Lessons on small-town protocol

(Page 4 of 4)

April/May 2001
By the Mother Earth News editors 
Article Tools
Print
Comments
RSS
Bookmark and Share

With some effort, you can get more basic. Several readily available books list ingredients for growing medium and offer instructions for inoculating it and nurturing it until you produce a crop. Or, you can build a minilab and try growing your own spawn. We haven't gone that far yet, though we have collected local bolete and morel mushrooms in their spore-producing phase, mixed them in a blender with warm buttermilk and tried impregnating the roots of a big oak. Buttermilk cocktails have worked well in transplanting mosses and the fronds of hardy bracken ferns, but we haven't had any luck with the mushrooms yet. It may just be a matter of patience, however. Even professionally cultured mycelium sometimes takes years to grow before it produces that first mushroom.

RELATED CONTENT

You'll find mushroom-growing kits in the catalogs of garden and sustainable living supply firms, including the following:

GURNEY'S SEED & NURSERY CO.
(800) 804-6742
www.gurneys.com

REAL GOODS
(800) 994-4243
www.realgoods.com

Cast-Iron Care

How do you clean build up of grease from old cast-iron pot?

GARY
Dexter, Montana

Build a bonfire around and on top of it. An open wood fire won't get hot enough to phase cast iron, but it will burn the grease to char. After the fire dies down and the pot cools, scrape it out of the ashes and clean it. Use your electric drill with a wirebrush attachment, or simply some steel wool and elbow grease. Season it quickly, slathering it inside and out with fresh, unsalted animal fat and letting it sit in a 400°F oven for an hour or more. Let it cool gradually or it will rust in a day's time.

Page: << Previous 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Bookmark and Share
RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print

Comments

Add Your Comment

Please note that there is currently a problem with the comments function and your comment may or may not post successfully. We are working to correct the problem and thank you for your patience. 

You can use this comment form to enter your personal experiences or additional information and resources that you'd like to share with Mother Earth News readers. Your helpful advice will be posted on this page.  E-mail addresses are never displayed on comments, but they are required to confirm your comments.

Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

New to Mother Earth News?
Sign up to share comments.
Asterisks(*) indicate required fields.
Name*
Your name appears next to your comment.

E-mail Address*
This will be your login ID.

City State Zip Code

Password*


Confirm Password*

Comments
1500 character limit (Offensive materials and/or spam will be removed, no HTML allowed)
Please Note: Your sign-up must be verified via e-mail before your comment is published.
FEATURED ARTICLES
MOST POPULAR


Subscribe Today - Pay Now & Save 66% Off the Cover Price

First Name: *
 Last Name: *
Address: *
 City: *
State/Province: *
 Zip/Postal Code:*
Country:
 Email:*
(* indicates a required item)
Canadian subs: 1 year, (includes postage & GST). Foreign subs: 1 year, . U.S. funds.
Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Non US and Canadian Subscribers - Click Here

Lighten the Strain on the Earth and Your Budget

Mother Earth News is the guide to living — as one reader stated — “with little money and abundant happiness.” Every issue is an invaluable guide to leading a more sustainable life, covering ideas from fighting rising energy costs and protecting the environment to avoiding unnecessary spending on processed food. You’ll find tips for slashing heating bills; growing fresh, natural produce at home; and more. Mother Earth News helps you cut costs without sacrificing modern luxuries.

At Mother Earth News, we are dedicated to conserving our planet’s natural resources while helping you conserve your financial resources. That’s why we want you to save money and trees by subscribing through our Earth-Friendly automatic renewal savings plan. By paying with a credit card, you save an additional $4.95 and get 6 issues of Mother Earth News for only $10.00 (USA only).

You may also use the Bill Me option and pay $14.95 for 6 issues.