Early Fall Fungus Finding Foray with Class F

This week we took four groups of Class F students focused firmly on finding fungus. Photos to
follow. Any ID's are tentative pending confirmation. Please do not eat any wild mushrooms unless you are absolutely sure they are not poisonous.

Lobster mushroom

Large one with lavender gills

Suspicious one next to three small chanterelles.

Bolete that may have been colonized by another fungus

Red capped double mushroom

Aborted Entoloma

These were small (two inches) in a cluster. I thought they were puffballs at first.

Entoloma?

Also Entoloma?

Spore print from a VERY slimy gilled mushroom

Aborted entoloma and regular entoloma next to each other

Jelly-like coral fungus

First Group by Pond

Second Group Behind Red Barn

Third Group by Treehouse

Fourth Group Winding Ridge Trail

Lobster

Aborted Entoloma

Puffball

On an Elm tree

Puffball cut in half

Not a mushroom 

One student thinks this is "dead man's finger"

What a Difference a Week Makes! Harvest List for Sept 25th

Last week when I was writing about the harvest, I spent a lot of time kvetching about the heat. Now, 9 days later, we have been in a cool, wet spell. Last Friday we hosted Class D for their annual Autumn Orientation visit. It was cold and rainy and people were in winter hats, rubber boots, and raincoats. There were layers everywhere. The previous Friday for Class C, we were dealing with 90 degree heat and dehydration was a real concern. Whoa!

Tomorrow Class F is coming out to help with the harvest and stay for a total of three days. We are looking forward to some serious adventures.

We have not had any frost yet. So the Class F students can look forward to another big harvest, with a mix of late summer and early fall vegetables:

Tomatoes
Peppers
Hot peppers
Eggplant
Yukon Gold Potatoes

Baby Bok Choy
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale (3 types)
Radishes
Romanesco Cauliflower
Cabbage
Napa Cabbage

Red and Yellow Onions
Garlic

Liberty Apples

Beets
Swiss Chard

Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Cucumbers
Winter Squash
Pumpkins

Dill
Parsley
Carrots

Cut Flowers

It is so hot today! And the market list for Tuesday, September 18th

Whoa. It is hot out there. Excessive heat warnings came today and yesterday. The heat built up all of last week. Mid September - 90 plus degrees. I am not saying that this specific heat wave is caused by global warming, but it is consistent with what we expect from global climate change. More and warmer heat waves. With hurricane Florence battering the Carolinas, I guess a little extra heat is not that much to complain about. Here is how the heat is affecting us:

1. The dry weather meant that farmers all around us were cutting their third crop of hay. We got delivery of 144 bales of hay on Thursday. Thursday evening we unloaded the wagon into the barn, and we have been slowly bringing the hay upstairs into the hay mow. Moving hay bales always seems to result in me being soaked in sweat and covered in itchy hay dust, probably because they "make hay when the sun shines," so the best hay is put up in hot, dry conditions. The flip side is that we have have some very nice hay for our animals to eat in the winter. It smells so good.

2. We got a call from the apple orchard that we typically pick at the week before the harvest festival. They said that all of their apples are ripe ahead of schedule. The warm summer has pushed their apples along too fast, and they are worried that if we don't pick soon, the apples will turn mushy. We went out and checked ours, and they are ripe too. We are going to have to add apple picking to our work this week.

3. Likewise, a warm summer has pushed our broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower plants to mature too soon. We want them to mature after a frost. The frost sweetens them up. They are still tasty. But they could be exceptional.

4. Our sweet corn, which should be at the perfect stage to pick this week on Tuesday, was in danger of getting past us. So I went out today and picked this morning and put it in the fridge.

5. Peppers, which have been lingering at the green stage, are moving en masse into the red ripe stage. Many peppers this week!!! Same for tomatoes. And zucchini!

Here is what we anticipate harvesting this week:

Tomatoes
Peppers
Hot Peppers
Eggplant
Potatoes

Sweet Corn

Zucchini
Cucumbers
Winter Squash
Pumpkins

Apples

Onions
Garlic

Cauliflower
Broccoli
Kale
Baby Bok Choy

Beets
Swiss Chard

Carrots
Herbs - Parsley and Dill

Cut Flowers