Tag Archives: mushrooms

What else you got?

Mushrooms,

This is what Ron swears each of THF’s restaurant customers asked him on a regular basis. He used this line as his justification to start a new project. We already have a set of logs that we hope with grow nameko mushrooms and made one attempt at totem growing of oyster mushrooms. We did have some success with the oysters, but using


this method meant there was no way for us to force fruiting and that we would just have to wait for nature to take it’s course. That was not going to work for Ron.

So last summer he decided he wanted to try growing oyster mushrooms in buckets. He decided on the PoHu strain as they are considered the most productive one. This is an even more complicated process that inoculating shiitake logs. First he had to find a deal on and buy food grade white buckets. And we are now the proud owners of a huge clambake pot with insert along with the heater needed for it. Just where the heck are we going to store that when not in use?

When he had all the supplies on hand; the work started. He had to measure, mark and drill holes in each bucket. This is what the mushrooms will grow out of. Then he had to chop the straw that he would layer with the spawn in said buckets. He did this out at THF as it is messy job. He shoved it all into a couple of garbage bags and brought them home with him. Chopping is not only necessary for ease of use, but for getting rid of the seeds. We learned that harsh lesson last year. Once the straw was ready, it now needed to be pasteurized. That meant lining the pot insert with one of our old sheets and filling it with the straw. That was dropped down into the pot and it was filled with water. The pot, of course was already sitting on the heating element. Heat was applied and then he waited for the water to reach between 160 to 180 degrees. It has to remain there for 2 hours in order to be pasteurized. This involved Ron’s best work. He sat in a chair several feet from pot and waited. Making sure the flame did not go out and that the temp stayed relatively constant.

Once the straw was ready he called me on me to help with the really hard part. We had to lift the insert filled with soaking wet straw out of the pot and carry it to the set up tables.

While I am a seriously hard worker and have a strong back (thank you parents), I don’t have as much upper body strength as I needed. It was a nearly impossible task. I honestly don’t know how we did. Not once but numerous times of the course of this project. Every time we did this I tried to think of some way for us to get it done easier. Ron is now planning to have a hoist system built. He is going to move the process out to THF this year and wants to be able to get it done by himself.

The tables were covered with plastic sheeting and the straw filled sheet was laid out on top of it. We spread it out, making sure to keep the straw inside the sheet. Then we covered the whole thing up with the sides of plastic to keep assorted things like bugs out. Now he waited as it had to cool enough to be handled.

The marked buckets were given a quick spray of cleaner and with food grade gloves on, Ron layered the straw and oyster spawn into the bucket. He packed it down solidly after each layer and filled it to the top. Then the lid was banged on and it was ready to be taken out to THF.

Of course that was not the end of the work. Each bucket to set inside a black plastic bag with a wood cross piece on top to keep the plastic away from the side. And every couple of days they had to be looked over and misted.

Once the mushrooms were truly showing, they were taken out of the plastic bag and just set on the table. This year was mostly an experiment to see if Ron could get them to grow and what time frame they needed. He wants to have another type of mushroom he can sell when he needs to. I hope he was paying attention to the time frame, because I wasn’t.

Though all of the pictures I took might just come in handy. If only we had numbered each bucket so we knew what series they were part of. That specific info would probably be helpful this year. Being Ron, he now has plans to expand production. To that end he is going to have his Amish builder come up with a rack system for him to use. Ron has the plans in his head. The hard part will be getting the rest of us to understand it. The buckets will be suspended along the rack so he has easier access to them for spraying and harvesting.

He can’t wait to get started with the building this spring. Personally I am more worried about what Jo will talk her dad into. She loves the shiitakes and thinks the oysters are great too. They have a mild flavor and a velvety texture. She was looking over the Field and Forest Products catalog and has grand plans to grow more of the mushrooms they offer. Just what we need in our already complicated life.

Mother Earth News Fair 2018

Learning Adventures, , , , ,

First let me say, thank goodness the planners of this event have obviously been in touch with the Mohawk Valley Garlic Fest planners.  Ron and I really enjoy coming to this every year and it would be very sad if they decided to hold this event on the same weekend in September.

Our trip down on Friday, the 14th was a good one.  Weather cooperated with just a few spots of raininess here and there.  The first workshops started at noon and we had a 7 hours drive ahead of us, so we were packed and out the door at 3:30 am.  The goal again was to get a good parking spot in the lower lot.   Yeah, I know.  We are a bit crazy.  But until you have walked up that hill to get your car after a day of walking around to all your workshops, don’t judge.

This is the second leg of your journey up the hill to the parking lot.  It starts with 3 flights of stairs.  Then up this “ramp” and across the road to the real walk.

And this is just the first part of the major effort to get to and from your vehicle.  The actual parking lot starts at the top of this hill and goes on for what seems like forever.   There are thousands of people attending and they all need a place to park.

Unfortunately we were late and the guy manning the gate directed us up the hill after all.  We were able to find a parking spot not too far up along the left side of road and opened up the cooler to grab a quick lunch and headed down to the main building.

Once again Ron was focused on any and all mushroom workshops, including a three hour one with Tradd Cotter.  He had to pay extra for this one.  This was part of their “hands on” workshop series.

Here he is getting some mushroom spawn from Tradd.  He looks more than a bit giddy to my eyes.  Not sure what the right description of him is; a fan, camp follower, or groupie?

Homesteading was again a major theme this year with over a dozen workshops dealing with that topic in one way or another.  The good thing is that even if you don’t have or plan to have a small, self sufficient family farm; the information they offered works for anyone who is looking to grow and preserve their own food, make and sell craft products or get themselves off the grid.

This year I was heading to classes on preparing for emergencies, paw paws and foraging, different food products you can make (cider syrup and string cheese) and of course, using herbs in skin care products and medicines.

We were at the very first MEN fair back in 2010 and one of the presenters then was Kathy Harrison.  She had written a book about preparing for emergencies – Just in Case.  She has a new book out this year – Preppng 101 and MEN asked her to come back and hold two workshops.  I went to both of them and she is just the kind of person you need to get advice from.  She is practical, frugal and has a great sense of humor.  Fair warning – if you read her books, she will convince you to make steps for being prepared.  We have an Excalibur dehydrator in our house in part because of her influence.   

Both Ron and I went to the paw paw workshop and it was great.  The presenter, Sara Bir is very enthusiastic about them.  As she is a recipe developer, she has ability to take one of her favorite ingredients and make something yummy with it.   She came prepared with paw paws for us to see and seeds that she was happy to share.  I also attended her foraging workshop and that was great fun too.  Good to know that chances of you dying from eating a foraged fruit are pretty slim.  Apparently you stand a better chance of falling into a hole. The basic rules seem to be if it smells awful and a quick lick says yuck, then don’t eat it.  And you need a good book on plant identification.

We were lucky with the weather at Seven Springs,  with typical fall days.  Cool mornings and some rain but when the sun was out, it was lovely.  As usual the people were great too.  It was so easy to strike up a conversation with the person standing or sitting next to you.  While waiting for Tradd’s 3 hour workshop to begin, Ron and I talked with a couple who are just getting started with mushroom farming.  Right now she works with a vet in her area, so she knows all about hard work.  I told her that the hardest part for Ron is accepting that it is quitting time for the season.   Not this year, as we are totally exhausted, but normally we have to fight him on that issue.  In this case, she told me that she is the one that will not want to stop. I advised her to start keeping notes on everything they do, especially the crazy, funny things that happen.  And that she might want to think about a blog of her own.  While I was waiting for the foraging workshop to begin, I overheard the two men behind me talking about shiitakes.  Before we knew it, we had 7 people talking about growing mushrooms.  I mentioned our efforts to grow those that are used in miso soup and discovered that the couple in front of me was a Navy family and had lived for years in Japan.   I asked if she had learned the language and she had.  Actually got to 4th grade level in their offered classes and is justifiably proud of that.  I struggled with both French and German in school.  Never did have the knack for other languages.

The last workshops ended at 4:30 pm on Sunday and there was no way we were going to head home after that.  It is so worth the cost of an extra night at the hotel.  Ron wanted me to plot a scenic route home and find us a few places to stop.  That really is not easy to do with a GPS or on your laptop.  That is why I still love paper maps.  You can lay them out and see where you are and what roads you can choose to take.  We decided to stick to the highway for the first couple of hours.  Not much would be open before 9 am anyway.  Once we branched off to a small road Ron was happier.  Driving through small towns is his idea of a good drive.  We came across a health food store and stop to check it out.  I discovered they had gallon sized jars for sale.  I paid 20 cents more for those 4 jars than the ones  I purchased them at another store.  But the jar lids were 50 cents cheaper.  All in all, not a bad deal.

We weren’t in any great hurry to get home.  Well, Ron wasn’t.  I am still more a fan of getting where you are headed sooner than later.  After sitting for most of the last 3 days, I wanted our 7 hour drive to be over with.  Besides I have apple cider to buy so I can try making cider syrup.  And I really want to try my hand at fermenting again.   I had success with the garlic and want to try carrots again.  This is what happens each time I go to this event.  I come home full of enthusiasm and plans to try new things.  Somehow I will do my best to squeeze a few more projects into the next few months.  After all Christmas is coming and almost everyone loves to get homemade things.

 

Mother Earth News Fair 2017

Learning Adventures,

Our trip this year started out with a 2 am wake up call Friday morning. By 3 am we were on the road with a 7 hour drive ahead of us. It was a familiar drive but it seems to get just a bit longer each year. Didn’t help that we hit serious fog a few hours in.

We dealt with this for hours.  It would clear for a few miles and then we would be back in it.  We were just over an hour away from our destination of Seven Springs, PA when it finally cleared for good.

We arrived early this year.  Which meant we got to park in the lower lot and avoid the long hoof up the hill to the secondary lots.  We parked and organized our lunch.  I forgot to bring plates for us to use.  It is always something.  You would think after going to so many of these events, there is nothing I would not remember.

They weren’t letting anyone in even to walk around until noon so we had an hour to kill.  But that was easy enough.  Ron found a way around the staff and we wandered around looking at the vendors doing finally prep. We headed back to the main entrance just before 9 am and watched the swarm of people come in.

Once the workshops started, the afternoon went fast. We split up, each heading to our own workshops. There will be a few that we both go to, but we learned long ago that it is better to go our separate ways. Not only do we get a break from each other, but we learn more that way.  Friday was a short day, from 12:30 to 6 pm. I went to workshops on salve making, fermenting and backyard foraging. And did some visiting at vendor booths. Ron and I met up after the last workshop and headed back to our hotel. Once again we were staying at the Comfort Inn in Somerset. This year I brought dinner with us. Chicken salad, watermelon, cucumber and beer.  Made it so much easier than trying to find a place to eat. Both of us were exhausted so we had an early night.

Next morning Ron realized he forgot to bring underwear.  Thank goodness for stores that are open 24 hours.  A quick trip and he was set for the rest of our trip.   We also picked up a few more snacks.   Saturday workshops started at 10 am. Still cannot understand why such a late start to the day. So many people who come to this type of events are early risers. Maybe they are trying to give us all a break?  We arrived early enough to once again get into the lower parking lot. This year they were trying something different. Hands on classes.  Things like butter churning, making a mead or sourdough starter, fermenting mustard and a  kombucha demo. They were hugely popular. But they really need to come up with a better plan.   In order to attend the class, you had to pick up a special ticket. This meant waiting in line for over an hour.  You can imagine how annoyed some people were.  I wanted to get into the lavender sea salt body scrub class and while I waited in line, I missed one of the workshops I had down on my list. That was disappointing.  But I had a good time talking with the people in line with me.  As I was first in line, I had no trouble getting the ticket I wanted.  Have to say the class was worth the wait too.  Hoping they will continue with hands on classes next year, but figure out a better way to run them.

Dinner on Saturday was at the Rey Azteca Mexican Restaurant.  We make sure we have at least one dinner there every trip.  They have great food and we usually run into at least one other couple who is also attending The Fair.

Sunday morning was a bit sad as it was the last day.   I had a bit of a scare when I hit the soap dish with my elbow and it fell down and shattered in the tub.  We cleared it up as best we could, stopped at front desk to tell them and headed out.  We had an early start as there was a mushroom identification session at 8 am.   Again we ended being able to park in the lower lot.  And even closer to the doors this time.  Getting to the fair site early enough really does pay off.

Tradd Cotter, the mycology expert who gave a couple of workshops, had also taken a group out at 7:30 am on Saturday and they collected all the mushrooms they could find.  Now he was going to tell them what they all were.   I was surprised, but shouldn’t have been at the number of people who showed up.  There are so many people interested in mushrooms these days.

The last workshop ended at 4:30 and we headed back to the hotel for one more night there.  There was no way we were going to start on a 7 hour drive home at that time of night.   We had a meatloaf dinner at a local diner and called it a night.   We packed up most of our stuff and settled in to watch the Ken Burns show on the Vietnam War.  I didn’t make it through the show and fell asleep pretty quickly.

No need to get up early on Monday but we were still up and about by 5 am.  We had a good breakfast, packed up the Transit and set off up the road.  Less than a hour into our trip and we hit fog again. Worse than the drive down.  Ron was disappointed that so many things were closed on Monday.  We couldn’t find a single place to stop.  He would have been happy with the largest ball of string or a house with 27 cats in it.

We got home about 4 pm and it was a welcome sight.  It had been a long weekend and we were both glad to be home.  Of course Ron insisted on the three of us making a trip out to THF.  He wanted to check on his shiitakes. It had been a full four days since he was out there last.  He was suffering from withdrawal.

I always enjoy going to the Mother Earth News Fair and come home with lots of enthusiasm for finally tackling all those projects I have brewing in the back of my mind.  Wonder how long it will last this time?

 

 

 

 

 

Mushrooms? Really?

Mushrooms

Last year Ron not only decided he wanted to be a farmer, he wanted to be mushroom farmer. Shiitakes no less. This was not going to be your normal American family farm with all hands on deck working 24/7. Oh no, this was going to be a low effort farm. Drill some holes, fill them with mushroom spawn, cover with wax and haul out to the woods. Then just wait for nature to take its course. That is how he described his plan to me anyway. There was no mention of the hard work involved in just getting our hands on the 200 logs, known as bolts that he needed to get started. And boy, does he owe me. Not only did I agree not to have him committed when he thought up this plan, but because I went to work everyday looking for sympathy from my friends, they heard all about Farmer MacRonald. Josi, bless her heart, volunteered Ryan to supply the bolts. But that was just the beginning. Ron had himself a list of things that he either needed to buy or do before “the work” part was done. He advised me to go out to the backyard and dig up some of the jars I had buried there. Blast, I didn’t think he knew about them.
In order to get the bolts to Augusta, Ron needed to have a trailer hitch installed on his Transit. Then he had to find the right trailer. He spotted a great one on the Home Depot website, only problem is that they did not have one in stock. For Ron, that was no obstacle, just another chance to share the whole grand plan. Not only did they special order the trailer for him, he got the sale price and his military discount.
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There’s our trailer, right on top. Took two different fork lifts and some serious skill on the part of the Home Depot guys, but they got it down and hooked up and off we went. That was March 20.
By that time his order from Field & Forest Products had arrived. 30 pounds of cheese wax, two inoculators (we call them plungers) a bag of 100 wax daubers, special drill bits and 12 bags of mushroom spawn. 6 each spring and winter. Organic of course. Too bad it didn’t come with a couple people to help with the process.
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They had to be stored in the frig until used. In the meantime we had to put together the wagon he ordered. That was needed that in order to move all sorts of stuff from the road, down the path and across the creek. Not only the bolts themselves, but tools, water bottles, bug spray, and assorted things that are needed for every work event. Not to mention the camera I use to document it all. He found one described as a contractor grade wagon that could also be used with 4 wheeler and haul 500 pounds. Made in the USA sealed the deal. It arrived at our house in huge box. I thought it was the cat tree I ordered so Jo and I proceeded to get it inside. That was more great fun as it weighed about 70 pounds and the box was about 5 feet long. Lots of sweating, laughter and some minor swearing later we had it in the family room. Then I realized it was the wagon. Guess I should have read the name on the box. Had to be inside anyway. Too cold outside for any detail work. Ron and I put it together, whoever wrote the directions had a good sense of humor which helped as was a bit complicated.
Now it was time to get the bolts from Ryan.
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Ron and I drove out to Ryan’s place where he had the bolts waiting for us. Josi and little Ryan were also there and helped us load up. We were limited on the number we could take in each load. Which made for a long day, but while it was bitter cold, sky was clear and so were the roads. Public Service Announcement – don’t ever take an unknown road called something Hill. Our GPS sent us down Potato Hill road. So not a good idea. Unloaded at home and headed back up for next run.
A couple of weeks later with much warmer temps we headed back up to get the second 100 logs. Let me tell you, it is hard to get an accurate count of logs.
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To be continued.