Things happen outside when it rains constantly. Mushrooms grow. Bugs multiply. Things rot and decay. Nature reclaims. It’s gross out there. Here are some examples:
Stay dry.
–Simon
Rainy Nature
Mushrooms (Part 5)
AI does not like to identify mushrooms. Mushrooms are difficult to identify, so I get it, but I’m also a 90s kid who saw playground equipment removed from schools and warning labels applied to coffee cups. I suspect that AI could give a probable identification, but doesn’t want the responsibility of someone poisoning themself if the identification were incorrect. So alas, despite my curiosity with this kingdom of lifeforms, I can’t fully catalog them.
But I can photograph them! Here’s some more from Easement Acres:
Lots of rain bringeth lots of mushrooms. Don’t eat them, or at least don’t blame AI if you do and die.
–Simon
Mushrooms (Part 4)
In what appears to be a mushroom theme as of late, here’s a newcomer I haven’t seen before. AI has made identification significantly easier now, taking some of the fun out of the search. Can’t stop what’s coming, I suppose.
Anyway:
They grow in nutrient-rich mediums, such as this layer of mulch.
They’re also apparently inedible. Oh well.
–Simon
Wine Cap (Pt. 2)
I assumed these would come back, judging from the quantity of embedded mycelium that remains in the straw. And they did.
I did not, however, harvest them. I should have, to give to my dad, but I didn’t get around to it. Oh well. Still neat to look at. If not palatable, they’re still aesthetic, and it’s an interesting concept to consider that I now have a multi-year self-sustaining mushroom colony, provided I keep feeding it wood and straw. I’m still holding out of the blue oysters!
–Simon
Blue Oyster
My last mushroom farming attempt was successful, however the variety of mushroom I found to be unpalatable.
So this year, I’m attempting Blue Oysters. I like oyster mushrooms. I hope this works out. This variety came as plugs, which I then embedded into chunks of a freshly-cut maple branch lost to high winds.
Here’s hoping! If they don’t take, I’m sure the wine caps will be back. The straw in the bucket is heavily packed with mycelium from last year.
–Simon