Chickens and Mushrooms and Coloring, Oh, My!

We've been working diligently on the mushrooms, and have sold our entire first flush of lion's mane, plus a bunch of pink and blue oysters.

Lion's Mane Mushrooms

Pink Oyster Mushrooms

Blue Oyster Mushrooms

How pretty are they?  And I love that people are almost as excited about them as we are.  The ones we didn't sell, we used to make oyster mushroom tacos for dinner!

So good, and an amazing vegetarian option for the non-meat-eaters out there.

Meanwhile, I've been busy with the coloring pages, coloring the ones I'd already listed, plus adding some more!

And the chicklettes?  Well, they aren't fond of the cold and outright hate the snow we got over the weekend, but they're doing well.  We get eggs every day, even though it's understandably slowed down a bit in these cold, short days.  And Miranda is really personable.

Vegetarian Lobster?

The first of our mushrooms to fruit enough for us to try some were the lion's mane, so we harvested a small one today to share.  Aren't they cool looking?

Eric had read that these mushrooms can taste like lobster, but we were both skeptical.  I mean, that's just weird, right?  Eric actually has spent his life not fond of mushrooms, so after he sauteed them up in a pan with a bit of butter and a touch of salt and pepper, I was the first to try.

Would you believe me if I tell you they taste like lobster?!  They totally do!  My mouth is watering thinking about it.

It's vegetarian (vegan if you don't use butter), low cal, low point, naturally grown & chemical free lobster!  Kosher too, for those who are so inclined.

Even better?  Check out this article from the Huffington Post.  Researchers have been experimenting with lion's mane's apparent ability to regenerate nerves, improve memory and cognition, and boost mood.

Mind blown!

Oh, and the pink oysters?  Yeah, they're going to be harvested this weekend, for sure.

I Satisfy my Drawing Bug, You Get to Relax

Something new at Fabric of my Mind... adult drawing pages!  I love this new craze, because it both gives me a productive reason to draw... and then gives me something to color afterward!

There are several already, and more on the way!

It started with the bee, of course.  And then I just got addicted.  I'm having so much fun with these!

Mmmmm... Mushrooms!

Soon, anyway.  Probably in a couple weeks, in fact!  Eric and I decided, after buying a shiitake log at the local garlic festival, to become mushroom farmers.  Yes, really.  Bees and honey, chickens and eggs, and now mushrooms.  I've always loved mushrooms, but until starting to read about them, neither one of us realized just how healthy they are.  It's pretty incredible.

So we started with shiitakes, pink and blue oyster mushrooms, and lions mane.

The blue oysters became fully innoculated with mycelium most quickly, so yesterday Eric and I built the fruiting chamber, sort of a greenhouse that's primarily about keeping the right level of humidity.

We built a PVC frame around metal shelving, and then covered the whole thing in a plastic tarp, leaving a door of sorts, so we can get in and work with the mushrooms.

We set up the humidifier with the electronic sensor Eric built, and a light on a timer, and then Eric cut slits in the fruiting bags.  See all that white all mixed in with the coffee grounds?  That's the mycelium, the body of the mushroom plant!  I know it looks kind of ick, but what comes from it is totally worth it.

And now we're just letting the humidifier do its thing.  Can't wait to watch them fruit!

Eggs, Baby!

I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving (we did!)  and is looking forward to the holidays.  I can't believe Chanukah starts this Sunday night already!  Where did it all go?  I blinked and summer was gone, and then blinked again and it wasn't fall anymore.  They say time flies when you're having fun, but this is ludicrous already.

Anyway, we got a very cool "gift"... over the past week & a half, one (I'm convinced Cher was first) and then another (Lita) chicken started laying!  They've been giving us nearly an egg a day each, one brown, one tan.

And then... and then!  Last night I went to check on the chicklettes and get them in their coop for the night, since they still refuse to go in on their own, the little ninnies, and what did I see... but THREE eggs!

Tan and brown from Lita & Cher, which in total means they've given us 17 eggs so far between them...

... and a GREEN EGG from one of the Araucanas!  I'm betting on Reba; she's bigger than Adele and her little comb got redder faster, so she seems like the mature one.  But either way, a green egg!!!

Go girls!

So this morning, I brought one tan and one brown egg to work, and had myself some incredible scrambled eggs, courtesy of the chicklettes.

Thanks, ladies!

Behind the Feathers

It's occurred to me that I didn't show the construction or interior of the coop and run.  What was I thinking?

Eric did the whole thing after a lot of research, but basically without any plans.  It started, as most construction projects would, with a frame.

He made sure that 3 of the sides would be on or butted right up against a cement walk, since we do have quite a few predators in this area, and didn't want to get up one morning to some random feathers and no chickens.

That platform base over on the right is where he built the coop itself, lofted above the 6' x 12' run below.

I lined the coop floor with linoleum tiles we picked up at the ReStore.  It's not the prettiest, but it's whole purpose is to make cleaning the coop easier, so that's quite all right.

If you haven't ever been to a ReStore, you should check it out, by the way,  Everything's wonderfully inexpensive, but also all the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity.  In fact, all the "employees" there are actually Habitat for Humanity volunteers!  How cool is that?  While we were there, we also got the roof shingles, since Eric built one heck of a serious roof for the top, to foil any hawks that might try to use our girls as lunch.

Inside the coop, Eric built removable roosts (left) for the girls to sleep on, and cut out the entrances to the nesting boxes (right).

I'm honestly proud of all the great construction he did, and especially impressed with the nesting boxes and other doors.

That unstained piece on the front is a double door, the nesting boxes are easy to get to, and to the right of them is another small door with easy access to their feed bucket.  Everything has double locks, too, in case those wily raccoons figure one kind out.

Inside, there's a sliding chicken door with a cord and pulley, and Eric built the ramp for them too.

Overall, it's just really gorgeous.

And another shot of the girls, just for good measure...

Going around from the blonde down front, that's Adele, Reba behind her, then Lita.  Martina's in the back middle, Miranda's the other blonde, and Cher the black Australorpe up front right.

I know, I know, I've been a slacker

Actually, the problem is that we've been really, really busy.

We had our honey harvest back in July, and then had to bottle and label it all, because we were almost immediately sold out.  It was crazy!

We did save a bunch for ourselves for the year, and there's a it more almost honey to extract to make mead.

But of course, because one of the season's big things was nearly over, we had to take on another.

Chickens!

First came the coop and run, so they'd have somewhere to live.

Eric built it, with some help from his brother and our friend.  I helped stain some of it and pitched roof shingles up to Eric to fasten down.  He's pretty proud of it, and rightly so, as he did it with pretty much no plans and just a bunch of research.  The run is 6' x 12', and the coop is that closed area raised up on the right.  He made the ramp for them, and the nesting boxes are sticking out on the right.

And then, because their feed and supplies needed a place to reside, a storage bench to match!

Yes, he made this too.  My only lament is that it's a custom piece, so it's too long and wide for commercial cushions.  Since I'd like it to have a cushion, I'll have to make one.

After the bench, he finally made the compost bin he's been talking about!

Yep, that matches too!  He did a great job; the top folds in half to throw in food and yard wast, or lifts off completely.  And there's another hinged door on the bottom to shovel out compost.  I'm a little obsessed with bringing out every possible bit of compost for the bin. I just love the feeling of "garbage" not actually going to waste.

And then, since there was wood left over, he made a matching snack table for next to the bench.

And then the finishing touch... ferns!

Conor is obviously very interested in the girls, both boys are.  But I haven't introduced the girls yet!  We got six hens, all pullets, so they're not laying yet.  Hopefully very soon!

Miranda is our buff orpington, and will be largest, fluffiest of the birds.

Our silver laced wyandotte is Martina.

Lita's the barred rock.

The australorp is Cher.

Our blonde araucana is Adele.

And the red araucana is Reba.  Obviously.

Now we just wait... impatiently... for eggs!