…and as you can see in those last photos why it is also known as the Garden Giant Mushroom. The caps can be sliced to be barbecued and skewered like a mushroom steak or once the stems are removed, the caps can thoroughly be cooked to just add as garnish or on a bed of rice or as however the chef so deems! …adding a strong, slightly nutty flavor to any dish.
… so click on link below to see what’s for dinner …
Well it is that time of year now that the weather has started to warm that I can’t seem to get those Dam THOUGHTS off of my mind! … and especially now we have started again to finish the repair of the dams of the ponds as I started to mention way back when I posted
… so here is the Dam thoughts waking me up 3 A.M. in the morning and not being able to get back to sleep till I had those Dam Thoughts down on Dam Paper here next posted on this Dam Blog!!!
…OK OK OK Already! … so this was just a short Dam Blog … get over it … after all it is just like water over the Dam!
I mentioned before that I believe our future sustainability is much more dependent upon the things we can not see then it is on the things we can. None more so then the very hidden threads of life that we find under our feet and that has been called by many as the Living Soil. This, a very complex community of very diverse groups of organisms, ranging from one-celled algae, fungi, protozoa and bacteria, to nematodes and arthropods, to earthworms, insects, small vertebrates and plants. All of which come together to work into some natural balance of making healthy Living Soil.
It is healthy living soil that then produces healthy food. It then becomes up to us to know what is healthy living soil and how to help to maintain it when we disturb it by raising our food.
In other words…
Feed the Soil and the Soil will Feed You.
These diverse organisms bring the soil alive, grow, eat and move through the soil. They make it possible to have clean water, clean air, healthy plants and moderate water flow. These soil organisms decompose organic compounds. They sequester nitrogen and other nutrients and fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, making it available to plants. Many of these organisms increase soil aggregation and porosity, thus increasing infiltration and reducing runoff. Some prey on crop pest and are food for above ground animals. This delicate dance of life is known in Soil Biology as the SOIL FOOD WEB.
The above and below images were borrowed from…
It is said the best way to grow healthy soil is to not disturb it! Well that may be possible except for one exception. The exception being when we disturb it to grow food. Agriculture by it’s very nature is disturbing the soil, otherwise we still be hunters and gatherers.
Now to this I will add being a hunter and gatherer as much as possible may not be such a bad thing in my book of sustainable agriculture. We do try here to maintain a diverse native permaculture landscape on the farm’s many environs, when possible, as to be able to forage for our food when we can… dare I digress.
Now since we also find it a neccessity to farm and that includes both raising livestook and disturbing the living soil to harvest vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and flowers, we must feed the soil to keep it living and healthy. How to do that best is through a planned system of soil conservation, with one important part of that process being organic composting. One important element to also mention in our soil conservation efforts is to eliminate or at best minimize any need for off farm inputs, making it a perpetual cycle on farm as we believe it was intended. In short it is finding a healthy balance.
Here we are again returning back to the land what we have taken from our kitchen Gardens of Black Rock…
In closing, I will type that it was not my intention to include any in depth facts, information or science of Living Soil or Composting. I was hoping to get someone to think about that gentle balance of life that they may find under their walk and hopefully look into the subject further. So please take the time to do a search on the Internet (There is a ton of sites out there), take the time to look at the soil you wish to raise you food and most importantly… Do it wise and Healthy! … your protozoa will Thank You!
~~~~It is that time of year, when out of the grass onto the road, our local snakes are wandering about. Please be cautious when driving and be prepared to stop if you spot one in front of you. Especially our Black Rat Snakes. They are important to the natural balance of rodent control. Here at Black Rock we have a sizable population that help us around the barns.
Just this morning, I had a visitor come up on the roof next to while I was at the computer. I thought of it as a sign of the time of year, to remind me to release back to nature the couple house guest we had over the winter. So it was, we carried them out to the barn for them to take up residence, now that the warmer weather has finally arrived. I am sure too that they will welcome back the freedom to wander about.
As you can see, these guys go about 4 to 5 feet long and are around 3 or so years old. No where near fully grown, as they will eventually reach around 8 to 9 feet. If they are anything like their older relatives around here, I suspect they may just grow a few more inches than that.
So off to the barn we went…
Here they are climbing out and on their way to find a place to hide and search out food. The barn they are in is also the barn we have our peacocks.
Here is one of our peacocks with a watchful eye on the arrival of his new neighbors!
You know where peacocks come from? There is one known predator snake of rat snakes there and that is the King Cobra. While we only have rattlesnakes and copperheads as native venemous snakes, when you are visiting Black Rock and if by some chance come across a King Cobra… Please do not attempt to do what this guy is doing. Well not until you at least get me. I want to watch… oh surely, I jest
These diverse organisms bring the soil alive, grow, eat and move through the soil. They make it possible to have clean water, clean air, healthy plants and moderate water flow. These soil organisms decompose organic compounds. They sequester nitrogen and other nutrients and fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, making it available to plants. Many of these organisms increase soil aggregation and porosity, thus increasing infiltration and reducing runoff. Some prey on crop pest and are food for above ground animals. This delicate dance of life is known in Soil Biology as the SOIL FOOD WEB.
It is said the best way to grow healthy soil is to not disturb it! Well that may be possible except for one exception. The exception being when we disturb it to grow food. Agriculture by it’s very nature is disturbing the soil, otherwise we still be hunters and gatherers.
In closing, I will type that it was not my intention to include any in depth facts, information or science of Living Soil or Composting. I was hoping to get someone to think about that gentle balance of life that they may find under their walk and hopefully look into the subject further. So please take the time to do a search on the Internet (There is a ton of sites out there), take the time to look at the soil you wish to raise you food and most importantly… Do it wise and Healthy! … your protozoa will Thank You!
