February 2013 Update

February draws to a close. It’s snowing today. It’s a heavy, sticky snow that’s clinging to the trees.

It’s very pretty.

Here’s a little video clip, courtesy of the iPhone 4.

We started our onion seeds last week. They’re beginning to sprout. One tray is a week or so ahead because my wife planted the seeds that I’d had in moistened paper towels- testing their germination rates. Seeds saved from 2011 and 2012 seem to have nearly equal vigor. The 2012 seeds were gathered from a smaller selection of bulbs that had shown both desirable characteristics of large size and lengthy storage.

Seeds from the germination tests.

Another experiment going on in the cellar is a mushroom growing kit. Ordered from Fungi Perfecti, this kit requires little more that an occasional misting with water. She selected the “Pearl Oyster Mushroom Patch” and it’s already producing little baby mushrooms. The oyster mushroom is one that we’ve been foraging for in the woods of early autumn. They like to grow on decaying hardwood trees, stumps or logs. They’re easy to spot, difficult to mix up with any other potentially toxic fungi,  have a delicious mild flavor and texture when sauteed in some butter. They freeze well too.

Humidity tent is to be kept in place until fruiting bodies start to press against it.

The kit instructions promise a few pounds of harvested mushrooms. 

After the mushrooms have used up all the nutrients in the kit, the bundle of whatever-it-is can be broken up and put into a compost pile, rotting straw or what-have-you to continue. I’ll let you know how this turns out.

Thanks for visiting! 🙂