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!