Last week I left you with a real cliff hanger: after I harvested one cluster from my second flush, I saw emergent growth in a handful of clusters around the edge of the bucket.
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| Day 9 - primordia emerge from clusters that did not thrive in the first flush |
Could I keep them happy enough to thrive, or would they shrivel and die in the summer heat or air conditioned air, or suffer oxygen deprivation from life under a humidity tent? There are several variables to consider when growing mushrooms outside a perfectly controlled, lab environment.
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| Day 10 - No guarantees, but hopeful growth. |
Some days I carried the bucket back and forth, into my living room during the heat of the day and out to the screened-in deck for moist night air.
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| Day 11 - Cautious optimism is in order. The new growth has outpaced the fruit that did not thrive in the first flush. |
Two of the five clusters in this third flush continued to thrive. Three did not.
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| Day 12 - Graceful formations in two clusters. |
In the second flush I think I harvested a day too soon, before the outer edges arch upward. (I'd been frustrated by the coral formation of the first flush and was impatient.) This time, I waited patiently.
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| Day 13 - The edges never arched upward -- apparently drooping in the heat. |
This time I may have harvested a day later than prime, as the outer edges thinned and lost their hearty texture. Regardless, the results were pretty spectacular. Here they are ready to saute along with onions, potatoes and peppers. My son and husband approved of our Labor Day weekend supper.
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| The dark coffee grounds on the base of the clusters on the far left and top right, help show the growth pattern of a cluster of oyster mushrooms. |
I'll let you know if there's any more action in the bucket. Right now it's at rest, and I'm letting the bucket dry out.
Meanwhile, I need to get back to a scene in Mission to Blue Grannus. Gordy and Virginia are preparing for their trek to the blue ice caves, where they hope to find the mushroom man.
To learn more about why I write sci-fi eco-adventures, and to find out more about my work-in-progress and how writing
Mission to Blue Grannus requires my research into fungi and myco-remediation, tap on
KHBrower.com.
