Sunday 8 January 2012

B-logging into the new year

Happy new year! Apologies for the lengthy silence, I was struck down with an unwelcome bout of festive flu and have since been luxuriating in the wonderousness of my own full health. Sometimes it's enough just to feel normal again...

People keep asking what my favourite Christmas present was this year, so here it is: a grow-your-own wild mushroom kit, imaginatively gifted by my other half (thanks lovely x)

The kit consisted of three types of plug, each impregnated with a different mushroom mycelium (the spore that mushrooms grow from). To grow the mushrooms, all we had to do was insert the plugs into freshly cut logs, drilling holes and then knocking in the plugs with a hammer, before sealing with a protective log wax.

Drilling holes for the plugs
Adding the mushroom mycelium
Sealing the surface with wax to prevent contamination
We foraged three lengths of freshly cut oak from a nearby wood that had been cut back, which we plugged and are now settling in under a bush in the garden.  With luck, I will have a bounty of shitake, oyster and lion's mane mushrooms sometime around Autumn.

It's a lengthy wait I'll admit, but half the fun was putting it all together and waiting for it to grow. Who says you have to choose between delayed gratification and instant pleasure?

3 comments:

  1. Wow! This is an amazing gift and something I've always wanted to try. I have yet to find a company that will ship to Hawaii, but a girl can dream. Good for you and happy growing!

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  2. Sorry to hear if your festive illness - I too was struck down by a bout of the dreaded lurgy! I think that the best presents are those that you can look forward to after the celebrations have faded. We grew mushrooms last year (a present from me to my other half) and they were great. I'm sure that, come Autumn, you'll be feasting on fungi!

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  3. Thanks for the well wishing - I'm all better now and chomping at the bit for the new year!

    @Sarah - I hope I have as much success with my mushrooms as you did, I will be following their progress so watch this space...
    x

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