Fungi!

As the snow melts the work load builds and builds. Cleaning up and organizing outside and preparing to take inventory of the hundreds of nursery trees and root stocks scattered around the property. Inside the greenhouses there is planting everyday and I recently constructed a number of trellises for the beans and peas. I am very excited because I started some Oyster mushrooms two days ago. It was simple and I am excited to see what kind growth occurs. We ordered the spawn from FungiPerfecti. It came as a bundle of inoculated wood chips. I put about three gallons of coffee grinds into a five gallon bucket. Moistened them and then mixed them with the inoculated wood chips. FungiPerfecti provided a 'humidity tent' which I covered the bucket with and now I mist twice daily and wait a few weeks. Easy.

Jerome and I prepared a bed in the Phoenix greenhouse today which was a new variation on the sheet mulching. The procedure went as follows:

1) Cover pre-existing soil and leaves with perennial Mycelium. 

2) Layer of manure and straw. (Cleanings form rabbit coop)

3) Layer of coffee grounds

4) Layer of ash

5) Inoculate with worms from worm bins

6) Cover with lots of leaves.

7) Moisten

It sounds like tomorrow we are going to be doing a whole new variation on the sheet mulching for a different bed so I am excited to see what that will be. It all depends on what is available.  This is a part of Jerome's 'stream-of-consciousness' gardening. Basically there is no stopping.  No beginning or end.