M.K. Dorje Sr.

Greg Martin wrote:M.K., thank you for sharing this method.  What variety was the one that took the deep freeze the best?

I think in order of hardiness, the hardiest variety is probably the Green Tree Collards (around 0 F.), followed by Purple Tree Collards, followed by Purple Sprouting Broccoli (around 10 F.) and the least hardy is probably the Scarlett Kale. I also grow Red Russian Kale, an unknown land race of kale, Calabrese Broccoli, Igor Brussels Sprouts and all kinds of other winter brassicas and mustard greens. Some survive and some don't...

Ac Baker wrote:Thank you so much for your rapid reply.

This is such an interesting technique, yet I had never heard of layering otherwise annual brassicas before!

When you say, 'Territorial', do you mean these are strains where you've been saving your own seed to adapt them to the local conditions?

Thank you for the intriguing pictures!

I am definitely going to be trying layering my annual brassicas. Thank you!

I meant Territorial Seed Company, a regional seed company that has always been a great source of winter gardening varieties and info. In fact, they used to carry a lot of overwintering cabbage and cauliflower varieties, but nowadays it's kale and sprouting broccoli. Here's a link to their Purple Sprouting broccoli:

https://territorialseed.com/products/broccoli-purple-sprouting

There was a seed company in the UK that carried Purple Sprouting Broccoli seeds many years ago, but I forget their name- maybe you could search for them on the internet. Good luck!

Ac, I've used this same method of removing flowers, bending the stems and covering them with mulch to perennialize several different brassicas in my food forest garden. Tim Peters, who used to breed brassicas for Territorial Seed Company showed how to do this in an article in Organic Gardening magazine about 25-30 years ago. The varieties  that work for me include Purple Sprouting Broccoli (Territorial strain), "Green" Tree Collards (unknown variety from a defunct local seed company), "Purple" Tree Collards (strain from a local nursery) and Scarlett Kale (Territorial strain). I'll try posting some photos below. Some of the Green Tree Collard "clusters" in my garden are over 10 years old now- maybe 15. By the way, the Territorial strain of Purple Sprouting came originally from England. They also used to carry a White-Sprouting Broccoli variety, not sure if they still do.

The first photo is Scarlett Kale- about 3 years old
The second photo is Green tree Collards- about 2-3 years old
The third photo is Green Tree Collards- at least 10, maybe 15 years old!
The fourth photo is Purple Sprouting Broccoli- about 4 years old
The fifth photo is Purple Tree Collards- about 3 years old

Interesting diversity cultivation strategy! We have at least 2 different P. ostreatus strains in the wild here in Oregon- usually on alder or cottonwood. But I'm not sure if I've ever seen elm oyster, since we don't have box elder or elms which are the favored hosts. We do have plenty of box elder bugs though...

Tim, what species/cultivar of oyster is that? Is it Hypsizygus ulmarius- the elm oyster?

Revo Smith wrote:Im glad you shared this. I started logs last year that just started to fruit and have made another batch this year. I haven't gotten slugs yet, but I know once I start getting fruit in spring/ summer this info will save some mushrooms. I currently have logs Lincoln style and a lot in the low lean until they fruit next year. Hope you get piles of shrooms! Thanks again!

Revo, are those nameko mushrooms? What kind of logs are those? And if they are nameko, how do they taste? I'm thinking about growing nameko, but I'm wary of the slime factor...

1. A little. Just add more mulch.
2. No. No.
3. Maybe. I usually don't cut back my asparagus until mid-winter, if at all.
4. Asparagus will tolerate some shade, but you probably don't want to plant it right under a big established tree. Asparagus likes deep, rich, well-drained soil. If you have clay soil, add lots of compost and sand and double-dig the beds.

In my experience, wine caps do best under fruit trees, fruit bushes and bushy veggies like tomatoes. They'll probably do just fine under asparagus. The most important thing is to make sure their bed is made with fresh wood chips mixed with sawdust. Hardwoods are best, but Doug-fir is good, too. Unsprayed straw is good as a mulch (casing layer), but hard to find. Check out the threads on here or watch the Field and Forest videos on youtube for more info. Good luck!

Here are some mushrooms I found yesterday on the Oregon Coast: Sulfur Shelf, King Bolete (Porcini), Oregon Reishi, The Prince, Lobster, Yellow Chanterelle, Butter Bolete.

Here are some mushrooms I found yesterday on the Oregon Coast:

Now is the time to plant Landscape Morel (Morchella importuna) spawn in the Pacific Northwest, as well as other parts of North America where daytime temperatures are staying below 68 F. now. Field and Forest is now offering a new improved strain of the Landscape Morel, along with nutrient bags. Here is a link to the new instruction sheet for their Landscape Morel spawn kit:

https://www.fieldforest.net/product/morel-bed-cultivation/instruction-sheets?utm_source=FFP+NEWSLETTER+MASTER+LIST&utm_campaign=88c6365834-September_2025-Newsletter_090825&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5b78db7224-88c6365834-138215737&mc_cid=88c6365834

Field and Forest is now looking for people who want to be part of their citizen scientist program. This is basically a way to share knowledge about different ways to cultivate mushrooms.