from a friend, very nice gardening gloves and hand lotion. what every gardener needs.

dog sledding

they neighbors two houses down hooked their two dogs up to a sled and they were pulling the two little boys up and down the snowy street.




the photos didnt turn out all that great, it was overcast and dreary out. and i was taking them thru my living room window.


the dogs were fine with pulling one little kid or the other, but they refused to pull both. so the second kid was getting out of the sled here.


their dogs are a golden retriever and a white fluffy samoyed who kinda blends into the snow in a lot of these photos.


they all seemed to be enjoying themselves tho!

free garden planning software

once you use an email for the free trial, you cant use it again, even years and years later. so anyway, i went over there and signed up for a free 30 day trial under a junk email. and using the quick drawings i made from going back thru my old pictures this morning, i printed out a lovely copy of my garden layouts from 2012, 2013, and 2014. then i made a tentative layout plan for 2015. i try to rotate crops, so these layout pictures really help. i put the layouts from previous years into my garden journal, but am leaving the 2015 out to keep looking at. i have 30 days to tinker with it. then the free trial ends again.

if you're interested, you can sign up here http://gardenplanner.almanac.com/ . no credit card info is asked for or anything. they email you a confirmation code or something like that and then you enter that code in their site and you're good for 30 days. you can only save one version to tinker with, so if you're going to print out multiple years of layouts, i suggest you start with the older ones first. because i used a junk email, i cant honestly remember if they send spam out trying to entice you into buying the whole program, which costs $25 per year. i wouldnt mind buying garden planning software. buying the actual software with a disc to load the software permanently onto my computer. but i'm not paying $25 a year, year after year, just to be able to access it only on the internet.

pear tree pruning

i pruned the pear trees. there wasnt much to prune this year. the only tree that threw off a lot of wild new growth was the parker tree. the others seemed to just work on extending and thickening existing branches for the most part. but its only 18`F out there. very cold on the fingers even in gloves. mostly because i have to stand there and stare at the trees, trying to decide if the branches in one area are too crowded, need to be thinned, or if the weight of those branches when pulled down slightly will be fine. i end up circling the trees a bunch of times, standing and staring. looks like i'll need to weigh down a lot of branches come spring on the luscious, patten, and summercrisp trees. pear trees try to grow all their branches vertical. you have to work against the tree to spread them down more horizontal. ideal crotch angle is about 60`. you dont want fully horizontal 90` angles, and you dont want fully or nearly vertical either. too wide OR too narrow a crotch angle and the branch is weakened and more likely to break off. and you want the branches spread out enough so the sunlight can reach the most leaves and fruit. if you let the branches get too thick or crowded then diseases are more likely to affect the leaves or branches. all things i try to remember as i stand there staring at the trees.

strawberry donuts with strawberry glaze

i made strawberry donuts with strawberry glaze. with real strawberries. and i made a spectacular mess (as usual). i washed my hands a hundred times while this was all going on and i'm still finding sticky spots. everything is sticky! but the donuts were pretty good.

first, thaw the frozen berries


puree the berries


mix up the cake batter and pour into a zip lock bag and cut the corner off


plug in the donut maker


squeeze the bag into the donut maker (try to aim better than i did)


strawberry donuts!


mix up real strawberry glaze and dip donuts in it


plate up and freeze. cuz one box of cake mix makes 4-5 plates of 9 each donuts. and even i cant eat that many at once.


cake mix donuts
mix one dry cake mix with 1 egg, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 cup of water. Whisk the ingredients together until well combined – a few lumps will remain. dump the batter into a large resealable plastic bag, then snip off one corner and use that to “pipe” the batter into the Mini Donut Maker
http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/2014/10/20/quick-easy-baked-cake-mix-donuts-recipe.html#_a5y_p=2716074
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872220827736/

strawberry glaze
1 ½-2 cups powdered sugar
¼ cup very finely chopped (or mashed) fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon milk
combine 1½ cups of powdered sugar, strawberries and milk in a medium-size bowl. Stir well until all powdered sugar is incorporated. Add more powdered sugar till mixture is a thick, dip-able glaze.
Dip doughnut tops into glaze and place on a wire cooling rack until glaze is set.
http://thecafesucrefarine.com/2014/06/baked-buttermilk-donuts-fresh-strawberry-glaze/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872220925977/