I happen to live where there are plenty of squirrels, opossums, and raccoons, such that trying to grow fruit or nut trees becomes quite a challenge! For example, I tried to grow persimmons but before they could even begin to ripen the raccoons climbed the young trees and literally many of the limbs in search for food. (more…)
Having previously built the base of the wooden worm bin, as can now be seen in the pictures (click to enlarge), I have constructed the top section. I purchased a roll of 2′ wide 1/4″ hardware cloth for less than $6, cut to length with tin snips, and stapled firmly to the bottom of the new top. Referring to the pics, I also attached little legs to further reinforce the square and provide stabilization for the top section, and also added a block into each internal corner. (more…)
About a year ago when I inoculated my last group of shiitake logs, I also did an experiment by inoculating a couple of logs with the elm oyster mushroom hypsizygus ulmarius. I don’t remember where I read it, but it was someone’s opinion that it had a superior taste and texture over the conventional ‘pleurotus ostreatus’ oyster mushroom. (more…)
Hey, this is pretty cool! After having read a few articles on the seed germination benefits of worm castings, I decided to do a side by side comparison between vermicompost (dug from my ‘worm pit’) and regular seed starter mix. Referring to the pic (click to enlarge) the bottom row are seeds that I planted using my vermicompost and the top row are in the seed starter mix. (more…)
I mentioned earlier, when I built the DIY stackable hot composter that I had an idea (using the same fence cut-offs) to make an efficient worm composter. Well, the first step in this plan will be to build the bottom section. As you can see, I have just basically taken the same idea of butt joining the fence cut-offs together to make the box (refer to the above link for details). (more…)
Here are some reishi logs I inoculated in my Florida yard last year. I have had about 3 fruitings on these logs and have dried an entire bag of reishi for usage in teas. The picture on the right is of reishi that I sliced and dried. I basically purchased a 100 count bag of reishi dowel plugs from Fungi Perfecti and while I was preparing logs for shiitake inoculation, (more…)
I want to share a wonderful risotto recipe with you that we make using certain of our mushrooms (primarily the chicken of the woods but also the elm oyster). (more…)
After having recently added all the ingredients to my worm pit as I mentioned in my first post, I went out today and dug down and saw little worms everywhere! I think they were baby P. Excavatus, and one goal of mine with this worm pit is to produce a sufficient number so that I can start a worm bin “compost castings factory” that will supply my gardening and farming needs. (more…)
I came up with this simple, effective method for extending the growing season for a variety of plants. In fact, I used several of them a couple of years ago to grow many heirloom tomato plants all the way through the winter in my Northeast Florida garden. It would be most effective to use this as supplimental heat in a greenhouse or hoop house - and I used them in the latter manner to grow the tomatoes above. (more…)
Well I have caught one of those holiday season bugs that many of us get this time of the year. I think it must be a strain of the flu and I am fairing pretty well by taking my reishi tea, citrus, garlic, echinacea and a host of other things. However, one thing that I miss this year is my elderberry extract (more…)
