I just officially opened my personal little mushroom growing season. I have already (even successfully, occasionally 🙂 ) made grain spawn by just propagating mycelium plugs in pasteurized grain in the past, but while this is a cheap and simple way to use up “leftover mushroom seeds”, it’s also unfortunately very prone to contamination and failure. I decided to try a more professional approach this time and got myself some liquid mycelium in a syringe and this time aimed for a sterile procedure.
Growing Oyster Mushrooms on Straw – Bucket Method
Following the last two mushroom bags I made, I decided to eventually use up the leftover oyster mushroom spawn I was procreating then. It was sitting in a dry cool an dark place so I’m cautiously optimistic it might still be alive. This time, I wanted to try it with a straw growing substrate as shown in many internet publications and videos. So here’s a summary of what I did and in about a month’s time I hopefully can post an update on some progress.
How to: Grow Basil at Home
I sincerely love Basil. Best used fresh, this herb an enrichment for for a lot of dishes from pesto to all kinds of pasta, also poultry and countless sauces and even soups. Always a great addition.
Unfortunately, Basil a is a little diva-ish to have around and grow. I f***ed up numberless times when I tried to grow or even just maintain my basil plants, but finally, meanwhile I seem to have developed at least a little knack for it. I have actually managed to germinate as well as propagate, grow, perpetuate and correctly prune several basil plants on my southern windowsill! Here’s what I can share:
Homebrew Drain Cleaner
My kitchen sink drained very slowly and not properly anymore (that’s ok after 10 years of ample use). Thanks to the vastness of the internet I came across an easy and convenient manly hint on the topic requiring only household items, so I tried that.
The summary? In my case, this did actually work 🙂 Here’s how:
Cooking Rice for Beginners – Knuckle Method
My. Rice. Cooker. Died. Don’t laugh, this is serious, no kidding. I cooked rice without one before but I’m absolutely not experienced with it and a rice cooker really is very convenient.
Now, lots of people have smiled over Uncle Roger’s hilarious YouTube reaction on somebody’s rice cooking, so, of course I tried his “finger method”, just for the test. No measuring of rice and water, just use your index finger’s knuckles and somewhat “eyeball” everything. There’s a nice and comprehensible explanation here that I shamelessly copied – see below.
And it works! I got fluffy, perfectly cooked and delicious rice. So easy, so convenient, so idiot proof. I’m even thinking about NOT buying a new rice cooker now 🙂
“Shotgun Fruiting Chamber”
In order to assist my mushroom bags a little in growing I made this so-called “Shotgun Fruiting Chamber” that I stumbled upon here. It’s an easy concept, but afaics it makes perfect sense so I’m going to try it.
Mushroom Cultivation Bags
German TV can be a cornucopia of documentaries. Of course: Hitler. Up and down. I can’t stand that guy anymore, just because of his omnipresence. This is presumably the most reliable way to prevent something like this from ever happening again – grinding people’s last nerves with it 🙂
But also interesting stuff! Like for example on professional mushroom growing in an old airforce aircraft shelter. Made me try some cultivation bags on my own again, as I found a left over box of store-bought mycelium in the shed. I didn’t have a clue if it was still any good, but it was worth the try and as usual, I had a little fun.
How to Defrost Your Freezer
Uahhhh… 🙁 I went to the basement today and discovered this. Seems I’ll have to defrost the fridge (actually, both of my fridges) to make sure they work properly again. Here’s how to do it (this is a manly hint):
