Growing mushrooms

[Erichalfbee]

my mother (a fanatical mushroom picker)

Not as fanatical as mine. There were so many we used to have to eat the blooming things pickled as kids but at least the ceps were dried....maggots and all.
At least you can turn a few kilos into a small bottle of ketchup.

 

[Earthboy]

Giant puffball ......now you're talking. Last one I ate, the grandchildren had started kicking it around stan's mum's garden before I realised what it was. It tasted just as lovely with a few dents.

Glad to hear you make your own cheese. Most cheese around here are from cows fed antibiotics and growth bovine hormones, which they relate to early puberty in kids, as cow milk is excellent for calves. For that reason, I much prefer goat milk and cheese, as I do not want to grow too big or fat.

 

[pargyle]

I used to make a lot of my own cheese, wrapped in my own wax too; a thing of beauty.
Things have slipped a bit and I must get cracking again. We have a dairy farm on our doorstep for heaven's sake.

Yes ... I remember ... I've made a few 'instant' cheeses but 'er indoors got a bit shirty about my plans for harder cheeses ... son number 2 stole the corner of the workshop that I was planning for my cheese cave and so I'm a bit stymied at present. We have a dairy farmer who sells unpasteurised milk from a machine about five miles from where I live and a smallholder with a tribe of goats sells goat milk locally ... all the raw materials and most of the kit to make it and an uncooperative wife !

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes ... I remember ... I've made a few 'instant' cheeses but 'er indoors got a bit shirty about my plans for harder cheeses ... son number 2 stole the corner of the workshop that I was planning for my cheese cave and so I'm a bit stymied at present. We have a dairy farmer who sells unpasteurised milk from a machine about five miles from where I live and a smallholder with a tribe of goats sells goat milk locally ... all the raw materials and most of the kit to make it and an uncooperative wife !

Win her round with your cheeses

 

[pargyle]

Win her round with your cheeses

I wouldn't mind so much but she's a bloody cheese addict ! ... I need a room of my own where I can make my jams and chutneys, pickles, process my honey and make cheese .... it's on my list of requirements for when we finally move.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I wouldn't mind so much but she's a bloody cheese addict ! ... I need a room of my own where I can make my jams and chutneys, pickles, process my honey and make cheese .... it's on my list of requirements for when we finally move.

You can always park a static caravan in the garden, surround it with fencing, grow climbers up that and be invisible

 

[pargyle]

You can always park a static caravan in the garden, surround it with fencing, grow climbers up that and be invisible

I think if I brought one of those home I'd end up living in it ! She has enough to say about the two boats I have parked in the garden and the three trailers on the front !!!

 

[Erichalfbee]

I think if I brought one of those home I'd end up living in it ! She has enough to say about the two boats I have parked in the garden and the three trailers on the front !!!

I'm not surprised

 

[pargyle]

I'm not surprised

In jest, when she last complained about my collection of turning timber (which now encompasses one 6' x 4' shed, 3 pallets and a trailer full- not to mention the pile along the side of the house, the stuff in the garage and a few oddments ~ about another pallet full that previously lived in my late mother's garage and is now in a container I've rented), I suggested I intended siting a shipping container in the front garden to get it out of sight - the reaction darn near turned me to stone ..... some people have no sense of humour !

 

[Frizzaldo]

I have some shiitake plugs in progress. plugs put in freshly cut willow logs in October then put damp in a plastic bag in a shady area until last month. Took them out and stacked them on a larger log last month in a wooded area but no growth yet. probably needs a bit of warmth to get going.
I've read you can shock them by resoaking the logs but I think the rain has covered that.
Not sure if willow is ideal but was the only donor I wanted to cut down at the time

will report back if the start to grow

 

[BeeJam]

I used to make a lot of my own cheese, wrapped in my own wax too; a thing of beauty.
Things have slipped a bit and I must get cracking again. We have a dairy farm on our doorstep for heaven's sake.

Any tips on where to start with harder cheeses? Got a cheesemaking kit from Christmas but all the recipes are for softer ones like mozarella or ricotta. I rather fancy trying to make my own "calderdale".

 

[Curly green finger's]

A B C