Hello Friends!
These past 2 months have been crazy busy. I am sorry that I have not been able to update this blog recently. Hunters began arriving mid February and the last of them left mid March. During that time, I have been busy cleaning and cooking and trying to keep progressing forward with my home business start-up as well. The hunters were here to hunt wolves, but Tom was not guiding the hunts this time, as he was kept busy with some special projects at his workplace. However, we did hire an assistant guide, who stayed here as well.
We have had some very warm weather here, and I have noticed that the populations of chickadees have been steadily increasing. But then, just when I was getting excited again about the hope of Spring, we suddenly received a load of 12-14" of snowfall overnight. That was just a few days ago, and it has been quite chilly ever since.
My seeds have been started!!! The chill in the air has not suppressed my gardening plans. A week ago, I spent an afternoon rolling recycled newspaper and paper grocery bags to make hand-made pots for starting my seedlings. Then I filled the little pots and planted the first seedlings, Shasta Daisies, and placed the pots in our boiler room to germinate. The room stays a nice 85 degree F temperature. Today, I found that there are a few seedlings that have already begun sprouting. It is still a little more than 10 weeks before the last expected Spring frost. Tonight I will finish assembling our mini-greenhouse to keep our seedlings warm and happy until they can be transplanted. This is the first time I have used DIY paper pots, but I already highly recommend them. The paper is biodegradable, and can be transplanted directly into the garden, without disturbing your seedling's roots. This also avoids senseless cheap plastic waste. One week later, my paper pots are holding up as well as when they were first made.
PAPER SEEDLING POTS:
For you do-it-yourselfers out there, first select a jar or can from your pantry that has the same diameter as you would like to have the completed paper pot. (Mine are 2.5" pots and 3 3/4" pots). Just roll the jar up in the recycled paper at the desired height until it is 2-4 thicknesses (depending on strength of the paper used), leaving enough loose end at the bottom to fold over (as you would wrap a present), and tape with masking tape to secure. Then slide the jar out and fill your new paper pot with moistened seedling starter soil up to 3/4 full.
Chaga! My great foraging find!
Now, what would this natural living blog be without sharing with you as I learn about wild foraging? A few weeks ago I went foraging for Chaga Mushrooms. Chaga, Inonotus obliquus, also known as Birch Fungus, is found here in our surrounding woods. It was not difficult to find and I was able to quickly collect a suitable amount for my needs. I never collect more than 10% at most of any herb in a given area when foraging to preserve the herb/plant's productivity. Also, I only collect plants, including mushrooms, if the specimen can be positively identified. Chaga Mushroom is quite different than what one would normally think of as a mushroom. Chaga is a hard crusty parasitical growth found primarily on Birch trees, though I have seen it here also on some Poplar trees. For the greatest healing properties, it should be collected only from Birch trees. Here is some information to share with you that I found on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0z4Y8_Nc-0
This is not the best resource, but it does have some good information.
The first two pictures show it growing on Birch trees, while the last is the specimen I collected.
