danielle gao

I just wanted to update everyone with a non-update. I tried making a mushroom beds out of stiltgrass (before it went to seed) vs hay. I put oyster spawn in one and wine caps in the other. It had been a year and I haven't seen any mushrooms from any beds. So, I can't say the stiltgrass was the problem, since my non-stiltgrass beds didn't work either. If I figure this out, will update.

Charli,
Did you ever try this? I am also looking at what to put in some hanging baskets.

We used cloth diapers the whole time, but basically only because we got a cloth diaper service. It was $100/month and they picked up/delivered weekly. I never washed a single cloth diaper. We lived in apartments with shared washing machines and my neighbors would have noticed if I was washing diapers in the machines (not to mention how many MORE quarters I would have needed.) It also meant that I could get the bigger cloth diapers as my son got bigger and didn't have to buy new ones. I think some of the daycares did not do cloth diapers. That was a shame.

I am having this conundrum (when to plant bare root trees) at this very moment.

I ordered some online. They arrived today, early February. I am in zone 7b and while the low tonight is in the 40s, it will occasionally drop below freezing over the next 2 months. The top 2 inches or so of ground freezes. I had emailed the vendor I bought them from yesterday asking if I should plant them right away or not. They came today and I got 5 of 7 in the ground, with mulch and chicken wire around them to protect them from deer/rabbits. Then the vendor emailed back saying I should pot them up and keep them in a shed/garage until after last frost date. So.... now what do I do? Does anyone have experience planting in the winter and having the trees survive frost? Should I leave them in, bulk up the mulch and cover them if forecast says it will drop below.... 32F? 25F? Advice appreciated!

In case its important, they are 3 apple trees, 1 plum and 1 apricot. The ones in the garage are pear.

Hello, I wanted to share 2 opportunities for work in charlotte:
1. I have a small rental property in east charlotte/mint hill area near lawyers rd. Right now, someone is paying someone else to mow the very small patch of grass growing in clay (and the rest is wooded). But I would be much happier if the yard was managed with permaculture principles and provided food for said manager or people in the neighborhood. If you are interested in this, please pm me.

2. my mom is making noises about getting her front yard redone, because she is so inspired by a plan I recently had done. She does not know a lot about permaculture, so she is not going to look for a PDC designer. But her wants are: 1. use natives 2. make it low maintenance and 3. make it pretty. She doesn't currently use chemicals, and I think she wants to stay that way. Her front yard has one absolutely beautiful large willow oak that puts half in shade and currently has like 30+ azaleas that my father planted many years ago. Anyways, if anyone is looking to get some permie stuff into an unlikely place and make some $ doing it, please pm me.

Thank you, Kevin. This is really useful. I was going to order from mushroom mountain, but they were out. And a place near me, Haw River mushroom didn't have what I wanted either. I have enjoyed north spore's YT videos.  They make good content.

Kevin Hoover wrote:I had a five and a half pound bag and split it between 8 buckets. But more spawn per bucket makes it grow faster.   What type of oyster spawn did you order and from who, if you don’t mind my asking?

I ordered pink oyster grain spawn and winecap sawdust spawn from north spore. I was also looking at Mountain Mushroom, but they were out of the pink oyster.

There's not a guide to mushroom sellers here on permies is there?

Welcome Annette! I am your neighbor, relatively speaking, over here in Durham. We also worked with a designer, Adriana Chanmala at Earthius designs. She was great and we are very happy with her design. What designer are you working with? It was so hard to find one.

Also, have you heard of Dr. Will Hooker? He is in Raleigh, but I don't know if he is doing anything anymore. His website, https://www.610kirby-permaculture.org/ seems to be gathering dust. But it would be cool to get a garden designed by him.

Kevin Hoover wrote:I think it would depend on how much seed is included in the stilt grass.  Seed acts as a rich substrate that encourages other things like mold  to grow.  To try it a simple way first, let the grass dry.  Take a five gallon bucket and a drill with a quarter inch bit.  Drill drain holes in the bottom.  Then drill holes about 4” apart all over the bucket.  Soak the stilt grass, then press 2-3” into the bucket, add oyster spawn, and repeat these layers until the bucket is full.  Put a lid on the bucket and let it sit a couple weeks.  Straw takes five weeks for pinning to start.  You should be able to take the top off and see if the stilt grass is being colonized.  This will give you an idea if it will work with little output of time or money.

This is the way I grow oysters on straw.  I harvested over five pounds of oysters in the past two weeks from six buckets.

This looks amazing. I like the idea of limiting factors to try and control for the stilt grass factor. I have ordered the oyster spawn, but I have about a week until it gets here to start the experiment. how many pounds of spawn did you use per bucket?

Anne Miller wrote:Danielle, I love your idea for growing mushrooms and would love to find out how this turns out.

To get rid of the stiltgrass be sure and not let it go to seed.
Pulling up any new baby plants is usually easier than waiting until they are mature.

Thank you for the support!
I am very careful not to pull any stiltgrass that has gone to seed. The last thing I want to do is give it new ground to colonize. However, it is quite easy to pull up and if I pull it up early, it just comes back even stronger in place. I was trying to minimize my time fighting it, but if this works, I could end up pulling it in the summer to let it grow back and give me more bedding while also exhausting its seed bank. I expect to have the stiltgrass problem for 5-7 years.