I’m a slow runner, but slow has its advantages. I listen to audiobooks while I run, and being slow buys me more listening time. I never have race anxiety because I know I’ll be bringing up the rear. And I have time to look around for mushrooms. I’ve logged many miles on the trails of [...]
A couple weeks back, Hurricane Earl gave us a scare. It threatened our coastline, so we battened our hatches. The storm ended up weakening and veering out to sea, so all it did was down branches, rattle windows, and disorient the poultry. But Earl worked wonders for the shiitake mushrooms. Our logs had been more [...]
When we lived in New York, drought was an abstract concept. I understood that, for people across large swaths of the world, it meant a serious threat to lives and livelihoods, but for us it meant that the weather was nice and that we didn’t flush the toilet. Now, though, I’m getting just the faintest [...]
We’ve had dribs and drabs of shiitake mushrooms over the last six months. We got a few last fall, which was unexpected, since we only inoculated the logs last spring. We got another one or two mushrooms over the winter, and a couple small flushes this spring. I was pretty happy with the way things [...]
We were headed up our driveway this morning when Kevin stopped the car. He started backing up, and I thought he’d forgotten something. But then he stopped again, and pointed out my window. I looked, and saw our azalea, densely packed with pinky-purple blossoms. Just yesterday it was green. All over town, colors are popping. [...]
Back in the spring, we embarked on our first mushroom-growing venture. So far, it’s yielded exactly one shiitake mushroom, but we have high hopes for a crop in the spring. This is how you grow shiitakes: drill a bunch of holes in some oak logs; hammer in dowels infused with shiitake spawn (which you buy [...]
Understanding doesn’t preclude wonder. Take airplanes. I know how they fly. I understand Bernoulli’s principle. The wing is curved on top, and flat on the bottom, so the air molecules over the top accelerate and the pressure above the wing drops to less than the pressure below. At speed, you get lift. Sure. Next time [...]
After burning god knows how many gallons of gas checking our super-secret hen-of-the-wood spot once or twice a week for most of the summer and all of the fall, we finally hit pay dirt. Not just one, but two big, young, firm mushrooms. Cleaned and trimmed, our haul was well over two pounds. They’re sauteeing as [...]
We all have one. It’s that elusive special something that makes your chili, or strawberry preserves, or banana bread, so very popular. And you never tell, but not because you’re afraid that everyone you know will be able to replicate your chili, or strawberry preserves, or banana bread and you won’t have any friends. It’s [...]
My husband is a commodity trader and spent most of his career on the exchange floor, trading coffee and crude oil. When you trade in a pit, you have to be aware of everything that’s going on in a ring that’s about fifty feet in diameter and contains some 300 traders. Who knew that commodity [...]
Tamar Haspel has been writing about food and health for over a decade. She recently moved from Manhattan to Cape Cod. She’s adjusting well. [Read More …]
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