12 Pound Mushroom and Firecrackers

I was in the neighborhood of ________________ to get some test done, and there, in the woods, a way off from the main street and away from any idling cars, was a a cream and brown cluster of coral-like growth.  It rose like ruffled feathers from the cool October earth, just over the lower trunk of an oak tree.  A few blades of grass had grown threw the spongy mass the size of a generous pillow.  It was a hen of the woods mushroom.  I sent my husband in to confirm, since he at least had had one course about mushrooming.  In the realm of safe bets, a misidentified hen of the woods would only taste bad and not kill us.  My husband cut it, placed it in a giant paper bag, and took it home.

It resided in our fridge for a few days while I fried up small pieces to try.  A centipede hid from the open-door light.  After two days of larger portions of a mild, chicken-like mushrooms and no ill-effects, we went for it.  I feared what we would find, after seeing the centipede.  And there were more of them.  But overall, this was a very clean mushroom!  I pulled out the grass.  There were a few pieces past their prime we cut away.  There was still a lot of mushroom left.  I washed and sliced a cup-full and sautéed them gently in butter over low heat, about ten minutes.  Much better than the quick fry I did earlier.  The rest of the mushroom was broken into pieces, frozen in bags, dried in the oven, and simmered into stock. The whole house smelled pleasantly of mushroom.  I made Chinese firecracker rolls, ate some, took some to a party, and some to church.  It should be noted again that eating misidentified mushrooms can lead to illness or death.  I've made this recipe with reconstituted shiitake mushrooms, which are also delicious.

Divide and Conquer

Sauté!

Stock!

Drying, 175ºF, about 24 hours

Dried and Ready for Storage

Vegetarian Option

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Firecracker Cabbage Rolls

Taste of China

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Prep: 20 minutes  Cook:  20 minutes  Makes: 20

2 tbs. cooking oil, divided

1 cup chopped, re-hydrated Asian mushrooms (wild option: 

     hen of the woods mushrooms – cook thoroughly)

1/2 pound ground turkey or pork (optional)

2 cups grated cabbage

1 cup grated organic carrots

1/4 cup diced onion

1 tbs. minced fennel leaf (or 1 tsp. fennel seed) 

20 sheets thawed phyllo dough

Chili paste:

2 Anaheim chiles, re-hydrated and chopped

1 tbs. cider vinegar

1 tbs. chile water

1 tsp. white sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Preheat oven to 375ºF.  Heat 1 tbs. oil in large sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown meat, if using.  Add mushrooms*, cabbage, carrots, onion, and fennel, cooking until vegetable are tender, 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Run chile mixture through food processor and stir into cabbage mix.  Fold phyllo sheets in half length-wise.  Place 2 tbs. cabbage mix on end of sheet and roll tightly to other end.  Twist ends to look like fire crackers.  Place each roll on greased cookie sheet.  Brush with remaining oil.  Bake at 375ºF 18-20 minutes, until golden.  Serve with extra chile sauce, if desired.

* If using fresh wild mushrooms, sauté over low heat in oil or butter until cooked thoroughly.

It's All About the Beaver, Yo!

In farming, that is.  Attracting fish and wildlife, cleaning up rivers by removing pollution and pesticides, and raising the water table, these dams are part of a “beaver solution” in Spokane, WA.  The beavers assist in wetland restoration (also a great boon for bird-watchers).  Wetland sediment caused by erosion binds to pollutants like phosphorus, nitrogen, and heavy metals.  The dams keep that sediment out of the water.  Beaver Solutions also help land owners protect trees, manage flooding, and remove beavers to place them with farmers who actually can use their skills.  One farmer uses their dams for irrigation, notching them to flood his grazing pasture.  The industrious beavers repair the notches by the next day.  (Listen to the podcast at Living On Earth.  Mark Seth Lender’s following essay reads like a poem and is INCREDIBLE.)

Perhaps beavers can assist our New England cranberry farmers.  The biggest threat to them now is runoff from people over-fertilizing their lawns.  Over the years, and especially in the recent economy, farmers have sold off the land that once protected their wetlands and bogs to developers.  The woods that would have absorbed pollutants and protected the cranberry bogs have become chemical-green carpets down to the shore.  I see the same thing near my own home, a lawn extending into the lonely pond, the woods on the opposite side strewn with plastic water bottles, the huge stones left behind by colonialists sprayed with graffiti.  Each spring, my family cleans the woods and recycles the plastic.  This week, I’ve never seen the woods worse.  Now, kids on ATVs and mopeds race through, scraping and knocking down saplings.  I’m glad I rescued one of the wild blueberry bushes, which now thrives in my garden.  But what do we do about the human animal?  How can we educate people to know that supporting the natural ecosystem is to our advantage?  

Taken in the school garden.

Besides educating the general public that the health of all organisms depends on not using toxic chemicals, we can utilize the work of more animals in our own food chain.  One human who knows this well is Joel Salatin (see Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan), who runs Polyface Farm in Virginia.  He calls himself a “grass farmer” because that is the basis of the food chain he has established to produce meat from chicken, cattle, and pigs, as well as eggs.  The cows graze on a mix of grasses, clover, and forbs, rotated carefully by Salatin.  Two days later, when the cow manure has slightly aged and the fly larva is very plump, the chickens come in, working the manure into the land, adding their own fertilizer, and eating the weed seeds and grubs.  The pigs have their share too, rooting through composted cow manure to get to fermented corn.  Salatin also keeps several acres of woodland to the north, which act as a wind barrier, erosion control, supplying acorns for the hogs, and keeping predators of chickens contained.  All the animal waste is composted and recycled.  Customers say the quality of the meat and eggs cannot be matched.  

Another farmer wanting to grow blueberries organically in California found that gophers were actually his friend.  He set up Sierra Cascade Farm with 8 1/2 acres of highbush blueberries, with another 61 acres supporting the ecosystem.  When John Carlon first planted his bushes, gophers moved in and dug tunnels under the transplants.  Carlon expected to have to get rid of them, and spent several springs trying to trap them, with limited success.  But he noticed that the blueberries weren’t worse for the wear and discovered that the gophers dug tunnels well below the shallow root system of the bushes.  When he finally gave up trying to trap the gophers, local owls, coyotes, and gopher snakes from his surrounding land took care of the perceived pests until the population stabilized.  The burrows left behind became ideal habitat for bumble bees, the natural pollinators of this North American crop.  Bumble bees are much more reliable pollinators, not being daunted by cold or rain.  Plus, they’re free.  Carlon no longer has to rent honeybees.  (Organic Gardening AUG/SEP 2011)

How did YOU do?

My students caught bumblebees in our pollinator garden this week for scientific study, where I knew we could take advantage of their slow-moving docility and the cool temperatures of October reduced the chances a honey bee would sting them.  We also found miner bees, another docile species.  My hope is that through our school garden program, children will gain a life-long respect for our our ecological diversity.  While I was buying Mason jars at a store I normally wouldn't be caught dead in (starts with "W"), I overheard a man ask a clerk where the bee killer spray was.  I almost went to talk to the guy...why didn't I?  I don't expect my students to grow up to be farmers any more than artists (art being the subject I teach), but perhaps they will think before they spray or fertilize, buy organic foods, vote for leaders who will protect the environment, or become those leaders themselves.  What we do, what we believe, we are all connected.

The Fertile Underground

My first "garden" was a five gallon bucket precariously balanced on a ledge outside my third story apartment window in a very urban supposedly "artsy" neighborhood in the west end of Providence.  The district promised to become the "it" spot.  The bucket contained one glorious sunflower.  Mostly what I saw growing was trash.  Occasionally I could hear my neighbor's illegal rooster.  Sometimes I would see storyteller Len Cabral walking down the street.  (We later met through our church.)  The word "community" was tossed around a lot, but I did not see much forward motion in the 13 months I lived there.

Later, I lived for seven years in another urban neighborhood and my tiny back yard became what my friends called the "Providence Oasis", full of flowers and herbs, buzzing with blue and purple bees, bedecked with huge black and yellow "Charlotte's Web" spiders, and mantids hiding on the leaves.  It wasn't enough sun to properly grow vegetables, but we had fresh and dried herbs in large supply.

Today, I have the luxury of a 1/4 acre and lots of sun.  We grow many foods, can, dry, and freeze them, and donate bumper crops through AmpleHarvest.org.  Now the news and media have spread the word about the importance of local food for our health, the health of our planet, and the economy.  We that agree with them don't have to hide.  I'm excited to use my new mesh produce bags next time I shop, hoping like reusable shopping bags, they become the norm over plastic.  Plus, I want to shop less at chains but want the convenience of them.  Farms and farmers' markets are one of the few growing businesses in Rhode Island.  And it's not just the artists and hippies who frequent them.  Nor is it only the upper classes buying organic.

While there are local groceries that buy locally, now there will be a grocery that provides only local and sustainable foods.  I was at the opening of this new and long-awaited site, recently opened by the West Broadway Neighborhood Association.  As I drove down the street I used to take to that apartment with the one defiant sunflower, I saw three community gardens.  I talked with people there: home gardeners, parents with young children, older folk, all looking forward to getting healthy food locally and sustainably.  With funding efforts underway, The Fertile Underground hopes to open this June.  They've been running the Pearl Street community garden for three years, which will supply the "store brand" for the grocery.  They will also be creating a garden in the back, a cafe with sustainable coffee, and "pick your own herbs."  They've established relationships with local farmers and dairies to stock the store and are open to more local vendors.  The store currently is walled with local art.  When I told them about my cookbook using local foods, they were very interested.  (A book release there may be in the works...)

A grocery with all local and sustainable foods has been a long time in coming.  I think this could be a very good thing.  But don't take my word for it.  Go check out their location at 1577 Westminster Street, Providence RI 02909 and follow their progress at Kick Starter.