And so it begins again...

It's been only a few days, since the new round has started. Here's a picture of it being submerged. The funny thing about the block is that it floats. It floats a lot and needs to be weighed down. The best thing I could think of was to use the smaller of the two pots that I used to boil water and manuever the handle closer to the cooler lid and anchor it down. It worked for the most part. It wasn't a pretty sight.

What was less of a pretty sight was watching me struggle to dump the water in the kitchen sink. That was a hilarious moment! I lifted it up, spilled water all over and managed to get a tiny bit into the sink. After some mopping and a better grip, I tried again to some success. It took maybe 3-5 attempts to dump it all, rinse the itty bits that fell off the block from the bottom of the cooler, and then clear it all out. Whew!

This evening, I checked out Shelby and examined her for new friends. I found a couple. This friend here showed the most promise. I noticed that it burst through the dark patches on the block. It also seemed to be white first and should darken as it continues to grow. In the past 'shroom babies started from the get go with a black mini-cap. It was very much like a little mammary. We'll see what happens this time.

I was greatly concerned that the block turning black was a bad thing. The instruction booklet had said that once it was completely dark, it was done for. The guy at the Garden Show had said that once it felt light as a feather that it was done for... all sapped out. We'll see how much more we can get out of the block. It seems that flush two is starting and going strong. Woohoo!

Vacation is over and it's back for a soak...

On Friday, it was time to start revving up to back for the next round, hoping for a fantastic harvest again. The block was so dry and starting to crack a bit. It definitely had plenty of rest. I haven't touched in for two weeks, well, I poked it a few times. I may have picked it up, too, to see if it was light, heavy or just funky. Throughout the inspections, it still smelled like one giant mushroom.

During the break period, I filled up my standby pitcher of water with my leftover boiled tap water. Without any other container, I haven't been consistently boiling tap water to prepare for the soak. So on a Friday night, I whip out (after some thought as it was a Friday night and I'm not brillant on a Friday night) the two largest pots to boil water on top of the personal size tea kettle. Let's just say that while I was boiling the water, I put the mushroom block in a cooler and dumped in the water I had. Clearly, it wasn't enough to submerge it. It was about as deep as a toddler wading pool. Very sad.

Though as the water came to a boil, I encountered a new issue. The pots keep the water warm, and I can't dump it in the cooler boiling hot or even less than boiling warm. I might as eat the cooked block before it even grows! I started to scoop out water in large glass cups and the pitcher to help the cooling process. Let's just say it was until morning that I dumped the water in. Even then alas, I didn't have enough water to submerge the block.

This time as it was floating as it so often likes to as a light, block of faux marshmellow mushroom fluff... I held it down with one of the pots. Sigh, that's less water that I can boil. As of right now, the stock pot is boiling a new batch for the submersion AND for future spritzing. I'm pretty empty there, too. But in 20 some hours, we're back in the spritz and grow business. Woohoo!

Big sigh... the mushroom vacation

March 31st was the first day that truly launched the pre-mushroom patch. It was the first day the box left the fridge and got submerged in boiled water. Twenty-four hours later, the patch moved to a disposable tray and began its daily spritzes of again, boiled water. After a week and a half, we declared the first batch of Shiitakes were done and the harvest was on.

Per the instructions, the patch is supposed to dry out for two weeks. I've been calling it the Shelby vacation. It's hard to not want to spritz and see it grow. I come home to see nothing has changed and check the calendar to see if it's time to strat the next cycle... not yet!

I did touch the block today. It's so not spongy right now. It has this dry texture with a bit of crust to it. I'm sure it'll soften up once it goes in for its next deep-down dunk.

Oh, my coworker who had told me about mushroom-in-a-box in the first place, said some time ago that what I was describing as my mushroom kit was not what she had done before. In fact, her kit literally kept the mushrooms in the box the whole time. There was no refrigeration or breaks required. She also was growing portobellos.

All things considered, while it's difficult not to keep growing and growing mushrooms, I find the break a good thing. For one thing, the break cuts the growth obsession over the block (meeeee obsess over the block?). It also provides time to think up other ways to eat mushrooms. So far, it's been fried rice... J's idea. As the next harvest comes, we may drop it in risotto or add it to a salad or pasta. We could do Shiitake ravioli by squishing two wonton skins together, a tip from Giada de Laurentis as seen on Everyday Italian. But alas... still need to wait. It is the mushroom vacation.

Sigh... What To Do with Two Ears and a Nose

Of course the answer is... EAT IT! We had it for dinner tonight. The 'shrooms were quite delicious. Alas, we used them all and need to wait for the next harvest to find another way to eat 'em.

Prep photos:





Yum yum, fried rice!

The Nose Knows Its Time to Go(es)

The nose was the remaining stem standing from this harvest. He also turned out to the biggest one of all. I did let it grow until the cap truly curled underneath. This whole effort is still simply amazing!

It's all a learning experience. I learned that if you gently turn the cap, you can easily look underneath to see how the cap is progressing. I kept thinking the Shiitakes were delicate babies that couldn't be jostled. Yeah, not really.

Once I let the nose go, I had some fun and giving folks a sense of size rather than bottles or bunnies:




The block is now in a two-week rest period. Then it'll go into another 24-hour submersion before its transferred back on the baking pan for spritz, humidity tent and spritz. I truly don't foresee as many photos happening as it's all cyclical. If the block blossomed for all angles or flushed a huge crop, more fun with more photos. As it is, we have about 80+ photos to date. Oh my!

First Adventure to Angel Island

Here is the favorite picture from this past weekend's trip to Angel Island. It was quite a bit misty that day, which proved to be ideal for hiking up to the top. While many of the views were obscured by fog, we had fun trekking upward with a few pitstops to look at forget-me-nots or singing songs. Yes, we sang songs on the hike. Hopefully, Lily had a good birthday trip and the second day of island camping was much drier than the previous day.

See pictures from the hike up Mt. Livermore at: Flickr Album of Angel Island trip

When the Immigration Station is done being remodeled, I want to make another trip out and take a different hike. It sounds potentially daunting to do 4.5 miles in 4.5 hours, but breaking it down, it's not so bad. It also helps that Jen, a friend of Lily's is 8 months pregnant and makes me feel better about being a slow hiker. Though the best part is that there weren't steep inclines, which is always a bonus for everyone.

Right Ear, Left Ear... Time to Harvest Them All!

Late Saturday, we came home from spending a day on Angel Island... more on that trip in a second. So upon return home, I saw that the ears grew. Again, I thought it was enough of a roll underneath to snip. Scissor trim to the right and to the left, and we've got a harvest! I left the nose, because it wasn't ready. It turns out that I may be trimmed a bit too early. Sigh. The nose got huge by Monday and will be the ripest Shelby 'Shroom. The block is currently resting for a couple of weeks before I dunk her for a day and start the spritzing all over again. My next few updates on Shelby 'Shroom will be more condensed as there isn't too much change going on anymore.

Future batches are supposed to yield more mushrooms. It supposedly isn't uncommon to have large 'shrooms or a bunch of little ones the first time around. The Web site for the company is www.fungi.com. Under their indoor mushroom kit, there's a video of the growth cycle. It's pretty cool. Hopefully, my block will be covered in 'shrooms one day and not just two ears and a nose.

Snip Snip.













Basket of the Harvest.

It's almost Harvest time!

I could break this up into multiple posts, because there are just so many photos. The main one being the first mushroom from the patch. I never gave him a name, though he'd been growing from the right. Then I had a second mushroom that had been growing from the left side. Much later, my third 'shroom came from the front on the bottom. So yes, it had this Frankenstein look to him. I've been calling them the ears and nose.

I've been itching to harvest, since I saw the first growth. Well, I was interested in harvesting when the beginning of the mushroom started looking more like a 'shroom than a hooded stem. I read and reread the directions. It said the cap needed to be about 3-6 inches in diameter. It also said we should wait until the cap rolled under. What the heck does that really mean? Patience is completely a virtue. I check multiple times a day to see if its harvest time now, or now, or now.

When I'm not trying to harvest the 'shrooms or check on what a rolled cap might look like... I've been spritzing and spraying. I dab the block with the water that's collected at the bottom of the pan. And then, I start to pick up things to do a size comparison. It'd be too easy to simply use a ruler. It would also be difficult to read, so it wouldn't work out anyhow.

I must say that taking up close photos of Shelby 'Shrooms aren't easy to do. Either that or my eyes aren't focusing as clearly as I think they are. Ahh well. Enjoy a few fun photos. Harvest time is coming. It is. It's coming!

Bunnies, Bunnies -- They're Everywhere

Earlier this year, I was at Michaels for the millionth trip to the chain. I did go to the one near my new gig, so I think I was actually checking it out and comparing it to the rest. It was after the New Year, so there were quite a few marked down items. There was a calendar that caught my eye. It was a Betty Crocker cake calendar. Each month had a different cake, created from a Better Crocker mixed and matched to that respective month. The best part, the calendar only cost me a dollar. I grabbed one and thought this would be a fun thing to see on my cube wall every day.

Seeing as it's April, this month has a bunny cake made out of carrot cake mix with cream cheese frosting. It was topped off by coconut shavings and placed on a bed of that plastic green grass and jelly beans. I've been staring at it for less than a week. It's very cute. A couple of meeting noted how cute the cake was and asked if I was going to make it. Uhm, let's just say to get the bunny shape, it requires three cakes split in half and cut as a dented circle. If you thought my written directions are confusing, the diagram didn't make it all that easy either. Cut to the chase, I decided to be festive and make carrot cupcakes as bunny heads instead. I made my mental doodle, drafted a supply list, went shopping and journeyed home to make it reality.

It did turn out that Thursday was mostly re-run shows. I had plenty of time to work on the cupcakes. Well, once we were done having dinner and I was done with Shelby, the bunnies beckoned. J had a test one without the face; he said it tasted good. It is a Betty Crocker carrot cake mix plus Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting. Though the batter may be sticking to the cups, which confuses me a bit. Then again, I gave J the cupcake/muffin that stuck a bit too much to the paper. Hopefully that's the flaw and now the mix.

Happy Easter everyone if I don't see you or hear from you!

Ladies and Gentlemen... We Have 'Shrooms!

There are now a number of mushrooms growing out of Shelby. Last night, J pointed out that it looked like it was upside down. It was. I had flipped it over after the 24-hour soak, because the top hadn't been as submerged as the bottom. He noticed that there were some growths from the "bottom" and suggested I flip it over. I did. That also means I had to touch it again. It still feels like a giant mushroom sponge.

Now that it's on a baking sheet, I think Shelby can grow wider than previously. I find new 'shrooms every time I look. The first one, see my last photo below, is my pride and joy. The first baby is almost the most precious. I may not do daily updates anymore unless things drastically change. I'm waiting for the day when I look and find one-inch plus 'shrooms out of each side. It'd be like a 'shroom 'fro. How cool would that be?

Overall Mushroom patch:










With Bunny:













Added Growths Everywhere:













First and Most Exciting Shroom Growth to Date:

My Other Green Kids

For the last year or so, I've been keeping an indoor garden. At first it was a houseplant I took home from an old job. It grew fine. It didn't do much but grow leaves and shed.Then I got an amaryllis for a Christmas gift. It was very sweet, but I hadn't thought much about a garden then. Per the directions, it said something about waiting until spring or fall to plant it into the pot. I waited and did what I thought it said. For the next year, she grew some leaves but they shed rather quickly. I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong. My mom said something about putting it near a window or changing places in case it was the ideal environment. No dice.

Months after that, I really wanted to grow some herbs. I wanted my plants/garden to be purposeful. J and I went to Home Depot one day and picked up basil, parsley, rosemary and peppermint. I thought we could add basil to Italian dishes, parsley for decor or a fresh flavor and peppermint was prime for mojitos. Fast forward, parsley was covered with eggs and eventually was killed to save the greater good of the rest. I also let the peppermint go as it never tasted right in our drinks, duh, I was supposed to have gotten spearmint. I did find some spearmint later.

Somewhere in between all these comings and goings of the garden, I gave each one a name. There was Amy Amaryllis. I had Bobby Basil who when happy grows like no longers. It was Patty Parsley, oh well. Rose Rosemary is a sweetie, especially since I gave her a bigger pot. Lastly, there's Marty Mint.

A month or so back, they were struggling from the late summer/winter timeframe. I decided to dig them out of their pots and rejigger them. As my mother claims, sometimes plants just need to be aerated. I did that and they seem so much happier. The most surprising was Amy Amaryllis. She's up to six leaves, which is a complete record. Previously, she only had two healthy and sometimes two yellowing leaves. When I repotted her, I lifted her up so she's peak out above the dirt. I think that's made the complete difference. While she's up to six leaves, none of them look like they're ready to go. It could just be the first time I might see her want to flower. Oh, it reminds me. I need to get the flower food from the garage to give them all a special treat. Go kids, go!

Day 3: Day and Night Make All the Difference

Today's spray and inspect provided quite a bit more interest than in past days. The directions said the white popcorn bumps that may appear while it's in the fridge isn't a mushroom. I guess they were right, because they now have those black caps a la the typical Shiitakes.

My current routine right now is to spray in between fixing KittyBee's breakfast and checking work email. Spritz when I get home. Mist again when I go to bed. It gives me three opportunities to check out how it's changed. During today's morning inspection, I saw the first real signs of growth. By the time I got home, it protruded even further. Oh my.

When I look at my block, as I am doing now while I type, it looks pretty dry. I have this urge to over spritz to make sure it's getting enough moisture. At some point, the block is supposed to go dark completely. It's got a bunch of brown areas with just as much white space left. (Sorry, I had to take a break and spritz some more. Shelby looked dry.)

I originally thought that putting it into an old disposable pan would be a good way to support it and catch stray water. Hey, we're Chinese... of course we reuse things. Anyhow, I'm finding that if Shelby grows from both sides, there's a tiny wall that would prevent it from reaching its peak. I touch and adjust the block to center it in the pan. It's so... it feels like a giant mushroom sponge. Gone are the days I'd squeeze it to see it blow bubbles. I wonder what I'll find by tomorrow morning. A night or day is just enough time to see substantial change. Maybe I'll find more babies tomorrow. Or maybe it'll all go dark. Or maybe I'll get that "much talked about" super big 'shroom.

I took this first picture in the morning before going to work. About 10+ hours when I came home, this is the growth I get from the same 'shroom.

Mushroom Update - Day 2 of Misting

Yesterday, I noticed that I was seeing little bumps on the block. I had misted her when I got home, before bed and in the morning before work for the last couple of days. Upon inspection, I saw the bumps up close. Honestly with the coloring, it looks a little bit funny. I can only imagine what they'll look like when they blossom into full grown mushrooms and stop looking so much like tiny buttons. When I looked at L's blue oysters, they're out of control. This freak gardening project is only just beginning too. Oh my! What else is in store for the mushroom parents?!?!?










Here's the mushroom block without the humidity tent:













Up close and personal with one of Shelby's kids:

Family Visit to FOFAS in December

Late in 2006, J and I thought we should spend some of our spare time volunteering at a local animal shelter. We found one not too far away, sat through a quick orientation, and then we were off and running. Every two Sundays, we go to the Volunteer Office and clean up before it opened to the public. It entails that we (okay, J) to clean out the office litterboxes (usually 5-6 but at last check it was like 7-9). We also refill food/water bowls, clean out any cages occupied and administer any medication that's needed. The cool part about the office is that the kitties roam about freely, unless they're in a cage as a result of needing tests or post-surgery, which is like being at any home. They're are a number of cat trees, toys and lots of places to hang out.

We've gotten to know many kitties. Most of them are sweet. Some have a sad story of how they got to the FOFAS office. There was one Toulouse Le Chat that we had seriously considered as a companion for KittyBee/Beepers. We never got beyond the talking phase, as we weren't sure how she'd take it.

Our usual routine is parking the car, unlock the office door and saying hi to the kitties that greet us. We poke around to look for any kitties that might be hiding or sleeping. There's a list of kitties with descriptions on post-its on the fridge. I check the Web site to see if there's been any adoptions or new additions, but it's difficult to know for certain until you get there. After a bit of hi's and hello's, we get on with the day. I count the cats and then pick up the appropriate number of cat food cans. I also check the kitchen whiteboard to see who needs meds and how many little ones are in cages. I usually head into the storage room to prep their wet food into food boats, while J starts in on cleaning the litterboxes. We feed the kitties, clean out the cages and then enjoy lots of feline fun.

During the winter, my mom and sister came with us to the office. They had a favorite - Cordelia, a Russian blue. We were taken by Francis, a beautiful big boy Tabby. He was so sweet and has since been adopted. We took photos during our last visit when a kitten was running loose, T.Rex is a wild one who has also found a home.

Mushroom Watch Continues

Lily has progressed further ahead than I with the mushrooms. It's not like we're racing but I do feel like a bad parent who sometimes forgets to encourage my child to move on to the next step. So today, I took uhm Shelby Shiitake out of its water bath. I had this weird thing happen yesterday. After I added enough boiled tap water to submerge Shelby, I let her be as I was posting about her progress. When I went back for a second up close shot, as my first wasn't as clear as could be, I noticed that it was floating. I had a buoyant Shelby. I tried various "clean" ways to weigh her down and keep her under, but it didn't stick. I ended up leaving her be with the idea that I'd flip her over when I do tent her. This photo her is what she looked like after a day plus of sitting in a bag of water. She pretty much looks the same, though she didn't wrinkle or anything.

Moving on to the next step, I misted her down on the top and scooted her out of the original bag. I had the naive notion that I could slip her out of the bag. Yeah that didn't work. She raised bumps/protrusions were hindrances but that's okay. Shelby's happy and excited to grow. I cut open the bag, dropped her back into the metal pan and found three skewers. I tried not to touch Shelby unsure what it would feel like, but I did to move her around. It was like touching a big block of mushrooms.

Reading the directions, I set up the tent. Shelby on her way to having all that she needs to grow some of her Shiitake friends. Whew, a few steps done and now it's all up to Shelby to take it to the next level. BABIES!

Mushrooms out of the Fridge

I finally got around to taking the mushrooms out of the fridge and submerging them in water. I had set aside some boiled water in a pitcher per instructions with a note in case J wanted to drink or dump it. The pitcher had been sitting around waiting all week for me to do something with it... and today was that day!

The strangest thing happened when I took the block out of the box. It looked like some mushrooms already starting growing while it was in the fridge. There were raised bumps with some of them brown or white (supposedly younger mushrooms). I'd like to think the condensation in the fridge gave it moisture to jumpstart the process, but maybe, it was already there to begin with. It's kind of cool and kind of curious.

Anyhow, I moved on to the next step of submerging it in water to let it soak up a bunch of moisture. I poured my pitcher of water in. I even boiled another so I'd have enough for my squirt bottle that will need to mist the block once it's ready for its next phase - drying in a humidity tent, growth and hopefully a good "flush" of 'shrooms as the instructions call it. I must say that as I revisit the submerged block of 'shrooms; they really do have a strong 'shroom scent about them. With all good hope and faith, I do believe this will be a fun three month gardening project.

I almost forgot to mention that I squeezed it and all these bubbles surfaced. It was fun, so I did it a few more times. The block is pretty soft and spongy. It could be why there's a nice 'shroom scent surfacing; I squeezed it out. Though it sort of feels like one giant mushroom with bumps. I'm eagerly anticipating when I get to take it out of the current bag and let it grow, grow, grow.

The directions/guidance book said somewhere that the first flush tends to be small Shiitake. With each flush, they continue to grow in size. The guy at the booth had said that sometimes, it'd grow just one 'shroom in the flush and that puppy would grow and grow. Can you imagine one huge Shiitake? The other thing the booth guy said is that they're good for drying in case it's too hectic to keep pace with the flushes. We'll see if we need to do that or not. I'm pretty darn excited to see what happens. This block does not look like it'll be a dud at all!

Mushrooms in a Box - San Francisco Flower and Garden Show

This past Saturday (March 24), Johnny and I went to the SF Flower and Garden Show. Granted, we don't have a yard, there was one key reason to go. My new coworker Aileen had told me about these mushroom in a box kit that would yield tons of mushrooms. I was completely fascinated by the idea and had to go see it for myself. I sent out an invite and encouraged one and all about the show.

The only taker I got was Lily. She was just as enthusiastic as I. May/John/Evan/Zoe were also heading out to show as they were fixing up the yard. I'm not sure they had any interest in the 'shrooms, but when we ran into them, they seemed to be having a great time checking out the gardens.

Anyhow, I bought a Shiitake mushroom kit. I also got one for Tyrone's birthday. I got Irvin/AJ one as well because I thought they'd have fun with it. Lily got blue oysters. We're now off and running. (Don't forget to share your progress!)

After the show, we didn't get home early enough to pop the box open. I took a peek a few moments ago and have since popped my box into the fridge per directions to incubate my Shiitake patch. It said 3-5 days, I guess I'll do as it says. I wasn't aware the humidity tent required sticks, thankfully we're a grilling household and have skewers. Some parts of the directions make this process sound a little icky, but the FAQ does help with some common issues. This should be a fun indoor gardening project. Woohoo! I can't wait for my first batch.

Going back to New Years Eve 2006 ... Welcoming in 2007!

* Per request, I have moved this post back so they would all flow chronologically. Be on the lookout for new posts to pop up in chron order.

My mom and sister came to visit after Christmas and before the New Year. They spent a couple of nights at our place. We took a second trip to Scharffen Berger and did the whole tour around the factory one more time. N wasn't feeling so great but we had a good time taking in some sights before heading back to our place for a homecooked meal. After talking about how I've been trying to cook, they came up to visit so I could actually make them something. J and I decided on making some smoked salmon (with the stovetop smoker), risotto and Caesar salad. My mom claims its the best meal she's had in a while. She also said a week later that she was still thinking about it and her mouth was watering. I think mom was happy and also relieved that her non-cooking daughter wouldn't be starving anytime soon.

After dinner, we sat back and relaxed by the TV watching the countdown. We got their sleeping space ready as they enjoy our sleeping on our couch and our Aerobed. Funny to know that night, KittyBee jumped on the couch with my sister and lay by her legs Aww. So after a good rest, J got our peach juice and Prosecco ready for BELLINIs!

As you can see, Mom was also enjoying the bellinis!