You got mushroom in there?

A little while back I posted about my latest home grown hobby here. The blighters are doing ok, but are a little too small to see. In the photo I took it's hard to distinguish the fungi spores provided in the pack and the budding 'shrooms. If you squint, they do look a little like polystyrene balls amongst the casings.

Either they're on their way or my neighbour, who did some fungi-sitting while I was away last week is playing a practical joke on me. I'll know in a week or so - they won't be so easy to put through a risotto!

Let's go shopping....and take a trip!

The week's BrisStyle Let's go shopping is inspired by an upcoming TRIP squared. It's my TRIP trip. 

In my world at the moment, T.R.I.P. stands for 'translating research into practice' in health care. It's all about taking something that's tried and true, often recognised as best practice and written up into guidelines, but for many reasons, is not being followed by those working at the coalface. I'm going to be taking part in a 2 year training program that teaches me how to work out the best way to help people who provide health care to change some of these practices and measure the changes to prove to the bean counters that they've made a difference, not only in the bottom line, but with happier patients and better outcomes. My little project will be about making life a bit better for women with gestational diabetes.

I was thinking all psychadelic and trippy, when I searched etsy for some virtual window shopping goodness this morning, but I realised I was also embarking on a journey in my professional career that will be taking me to some exciting places and in some weird and wonderful directions. Here's what I found:

Blueberry Blonde

Magalerie

Grandma's Wooden Tooth

Charlene Precious

Orange Dracula

Knack Shack

Simple steps on how to grow your own...

...mushrooms, of course! 

 

I've got some new season white buttons from 'fungi (it'll grow on you)' and I've got high hopes. I've had two boxes of swiss browns before and had quite a few 'flushes' from the little beauties. That's the technical term for mushroom 'crops'! The box was very affordable and I've found the mushrooms stay fresh for yonkers. Makes you realise how long those little dudes sit around in the shops.  

So, it was preparation time this morning. I'll post regular progress shots and will certainly take a few shots at harvest time, too.

The first step involves adding water to the bag of casings and then spreading this over the compost material.

Once this is all done and dusted, it's time to find a cool, dark place for the box to let them work their magic. I've got my special mushroom spray bottle too for their daily refresher, too.