Recently I discovered my local 'mushroom man' selling 'Grow Your Own Mushroom Kits' at my local farmers markets. Perfect. $15 for the box, potential yield of 2 to 6 kgs per box. . .with mushrooms around the $10 a kg mark, makes economic sense, and I love the idea of cutting down on my food miles by growing something so close to home.
Slight catch - we're in the midst of a chilly winter in Ballarat and there's no way my house is the recommended 20 degrees Celsius required for happy mushroom farming.
Leaving the heating on all day to warm a box of mushrooms. . .environmentally dubious?
But there's one place that's warm day and night - the perfect climate for my fungi experiment - and that's work.
So for the last couple of weeks I've had an unobtrusive little blue box hidden under my desk. When I discovered the radio studios were at least 5 degrees warmer - the mushroom's accommodation got upgraded. They're now happily soaking up everything from hit music to football broadcasts while enjoying the warm, dark atmosphere.
And it looks like my nursing may be paying off. . .the entire surface of the peat is now almost entirely covered by tiny white bubble like growths. . .my babies.
So until my boss
finds out about
my little experiment,
I'm anticipating
a bumper harvest.
And while my work mates
might be a little
freaked out,
I'm sure they'll love
the finished product.
So far so good.
The boss is paying the
power bills and the
mushrooms are happy.
Now I need to find my favourite
recipes and prepare for the harvest.
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