puppy, greenhouse, and hose repair

puppy shaking off the grass he just rolled in


more stuff moved out to the greenhouse, again these pictures are from back in april.


soaker hose repair


the black part of the hose repair actually fits INSIDE the end of the hose. the green parts clamp the hose around the inner black part, sealing the hose end to the hose repair parts. the yellow cap is just an end cap.


good as new! (but a few feet shorter)


another hose repair, this one repairing a hole in the middle that had to be cut out. each green part clamps the end of the soaker hose, connecting them without leaks. i buried the hose before i remembered i wanted to take a picture... cuz i'm good like that

installing a new outlet for the greenhouse on the outside of the garage

i have no outlets anywhere on the outside of my house. so to string an extension cord to a heater in the greenhouse, i had to run it thru the doggy door into the porch. and leave it that way for months. so my dad helped me install an outlet on the outside of the garage. these pictures are from mid april.

first you must cut a hole thru the siding. had a slight oops while cutting.


for future reference, the right tool for this is a jigsaw, not a sheetrock saw. but i did not have a jigsaw and my dads jigsaw was back at his house.


the oops crack went thru the entire piece of siding. but we repaired it with construction adhesive.


view from inside the garage. we located the hole for the new outlet on the other side of the stud from an existing outlet. in this picture, the gray 'in' wire is still connected to the outlet. the gray 'out' wire, for outlets down-series has been pulled out.


existing indoor outlet on the left, back side of the new outdoor outlet box on the right.
in this picture a new 'out' wire has been run from the existing/left outlet (on its lower right side) to the new/right outlet on its lower left side, becoming an 'in' wire to that box. and the old 'out' wire for outlets down-series has been re-installed to the new/right outlet box, the lower right grey wire.


wires for the new outlet


existing outlet back in place with outlet cover.


new outlet connected, black wires to brass screws (B to B). one black wire is 'in' or 'line', bringing the power into the outlet. one black wire is 'out' or 'load', carrying the load of power on down to the rest of the outlets in the series.


ground wire to green screw (G to G). white wires to silver screws (white close to silver in color).


notice that strange horizontal slash thru the left outlet plug? that means its a heavy duty 20 amp outlet (MOAR POWER) rather than a regular household 15 amp outlet. means i can plug the heater in, because the wiring and the outlet and the circuit are all heavier duty to support the extra current.


normally you would (carefully) push the wires and the outlet into the outlet box and screw it to the outlet box. but because this outlet will be outdoors, and will be in use during snow, the outlet was installed with a special outlet cover to enclose not just the outlet, but also the extension cord plug, and protect them from the elements of a minnesota winter.


box with the cover in place


heavy duty extension cord plugged in


view of the cord disappearing up into the box

strawberries!

i pulled the frost blanket and all the leaves off the strawberries


dumped the leaves into the new raised bed garden, and laid the frost blanket out in the sun to dry off. wet soggy leaves discolor it, but moisture and air can still move thru it. so the strawberry plants underneath it arent smothered or suffocated. and this blanket thing makes it so much easier to move the insulating leaves off the strawberries in spring.


flipped it over to the other side to dry out, where tons of little leaf bits were stuck to it


molly says 'hi, whatcha doing?'. she followed me back and forth between the strawberries and the new raised bed as i moved the leaves by the bucketful.


unfolded and hung up the frost blanket in the wind to knock off all the little dried leaf bits


it was really windy! took all the clothespins i have (7) to keep it pinned to the line. but knocked off the leaf bits really well!

garden fence repair

garden fence repair


bunnies chewed holes thru the fence last fall


i also used my garden fork to loosen up the soil and bury the first soaker hose an inch or two under the soil. removed the black plastic that was in the first aisle for the last year or two. all the weeds under it should have been thoroughly killed by two summers of sun heating up the black plastic.

the section of green stuff that looks like sprouting grass is actually my rye patch.

seedlings in april

two trays of tomatoes with some onions in between


running out of room


more tomatoes, watermelon, and cantelope


purple coneflower, newly transplanted into bigger pots. the littlest ones didnt make it tho.


black eyed susan (left) and calendula (right), newly transplanted into bigger pots. the potting soil really stuck to the leaves here.


a surprise volunteer from one of the flower seed packets. clover or oxalis or something.

greenhouse pictures

all the cool weather stuff out in the greenhouse, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and bunny tail ornamental grass.


radishes (sweetpea loves radish greens)


i moved the nasturtiums out to the greenhouse. i started them waaaay too early. they're meant to sprawl out, and they are. i tried to carry too many pots out at once and dropped one. spilled dirt everywhere in the porch. tried to scoop it up and ended up with dog fur from the rug in the pot with the nasturtium. meanwhile puppy tried to eat the potting soil i spilled.

pear empanadas

look i made pear empanadas! but i forgot to take pictures before we ate them.


this was for easter dinner dessert. ok so i did get some pictures of the empanadas. there were a few leftover on the pan. they werent pretty, but they were SOOOO delicious!


i made homemade caramel sauce to put on top of the pear empanadas, and mom made pear sorbet with my brothers ice cream maker. the pear sorbet with the pear empanadas and caramel sauce, FABULOUS. i will definitely make these again. maybe with more practice they'll turn out prettier.


easy caramel sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1. Melt butter in a saucepan.
2. Add brown sugar and heavy cream and whisk constantly over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
3. Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes, no more.
4. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Store in refrigerator.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872219914240/ - http://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/2014/08/29/easy-caramel-sauce/

pear empanadas
Filling
1 1/2 cups of fresh pears(diced) i used d'anjou
1/3 cup of water
1/3 cup of apple cider
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon of cornstarch
this time i used premade pie crust instead of making my own. but the website has a recipe for the crust that i might try next time.
Combine diced pears, 1/3 cup of water, 1/3 cup of apple cider in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-heat. Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and cornstarch. Then bring to a boil once again, remove from heat once the filling as thickened. Let it cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 450F degrees
Divide dough into 8 equal portions. Working with one dough portion at a time(cover remaining portions to prevent drying), roll into a 6 inch circle on a lightly floured surface. Spoon about 2 tablespoons filling onto half of circle, moisten edges of dough with water. Fold dough over filling, press edges together with a fork and seal. Place empanadas on baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Combine egg white and 1 tablespoon water, stirring with a whisk, brush over empanadas. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 450F for 12 minutes or until golden. Place on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872219737973/ - http://smilingnthesunshine.blogspot.com/2012/01/pear-empanadasturnovers.html

the other recipe i looked at, for reference.
caramel apple empanadas
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/335447872220198301/ - http://www.momontimeout.com/2013/09/caramel-apple-empanadas