Mushroom farm

I've had a go at growing mushrooms in the past using those kits you get in polystyrene boxes and have to put in the shed or the airing cupboard, but they were always for fairly boring white mushrooms.

Recently though, I came across Ardnamushrooms Shitake block at the Partick Farmer's Market in Glasgow in May and they're great.

It's a gypsum and woodchip block that's colonised with shitake spores. You soak it in cold water for a couple of days, then set it up in a humid chamber (basically a plastic box with water in the bottom and an old towel draped through the water and up the sides with cling-film over the top) somewhere it will get the light for at least half the day, and just let it go. It produces mushrooms for a couple of weeks which you harvest as soon as they're big enough. Once it stops producing, you take the block out of the chamber, trim off any bits of mould that have come along for the ride, and store it dry for eight weeks. By then, it's ready for another round of production.


This block is in it's second cycle of production for us and the guy from Ardnamushrooms reckons that it's possible to get up to 8 rounds of production out of one block.


The mushrooms taste really good too!

Update

I've finally got round to getting the camera out and taking some pictures so here's how my knitting and garden are going...


The vast expanse of grey monotony that was Betty has suddenly taken shape now she's sewn up. All she needs now are some sleeves, the first of which is already on the DPN's, and a brooch for fastening (I'm using a darning needle in the photo). I learned a new technique during knitting Betty that I'm so pleased with, I'm still grinning about it. Spit splicing has been mentioned on quite a few blogs lately so I thought I'd give it a go. Never again will I have to weave in ends on 'felting' wools! I was a bit squeamish and used water instead of spit though, the scientist in me kept thinking about the sugars, bacteria etc in spit and just couldn't do it!

All the mild weather and rain we've been having lately have brought on the garden beautifully...


...the broad beans are now about 4 feet high...


...and there are small green strawberries developing already!

The clematis in the back garden which is always a few weeks behind the one at the front due to aspect etc is also in full flow.

Happy Sunny Day...

...It's another beautiful day here in Glasgow. The sun has been shining now for a week and it just makes me happy to be here.



This is the best bit of my daily walk to work - crossing the Forth and Clyde canal between locks 26 and 27. The canals in Scotland were all overhauled as part of a year 2000 project and ever since, they've been really well maintained and are great to walk along or lounge beside.

Here are a couple of photos of my pride and joy - my garden. This year I'm growing broad beans, lettuce, spinach, strawberries, spring onions and leaks in containers and tumbler tomatoes in a hanging basket. I've also got a rockery full of useful kitchen herbs. I've always loved growing my own food but this house has quite a small garden so I've had to be a bit inventive about how to get the most from it. Last year I grew potatoes in sacks against the back fence which was a huge sucess but as we're hoping to be moving house later in the summer, I didn't want to risk potatoes this year. I get very excited at this time of the year when everything starts growing quickly - the broad beans have grown about 4 inches in a week and the lilies have shot up about a foot in three weeks.


Finally we have a bit of yarn content. This is some Hipknits aran weight silk I found in the reduced bin here (the last few skeins of this colour in stock) which is destined for this pattern. Finally I feel like I've found my summer project and now I have to track down some 4/0 silver-lined seed beads so I can get started. I'm normally fairly monogamous in my knitting - I rarely have more than one major project on the needles at once but Betty is getting to me (though more progress has been made - I'm nearly at the arm-hole decreases on the back) and I need something to feed my desire for something a bit more glamourous! I think this pattern will hit the spot. I think I may even have enough yarn left over to crochet an evening bag to go with the stole.

More yarn

Look what just arrived - and I really mean just arrived... the package arrived on my desk, I opened it, photographed it and am now blogging about it in less than 10 minutes! I can't wait to get started with it - I might even have a Lizard Ridge in the process of assembly by Easter Monday.

Of course this new arrival means that Klaralund is going to be taking a back seat for a while. I'm really making progress on her now...


...this is the completed body (the colours are slightly stronger than the photo suggests and the deliniation in colour is less marked). I wound the skeins I think I'll need for the sleeves last night and started the first. I much prefer knitting in the round on DPNs rather than on a circular needle so I'm going to enjoy the sleeves more than the body. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I hate winding skeins. I have a ball winder, but I have to take the yarn off the skein, onto the floor (where the cat insists on 'inspecting it') before I can wind it up. My birthday is coming up and my Dad is a very gifted woodworker so I'm thinking about asking for a swift to make the whole process slightly less painful.

Finally, a gratuitous couple of pictures of my garden. Spring seems to have definitely arrived in Glasgow so I got out into the garden at the weekend and tidied up, moved plants around and added some new ones.