Mushrooms - Day 7 and 8

My mushrooms have exploded!

Day 7

Day 8
They will be ready to harvest on Wednesday. We eat mushrooms several times per week. I am dying to know if I can grow more after this first harvest. The box says these are grown in old coffee grounds. We drink tons of coffee! Might I be able to start my own mushroom farm?

Mushrooms sprouting overnight

I am in awe of how fast things grow. My avocado tree sprouted overnight and grew visibly each day. My mushrooms are now doing the exact same thing.

Here is what they looked like when I started.

Day 0
Nothing happens for a few days and I wonder if I messed something up.

Day 4
All of a sudden, white growth happens in the corners.

Day 5
And then the mushrooms start growing.

Day 6
It is supposed to take 10 days for these mushrooms to grow big enough to harvest and eat. I don't doubt it! I can't wait to see what they look like when I get up in the morning.

Gimbap and oyster mushrooms

I've been having some motivation issues lately. A lack of motivation to blog, clean, study, etc. I'm not exactly sure what's causing it but I'm pulling myself up by my bootstraps and forcing myself to move forward. My wonderful husband cleaned the bathrooms for me today, which was so very much appreciated!

I started overhauling my menu planning and recipe book. Both have gotten very sloppy. Last week we added a new recipe to our rotation: gimbap!

We did "veganify" the recipe, leaving out the meat and the egg but adding in tofu. The rest we kept the same. This was our first time trying pickled radish (also known in Korean as danmuji). It was really good!

My mother-in-law bought me a mushroom farm for Christmas so today I got it started. I'll be taking pictures every day to record the progress. It's supposed to be ready for harvest on day 10. This particular farm will grow oyster mushrooms so I need to start looking for a recipe that highlights oyster mushrooms. I can't wait!

Here's to a productive week!

A few random thoughts

Still no adoption news today...

I found this shirt at the mall. I kind of wish I could wear it on the Skype call to encourage my girl to want to be adopted.

aha moment, noun, a moment of sudden insight or realization at which something becomes clear

But I don't think the translator would appreciate my attempt at humor and my girl doesn't know enough English to understand the irony.

It's been rather warm lately (mid 80's) and my cat is miserable. Here he is plastered against the wall trying to find just a tiny piece of cool floor or wall to give him some relief. Silly cat...

Someone at church was handing out tomato plants earlier this year. I feel bad that I pretty much killed mine. I think it's because I don't have a garden to plant it in and my patio doesn't get enough sunlight. I thought the plant was completely dead when one day it sprouted tiny tomatoes. I waited for them to get a bit bigger. Because I have no idea what type of tomatoes these are supposed to be, I don't know how big they were supposed to get or if they were supposed to turn red. But they easily came off the vine today so I ate them. The two tiny ones weren't ripe yet but the biggest one tasted great!

Now I want to grow tomato plants so that I can eat my own tomatoes. It was highly satisfying to eat these three tiny tomatoes, even though it's the only produce I grew this year. I do hope to cultivate a garden someday.

Anyways, just a few of the tiny things I've been up to lately. Nothing insightful, just day to day life!

Ming Ming has been pruned!

I didn't realize how tall Ming Ming had already grown. He was 8.5 inches tall.

Now he's only 3.5 inches tall!

I really didn't like cutting off all of that growth, especially the leaves at the top. I sure hope that Ming Ming is able to continue growing and sprout some new leaves. Once Ming Ming is six inches tall again, I'll be potting him in soil. I can't wait!

Meet Ming Ming, the newest member of the family

This is Ming Ming.

He's my baby avocado tree. He goes outside for 15 minutes of sun every day.

Unfortunately, Ming Ming is about to get pruned. When he's six inches tall again, he'll be planted in soil! I'm sad about pruning him as he's going to be losing all of his leaves. Poor Ming Ming...

Harvest Time!

Day 2


Day 9


My harvest


Plenty of green onions!


Back to Day 1

I used my first harvest of green onions in Orange Chicken Styled Tofu. I'm not sure if they will grow again but I can't wait to find out!

It grows!

I didn't believe it. I had to try it for myself.


Day 2


Day 5

Green onions really do grow in a jar with just a bit of water. I wonder how many stalks I would need to grow a ready supply...

Pizza Garden - One Week's Progress

My pizza garden is getting bigger every day! I love watching the progress it makes.


Oregano


Basil


Mini tomatoes

The other day I only had one tomato plant sprout. Now, all of a sudden, I have three!

Wanted: a new DSLR

My Canon PowerShot takes horrible close up photos. I have to keep at least 18 inches away from the subject to get a clear photo and that it makes it difficult to photograph my new little sprouts! Thankfully, I discovered that my camera phone takes somewhat decent close ups. Aren't they pretty?

And someday, I'm going to cherish one of these beauties... I already own two lenses that are compatible with this camera from my film days.

Ah, wishful thinking. I'll stick to my camera phone and try to be thankful that I have one!

Pizza Gardening - Day 5

I have sprouts!! I literally squealed when I checked the bags this afternoon. They are barely visible, especially in the photos, but there is just a tiny bit of green in each of the bags.

My oregano is growing the fastest. There are tons of tiny green sprouts poking out of the dirt.

Oregano

The basil is growing slower but is showing definite signs of progress.

Basil

And my tomato has one tiny white-ish shoot. Just a tiny little thing. So cute!!

Tomatoes

I know it's early, but I have visions of a really yummy pizza coming out of the oven.

My first attempts at gardening

Until now, I've never recevied a housewarming gift. What a wonderful surprise! My brother and his sweet wife sent us a wonderful gift, one that we were very excited to receive.

Pizza in a bag!

The bag on the left is basil, followed by cherry tomatoes in the center, and oregano on the right. When these sprout, I can make homemade pizza with herbs and tomatoes grown on my own counter.



I can't believe that a tomato plant grows from just these tiny seeds!



The instructions state that the bags are to be covered in plastic wrap. I don't have any plastic wrap so I had to improvise; I cut up a produce bag and used that instead!

In 7-10 days, I should see the beginnings of life. I am very excited about container and patio gardening and these bags represent the first tiny sprouts of that new venture. Our very own home grown produce. I can't wait!