Pete Podurgiel

Hi Mike,

Sounds lke a good plan.  My raspberries and strawberries absolutly love woodchips, and so do my winecaps (king stropharia).  I think they have the potential to make for a nice guild.

Not so sure about adding oysters to the mix.  I grow them on logs, but never tried to do them "in the ground".  Winecaps are relatively easy to establish and produce in abundance. Seeing as you are limited in terms of woodchips, I woud recommend establishing the winecaps first so they dominate the new beds and are not in direct competition with other varieties.  Can you do the oysters on logs, perhaps?

I have no experience with nameko or enokitake, so I won't comment on those.

Interested to hear back on how it all works out for you - cheers!

Here's a few pics of my portable stands.  They're fashioned from scrap 2x4's using 1/4 x 5" lag screws to secure the assembly together.

They are pretty easy to make.  Simply clamp the two boards together and predrill a pilot hole though them.  Separate them and insert the copper pipe (I used 3/4" diameter about 2" in length), then drive the lag bolt through the pilot holes and your done,  They work better in pairs and can also be used between stacked pallets to provide a larger footprint, if desired.  This is the setup i envision for my lettuce grow bags.

Nancy Reading wrote:I think this is what I need for my seedling table....

I'm thinking the same about using them to protect my lettuce plants.  I've made portable stands with copper legs that I'm using to protect for my totems. I need to make more for use under grow bags.  Nothing worse than finding a half-dissolved slug in my salad.  Gag!

Jay Angler wrote:
So from what you've found is that using mushrooms a slug bait to provide slugs for my ducks may be a viable approach?

Do you find that you need to clean the copper periodically for it to keep working, or does it still work when oxidized?

HA - yes, I suppose you could use mushrooms to lure in the slugs for your ducks.   As far as cleaning the copper goes, nope, haven't had to do it yet. But that's something I'm keeping an eye on.

As long as they're not presenting a danger to anyone, I'd leave them be.   They do get awfully ornery this time of year though, so it's good to give them a wide berth if they're near any doorways or sidewalks.  Things like weedwackers, lawn mowers or leaf blowers can be enough to set them off, if too close. Asssuming you're up north, they'll "give up the ghost" once we start having hard frosts.  

Good question.  This is something that has been weighing on my mind, too few bugs (at least the good ones).  Finally saw my first Monarch just the other day and only one Tiger swallowtail about a week before that.
Would like to see more fireflies, though they seem to be doing a bit better than years past.  Plenty of mosquitos, deerflies & ticks (of course), however slugs have been scarce this year.

I've been using the "windshield factor" as my measuring-stick for insects. When I was a kid, we'd have to clean the bugs off the windshield every fill-up.  I rarely have to clean my windshield at all now.
I also remember not being able to sleep at night due to all the cricket chatter. That's not a problem these days.

 

Funny you mention taking leaves off tomato plants below the fruit ...I just heard that one the other day.  

The video I watched also stated that tomato fruits won't grow (or even ripen) in hot weather and may not set new flowers either. Apparently, the ideal temps for growing tomatoes were low 80s to high 70s.
The advice seemed counter-intuitive to me, as I always hear about "hot-house" tomatoes, but my experience with the hot weather this year seemed to confirm this.  They advised picking the large unripened tomatoes and putting them in a paper bag indoors to ripen them, so I'm giving that a shot.

I'm curious to know, were there any tomatoes in the recipe?   I was adding them to beef stew for a time and noticed they made the beef tough.

If you still have good cuts of venison left, maybe try cutting some into 1/4" to 3/8" medallions, season to taste and pan fry them (about a minute or so, each side), rare or medium-rare, as Joseph mentioned.  That's my personal favorite.

Welcome to permies, Lauren!    I hope you find the community you're looking for.

Cheers!
-Pete

Beck

....a couple of tunes 'From the Basement'