Our Future Environment

A few weeks ago I went to the Wild Mushroom Show and was inspired to learn more about mushroom identification and everything mushroom really.

Mushrooms are such complex creatures. I want to start foraging but I can’t imagine relying on my own judgement to identify something as edible. But, as a start I bought this shitake kit for inside my apartment.

The shitake kit is compressed wood chips with mycelium inside. The bumpy texture and firm “squooshiness” of the shitake block is unlike anything you will ever touch. I imagine it is the texture of a slightly dried-out brain.

Those bumps were soon to be mushrooms but only a few actually ended up growing. The block just reached its first cycle before I let it dry out, re-soak, and then grow some more.

Also, in the past couple of weeks I acquired two pumpkins. A white “ghost” pumpkin (according to CBS this was cool in 2009) and a traditional orange one.

The pumpkins came from a roadside stand here in Seattle via Hunter Farms. The seller/farmer was so sincere in his love of pumpkins; I really appreciated him.

I carved the ghost pumpkin into a sun/moon face. The faces of our great lights seemed appropriate for Samhain because this is the point where the harvest ends and the “lighter half” of the year gives way to the “darker half”.

I also thought it would be awesome to spray paint the pumpkins gold.

The spray paint options for pumpkins are endless- neon colors, metallics, chalkboard, glow-in-the-dark, glitter. I have the next decade covered when it comes to pumpkin decor.

Filed under: grow, leisure on November 1st, 2011