Mushroom Patches and Other Pet Projects

I am happy to report that, so far at least, mushrooms grown intentionally seem to grow as rapidly as those grown unintentionally, i.e. those that grow in your lawn.

Remember how I just started my mushroom patch a couple of days ago? Well, lookee here.

That shiitake mushroom is about the size of racketball!

Take another look. (This is the beauty shot.)

I mist the mushroom patch about twice a day, although the instructions tell you to mist it “several times a day.” I do keep the humidity tent in place. And although you might think that the mushroom patch should reside in a dark closet, the instructions say that you just need to keep it out of direct light. So that I don’t forget it and accidentally kill all those precious mushroom spores, my mushroom patch is living on the floor of the kitchen next to the cabinets. So far, the little dogs have taken no interest.

In other news about pet projects…

Remember Steve Martin in the movie The Jerk excitedly yelling, “The new phone book is here!!! The new phone book is here!!!”

I did my own Jerk impression the other day, yelling “The new cheese press is here!!! The new cheese press is here!!!”

The little dogs were confused, but unimpressed. I think the UPS guy was just a wee bit curious about why I was skipping back to the house with the box.

I waited about three or four months for this cheese press from the New England Cheesemaking Supply, which was having some vendor issues getting these made. They were excellent about communicating the difficulties and I decided to hold out for this cheese press. I have been working my way through Ricki Carroll’s book on Home Cheese Making with excellent results, so I trusted the source. In fact, we have become addicted to all sorts of homemade soft cheeses thanks to Ricki. My friend Angela said the neufchatel is like crack and she can’t stop eating it.

Off to adventures in cheese making now!

Ciao!