Walk on the wild side and evolution of an organic garden

So I'm walking out to the pasture a couple days ago and I see mushrooms growing on the ground and naturally I think "Wow, free food!" I'm shocked when I bring in my harvest and my family acts like I'm trying to kill them....Puleeeeze!!! These can't possibly be poisonous right???? Well to allay their fears, I look up poisonous mushrooms on the internet and darn...I find the exact same mushroom listed as a killer...I hate when my family is right, I'll never live this down... BUT wait...it says the definitive test is that the spores of the deadly mushroom are white! I do the little prescribed spore test and....

HA! Clearly this has black spores. They still are not convinced so I take a couple bites (Actually the internet said worst case is that I end up in the hospital with severe stomach cramps and the internet is never wrong - so there) I told the little doubting Thomases (and the one big one) that if I make it 6 hours with no ill effects, the mushrooms are just fine. I did get a little nervous when they all set their watch timers :( BUT HA! again 'cause here I am days later, still alive with no ill effects whatsoever! It's sauteed' mushrooms tonight baby! And lest you wonder...they taste FABULOUS - like what the store bought mushrooms taste like in their dreams.

So now that I have survived Domestic Mushroom Experiment 101, I am on to putting in the fall garden. Step 1 - till the ground (we are strip tilling this year and hoping to go to a no-till next season - more on that later) Step 2 - put up a fence when I realize that Bessie is just waiting to munch all my tasty new plants. She stolls over daily to check out what is going on.

These are super wide rows, I know! But I have lots of room and efficiency is not my main goal here. I left plenty of room to mow between the rows since I am leaving the grass to hold the soil in place and help the moisture content. I am also doing organic wheat in a huge tilled area to the right of this picture. I bought it from a local grower so I'm pretty proud about the whole thing. Fresh bread soon to come....well...not soon really, but one of these days. Don't start salivating yet - I'll let you know when.

Step 3 - put in hoops to support the netting. This is the most important part of the organic garden because it will keep insects and birds away from my crops without having to use any chemicals. That's the theory at least. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yes, the gigantic hat is required attire for working in the garden. Just so you know.

More about the new fall garden in the next blog - stay tuned.