October progress and Projects

Hi all... October has been a very busy month here on the farm.
First of all.. We finally called the butcher and the pigs go for their ride tuesday October 27th. Of course the weather has done anything but cooperate! We have had nearly 2" of rain in the past 3 days. The hill to get to the pigs is IMPOSSIBLE to walk let alone to try to drive a truck and trailer down it! With some brain storming from my dad, we have come up with a way to WALK them to the trailer. LETS hope it works. Tomorrow am we will be attempting this feat.

MUSHROOMS MUSHROOMS MUSHROOMS!!

Im not sure about everyone but im not sure how everyone cannot just LOVE mushrooms! I have started some Shiitake logs in the house, as well as a box of Portabellas.
We have had the first fruiting from the logs. it was very small but non the less tasty. The Portabellas have HUNDREDS of tiny pinheads and will soon be full blown portabellas for stuffing! YUMMM

Since I am into recycling.. I have found another MUSHROOM project!
So today I sent to Quality Dairy and got their days worth of coffee grounds and filters. fill a 5 gallon bucket apx. 1/2 full with grounds and filters. drill several small holes just about 2" above the coffee line.
Then.. get some Oyster mushrooms. You can get spawn if you like, but its not cheep. Instead, get the freshest oyster mushrooms you can find. tear into small peices and bury JUST below the surface of the coffee grounds. lightly cover the bucket.
In time, you should start to see the mycelium spreading. This is essentially the TREE. It looks like a vein work of white fuzz spreading thru the substrate.
keep the grounds moist, but NOT wet. soon the entire surface will be covered with this white fuzz. Next comes the shrooms. They are the fruit to the tree.
Oyster mushrooms produce alot of CO2 so be sure you have put those holes in your bucket. Remove the lid is growth is slow. Experiement with your garden to see what it needs the most.
In order to keep this going, you can get another bucket of grounds and remove some of the white fuzzy stuff and place into the bucket. It will n turn grow and spread.
You can basicly have non stop gourmet mushrooms all year around! What a money saver!
I purchased some from Horrocks for this purpose, and they are NOT cheep. $6.99 a lb! so.. you do the math!

AVOID THE FLU!
Well Im not sure we can actually AVOID the flu. I am of course talking of the H1N1 virus. I prefer to NOT call it the Swine flu, it is really quite inaccurate.
I have connections with a wonderful Shaman healer, who is also connected to a holistic healer.
Recomendations for avoiding the flu are of course some obvious and others NOT so obvious.

#1 wash hands.. yes BUT dont use that nasty antibacterial stuff. a good soap and hot water will take care of most of it. We need some bacteria and germs in our body to remain healthy, if we KILL everything with antibacterial.. well we damage part of our immune system.

#2 Avoid crowded spaces as much as you can. Of course we have to go to places on occasion, and many people work inside with constant battering of the virus, but dont go looking for it! And for GOD SAKE.. if you get the flu stay home! I was actually and well I guess still am INFURRIATED with a good friend of the family. I thought she had morse sense than this but... she had been cooped up since tuesday with her tennage daughter with the flu. Now keep in mind, she works at a Dr. Office. so I talked to her FRIDAY.. she was horriably ILL with the flu. Saturday afternoon, we get a call, her vehicle died at TARGET! WHAT! TARGET dont you have the flu. YA.. but she was sick of being stuck in the house! Well.. sorry all you Target fans! hope you were not on saginaw location saturday morning! Of course I refuse to shop Target, due to the military support that they dont lend! But thats neither here nor there.

#3 Air out your home DAILY.. Now I know the cost of heat is high, but you only need about a 10 min air out. open the doors and windows. exchange the stale stagnent air with fresh air.

#4 Get outside.. even if you ARE sick.. and have a fever, wrap up in some warm clothing and get OUT! You will feel much better for it.

now the not so obvious!
Maintain INTERNAL health.
Stay away from pop and artifical drinks, and replace with lots of water, gatoraid or sport aid drinks. Be sure you are HYDRATED so if the flue does hit you, you are not already fighting an uphill battle.

Eat pleanty of Fresh fruits and veggies, maintain any vitamins you may already be taking.

Add benifical bacteria and immune boosting foods to your diet.

Good items to have and start injesting NOW are

~Keifir.. fresh or from a health store..
~Kombucha tea.. This is NOT cheap to purchase at the health store, but it
contains many benifical nutrients and lends its self to the immune system
~ and what do you know.. medicinal Mushrooms!
There are several different varieties of mushrooms and tinctures that have
been proven to boost the immune system. If you are interested in a list
email me and I will tell you where to go to get them and what they are.
I can say one of my favorite sites for INFORMATION is www.fungi.com

MUSHROOM SOUP RECIPE Natural immune booster

make some broth or use store bought if you like. I made a fresh vaggie broth from carrots, onion, green pepper, small cabbages and garlic.
Some of the mushrooms to use are Shiitake, portabella, Oyster, shaggy mane, turkey tail. of course not limited to this.
You can easily get portabella, shiitake and oysters from many stores, Horrocks again had all 3 today.
I went hunting for the shaggy mane, and found several, (this is shaggy mane season)
I also used buttons. Of course I had extra of all so I sliced them up and put into the dehydrator for soup later.
Add the mushrooms to the broth, add salt pepper and fresh garlic.
I put some of the veggies back into the broth, but did strain MOST out.
Becuase no one in my house is sick YET.. i put some cream and starch as a thickner. VIOLA cream of mushroom soup! Make a BIG pot, and put some away for later. If you can eat some once a week.. this is a great immune booster!

IF YOU ARE KNOWN TO BE ALLERGIC TO MUSHROOMS PLEASE STEAR CLEAR..

Use the other methods. I hope this post finds you all happy and healthy!
As always.. if you have any questions or comments, please contact me I am more than happy to chat.