Mush-roomies at the Farm

   We grow lots of different fruits and vegetables at Baby Girl Farms. One thing we don't grow, however, is mushrooms ... fungi to be technical. Let me tell you, though, with the life-giving rain we've been getting here, after years of drought, I have more types of fungi than I can count - they're mushrooming.
   And they're beautiful ... but not edible!
   The mushroom is the spore-bearing fruity part of the fungus growing beneath the ground. Mushrooms, also known as toadstools, are everywhere. In fact, the mycelium, or root of the mushroom go for miles underground. So, it's no wonder they appear to just pop-up overnight where you least expect to see one.

   Farm Fact: the Honey Mushroom (armillaria ostoyae) is the world's largest known organism covering 2,384 acres in Oregon's Blue Mountains. It's estimated to be 2,400 years old!

   Here are some pictures from the pastures around the farm.
   They remind me of little abodes ... kind of know where Tolkein might have found some of his inspiration for The Hobbit.
   It's moments like these where I am reminded of how much influence nature has on our imaginations - little umbrellas ... lean-tos ... huts ... flying saucers!
   I'm not a mushroom expert, so I can't rightly say what all of these are, but I know for sure they're not portobellos!
 

"For the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."   - Isaiah 61:11