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Homesteading Skills

I know I’m hot for fungi right now but I find that kingdom absolutely fascinating. Here’s a video of the Scarlatina Bolete with the almost instant and intense blue staining when cut. There is a very complex chemistry involved with certain fungi which is just a sample of the importance of these organisms. Variegatic and xerocomic acid is responsible for the bluing when oxidized.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/ZYi7pJ8UTB8?feature=share
 
djbradles said:
I know I’m hot for fungi right now but I find that kingdom absolutely fascinating. Here’s a video of the Scarlatina Bolete with the almost instant and intense blue staining when cut. There is a very complex chemistry involved with certain fungi which is just a sample of the importance of these organisms. Variegatic and xerocomic acid is responsible for the bluing when oxidized.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/ZYi7pJ8UTB8?feature=share
Click to expand...

It's funny, if you weren't saying it's safe, I would be certain that blue is a warning.
So much to learn
 
Mesatchornug said:
It's funny, if you weren't saying it's safe, I would be certain that blue is a warning.
So much to learn
Click to expand...
No doubt there is much learning and much caution ⚠️ to exercise. You have to study the signs from host trees, region, stalk, pores, cap, veil, etc, etc. to be sure. With the Boletus group there is an enormous variety. They contain the tastiest versions I know of. Here’s one website to exhibit that variability. Boletus edulis (“King Bolete”)
 
djbradles said:
No doubt there is much learning and much caution ⚠️ to exercise. You have to study the signs from host trees, region, stalk, pores, cap, veil, etc, etc. to be sure. With the Boletus group there is an enormous variety. They contain the tastiest versions I know of. Here’s one website to exhibit that variability. Boletus edulis (“King Bolete”)
Click to expand...
Definitely tons of caution. Just added the mushroom book to a list for the future, and looking forward to the edibles walk next weekend.
(Really, enjoying any excuse to spend more time in the woods. I've gotten bad at it)
 
xtry51 said:
Blueberries and Blackberries are doing very well in a fairly pour soil condition. We planted last spring and the blackberries have already created half a dozen new runner/sprouts. This surprised me after only one year and we do zero fertilization or watering. We started picking fully ripened berries last week.

I'm going to plant more of these and try to line the entire driveway eventually. They are currently fenced in to protect them from deer until I feel they have spread out enough.

View attachment 503360View attachment 503361View attachment 503362View attachment 503363View attachment 503364
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Be sure to pinch the tips of this years black berry canes (light green with no fruit) while you’re picking off of last years canes.
That’ll make this years growth produce more side branches.
Next year those side branches will produce fruit. The more laterals the more fruit.
 
Ah such a shame as I finally identified a rare B.edulis variant that I discarded. The taste was very fine like King Bolete.

Boletus Edulis var. aurantioruber
6769024C-C572-452F-847D-AC91333BD39A.jpeg 10DA7333-95E2-424C-AA1E-EFB2E95D7167.jpeg EC0AE322-CDB8-4B02-B3D2-37392F34FFB6.jpeg 81D1A01A-F02F-4F80-88E0-A52E84687FB2.jpeg 6A2EBD26-D62A-4A77-9E37-824D3BA59F0A.jpeg 05632DE4-CA38-48BF-8BCF-0F2BD44D7376.jpeg
 
Cowgirlup said:
I've been working on edible landscaping. Blueberry bushes instead of ornamentals. Raspberries and grapes. Smaller sized fruit trees because we're limited on space. We have chickens and a garden but it is more supplemental. I doubt in our situation we could grow all of our food. I've added some nut trees in wooded areas near the house. Not sure how that will work out but if you have the space I'd add Chinese chestnut and other nut trees.

I have a neighbor that has a few goats. They seem to be more work than I thought they would be.

Any ponds or lakes nearby for fishing?
Click to expand...

Goats are AWESOME pets for somebody ELSE to have and to take care of. They're cute as hell to visit, just hell to take care of on a daily basis. They're also incredible escape artists. Much worse than horses or cows. And when (not if, but WHEN) they get loose, they will eat everything in sight, starting with your prize rose bushes and anything else you enjoy looking at or harvesting for yourself. Of course, after that they will eat the brush and weeds down to the dirt, along with with your lawn.

Other than those points, I have no strong feelings about goats. Well, their milk is rank.

Their "end product" does make excellent fertilizer, though!
 
namedpipes said:
Goats are AWESOME pets for somebody ELSE to have and to take care of. They're cute as hell to visit, just hell to take care of on a daily basis. They're also incredible escape artists. Much worse than horses or cows. And when (not if, but WHEN) they get loose, they will eat everything in sight, starting with your prize rose bushes and anything else you enjoy looking at or harvesting for yourself. Of course, after that they will eat the brush and weeds down to the dirt, along with with your lawn.

Other than those points, I have no strong feelings about goats. Well, their milk is rank.

Their "end product" does make excellent fertilizer, though!
Click to expand...
I’ve raised full size and dwarf Nubian goats for over 20 years. I’ve never had a break out.
As long as my fences are good and they have food and water in their yard they’re not going anywhere.
Hogs on the other hand have been a pain in the ass for me to keep fenced in.
By fall they’re about 300 lbs and are strong like a tank, and smart. They can just lift fence posts out of the ground with their nose.
 
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mousegunguy said:
I’ve raised full size and dwarf Nubian goats for over 20 years. I’ve never had a break out.
As long as my fences are good and they have food and water in their yard they’re not going anywhere.
Hogs on the other hand have been a pain in the ass for me to keep fenced in.
By fall they’re about 300 lbs and are strong like a tank, and smart. They can just lift fence posts out of the ground with their nose.
Click to expand...
Seconded
 
mousegunguy said:
I’ve raised full size and dwarf Nubian goats for over 20 years. I’ve never had a break out.
As long as my fences are good and they have food and water in their yard they’re not going anywhere.
Hogs on the other hand have been a pain in the ass for me to keep fenced in.
By fall they’re about 300 lbs and are strong like a tank, and smart. They can just lift fence posts out of the ground with their nose.
Click to expand...

My experiences were as a teen on a "hobby" farm, so perhaps things were different wrt the goats. But their milk is still awful.

We also had pigs (aptly named Pork Chops and Sunday Dinner) each year, fed mostly with restaurant slops (uncle was a chef). They never escaped. Not once.

Couple horses. Maybe a dozen chickens and a couple of dogs. And cats. Shitloads of cats. I'm not sure my folks realized just how young they can be and still have kittens, so a couple of kittens turned into like 22 barn cats in short order. Natural attrition took care of most of those over a period of years, but we never, ever had a mouse problem after that...
 
This was one I found a couple years ago. No one could tell me if it was edible so I just enjoyed the beautiful color it had for a few days.
 

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It’s not everyday you stumble upon one of the most deadly mushrooms on the planet. Destroying Angel - Amanita bisporigera. The fact that it grows from an “egg” makes it especially fearsome.
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I’m going to be leading a class on ‘seed saving for garden veggies’
& ‘preserving your gardens harvest without electricity’ In New Braintree ma in august & sept.
Do you Farmers think there’d be enough interest to make a general post about it?
 
mousegunguy said:
They lay pretty well thru the winter too
Click to expand...
Most chickens have significant reduction (if not a complete cessation) in their production when the days get shorter.
A chicken typically needs 14 hours of daylight to keep their reproductive cycle active.
A buddy uses the winter to give his flock a break, but I use a lightbulb and a timer inside the coop to keep them laying.

chicken coop inside 2.JPG
 
 

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