There may be a killing frost tonight so I spent the day
bringing in the last of the sweet corn, pumpkins, tomatoes, potatoes and
peppers. A few weeks ago I had harvested spaghetti and butternut squash because
their vines had been damaged by earlier frosts that didn't harm tomatoes and
peppers. Figure 1 shows the squash and pumpkins under cover where they’ll be
safe for a while longer. Squash that doesn't go to a homeless shelter we’ll
store in our basement.
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| Figure 1: Pumpkins, Butternut and Spaghetti Squash Waiting Distribution |
During spring 2012 we inoculated cottonwood logs with sawdust in which oyster mushroom mycelium was growing, see Figures 2 & 3. Two months ago we started
harvesting quite a few pounds of mushrooms per week from these logs, see Figures 4 & 5. They fruit on their own schedule and we missed quite a few before we learned
to check them every day. Mushrooms are super additions to stir fries, sauces
and other dishes and, for variety, next spring we plan to inoculate oak logs with
shiitake mushroom spawn. Both varieties should keep producing for years until they completely digest
the wood they are living in.
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| Figure 2: Drilling 1.5" deep Holes in Cottonwood Logs |
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| Figure 3: "Pock-marked" Logs Sealed with Red Cheese Wax Covering Holes Filled with Mycelium/Sawdust |
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| Figure 4: Oyster Mushrooms Growing 17 Months Later |
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| Figure 5: First Harvest of Oyster Mushrooms, Fall 2013 |
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| Figure 6: Typical Harvest Every 2-3 Days, October 2014 |
This year we had plenty of sweet corn, see Figure 6, but our third planting is not quite ready to harvest in mid October. Shorter days and cool weather slow ripening: the kernels are still small, though edible. Next year for the last planting we'll have to anticipate a growing period longer than the package estimate.
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| Figure 7: Mid-season Sweet Corn Harvest, 2014 |
