Mushroom Maestros in Oakland

(from left to right) Juliette, Patty, and Ray

A week ago, my neighbor casually mentioned that he saw a posting on Craigslist about free mushroom kits since he knows that I am an amateur mycologist. I searched for the posting that night and sent the poster an email to express my interest in picking up a mushroom kit. A few days later, I got a nice email from Ray offering me a tour of their mushroom farm in Oakland and a kit.  I looked up the link that's included in the email, http://www.mushroommaestros.com/. It looks like a new establishment, and they use the straw and grain method.

On Friday evening, I took a short drive to Oakland where the farm is located. I was greeted by a very friendly girl named Juliette, who was extremely enthusiastic about mushrooms. Patty and Ray were excited to show me around and explain how they put the mushroom kits together with sterilized hay, cooked bird seeds or mixed grains and oyster spawns.  After a quick tour of their work area and seeing some large kits with white mycelia growing in them, I left the farm with 2 mushroom kits.

Juliette playing with cooked grains

My previous experience with straw mushroom kits have always been failures. I would leave them in the laundry room where it is cooler and shadier, but they always became moldy. This time I am hanging them in the garage where it is shady, airy, and cooler. I am hoping that I'll have better luck this time. If I can figure out a good spot to successfully grow mushrooms on Sand Village Farm with straw kits, then I can have fresh home grown mushrooms on a regular basis. I would also love to see The Mushroom Maestros' business grow in Oakland. It seems that Oakland is becoming a hot spot for urban farming, and I hope that may slowly change Oakland's negative reputation.

Giant Dog Kite at Berkeley Maria

I went to walk around Berkeley Maria this morning with a friend. As we were walking back to the car, we saw 3 men trying to get a huge kite to float in the air. In the beginning, we just saw this black and white sack lying on the grass. We couldn't really tell what it was. As more air filled it, I thought maybe it was a cat. We asked the men what it was, they told us it was a dog! Of course! Berkeley Maria is popular with dog owners and their dogs.

People were getting excited as the dog started to take its shape. A lot of people fly their kites there because of the slopes and wind. The men set up the dog and later a frog and a kid that looks like a South Park character (but it's not). The dog was the biggest kite, and many people and kids stopped to take pictures with it. It was a good day to hang out next to the bay just enjoy the view and sun. The men actually run a kite business out of a large truck, so if you are looking for a kite, just stop at Berkeley Maria and look for Highline Kites of Berkeley truck.

A Home Grower's Dilemma

Every year I hope to have a good harvest. At the same time I have to try to be creative with all the fruits and vegetables I grow. Besides giving them away to neighbors, I make desserts and preserves with the fruits. I also dehydrate them to eat later. I just picked my first basket of apples. I will give Dusty a piece first and eat the first one and then bring a bag to a friend down the street.

Sweden's Conservation Efforts

(from left to right) Clear glass, Colored glass, Paper, Garbage

One of the biggest impressions Scandinavia made on me during my trip is their conservation efforts. Both Copenhagen and Stockholm are extremely aggressive in recycling, reducing waste, and promoting bicycling as a mainstream transportation. In the Bay Area, we are more progress than most of the country, but I am embarrassed seeing what they are doing here. All of their "garbage" cans are categorized. In most of supermarkets, you either bring your own bags or you pay for the bags. I remember seeing that proposal in SFGate.com not too long ago, and many people were angry at the idea of having to pay for shopping bags. Their public transit system is rapid, on time, and extremely reliable. I took public transit everywhere during my two weeks here. Outside of many train stations, self serve bicycle rentals are available. Bicyclists have their own wide lanes and traffic signals with little concern of colliding with cars. Needless to say, I see very few obsess or overweight people here.

Air and Water quality indicators

Right next to the waterfront of Copenhagen, there are these two indicators (above photo) showing Air and Water quality. They also explain what the government is doing to clean the water and air and the importance of doing so. At many supermarkets, I see self serve recycling stations. People just bring their plastic and glass bottles to feed into the machine and get cash for recycling them. They don't need to make an extra trip to some recycling facility.

Plastic and glass recycling station right inside of a large super market. It pays to recycle.

As I walked  by their Culture Festival, I noticed another banner, "Good Planets Are Hard to Find. Don't Blow It." That shall be a constant reminder to all of us. Conservation efforts aren't something we should wait for our government to take actions. It starts with individuals like you and me. For the last few years, I have felt like an oddity at times for growing my own food, composting, recycling, and hardly ever driving my car. After seeing what they are doing here, I don't feel so odd anymore.

"Good Planets are hard to find. Don't blow it."

Copenhagen Botanical Garden

I am traveling in Scandinavia this month for a couple of weeks. For a long time I have heard how progress Scandinavia countries are in their environmental programs. Everywhere I go around Copenhagen and Stockholm, I am reminded that people here have adapted conservation into their daily lives to reduce waste into their environment. One of the examples is their public transit system. I never had to wait for more than 5 minutes for their metro trains. Bicycles are also a popular form of transportation. I walked everyday since I got here since Copenhagen is extremely pedestrian friendly, and most attractions are accessible by foot.

Banana

I came upon the entrance of the Botanical Garden as I was walking around. You know I'll never miss an opportunity to check out a botanical garden especially when it is free of charge. The botanical garden is located on the other side of Rosenborg Castle and is a part of University of Copenhagen. All the plants are labeled with scientific names and place of origin. 

a variety of passiflora

Inside of the green house, I recognized many tropical plants including several species of passiflora, bamboo, banana, and other plants that I frequently see in California.There are several green houses, but only the two-story one shown in the top photo is open to the public. The other ones are strictly for research and educational purposes.