The Greening of Gavin

All Good Things Come to an End

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Yes, dear reader, the time has come.  Everything in life has a beginning and an ending, and I believe that it’s time to wrap up The Greening of Gavin blog and podcast.  All good things come to an end (to quote a very famous Star Trek series)!

All good things

It’s with a homebrew beer in hand that I say goodbye.

All Good Things…

With no major greening projects on the horizon or further lifestyle enhancements planned, I’ve essentially run out of things to say, which after 1,870 posts and 132 podcast episodes is quite understandable.

I’m officially passing the baton to a younger generation of bloggers and influencers who may have better luck convincing the masses further to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

I know that I’ve played my part in the rebirth of the simple living revolution judging from the amount of feedback and emails I receive every day, so I feel very proud of that accomplishment.  I, like you, can make a big difference in the world.

What have we achieved?

During the journey, we’ve retrofitted the house with many green features, renovated the gardens into an organic food farm, and transformed the way we think and live.  All that, as well as starting a green business teaching others some simple living skills.

When I reflect back to that crazy day when my whole world was turned upside-down, I would never in a million years have thought that the blog would have come this far and how it would eventually have impacted our lifestyle for the better.

And to you, the reader.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting and following my family’s journey and antics since February 2008 when I penned the very first post.  It’s been a wild ride, sometimes controversial, but always interesting and fun.

So where to from here?

Well, the blog posts and podcast episodes will remain online until either the internet is destroyed or peak oil begins to impact us all.  Just joking, it will still be here as a valuable resource for as long as there are bits and bytes.  Check out my archive for all the posts.

Also, I will still have a strong online presence as I will be maintaining the associated Facebook page and YouTube channel for The Greening of Gavin.  If anything exciting happens around here then that is where I will be posting this type of update.

Additionally, the YouTube channel, CheeseMan.tv, will continue to release a weekly cheese making video, as well as my cheese making blog and associated podcast at Little Green Cheese.

Little Green Cheese Podcast

Little Green Cheese Podcast

To cap it all off, our home business, Little Green Workshops, is still growing strongly and will more than compensate for any time I gain from ending the blog and the podcast.  We are still running cheese, soap, soy candle, and bath soak & scrub workshops each school term if anyone wants to learn these dying skills.  You can find all the details of these courses on our workshops calendar.

Little Green Workshops - end of year update

Click Through to the Shop!

Adieu

So dear reader, this is it.  Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support, and I hope to see you on my other blogs and YouTube channels in the very near future.

Goodbye, my friends and keep on striving for a more sustainable world.

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Growing Oyster Mushroom Kits – Results

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About two weeks ago I started growing oyster mushroom kits that I was given by Mr Fothergill’s to trial.  I was hoping to report back that I now have two boxes full of mushrooms, but it looks like the fickle finger of fungi fate struck again!  Only one of the two kits actually grew some mushrooms.

I was hoping to report back that I now have two boxes full of mushrooms, but it looks like the fickle finger of fungi fate struck again!  Only one of the two kits actually grew some mushrooms.

They both started out looking promising, however at about day 7 the Golden Oyster Mushrooms shrivelled and stopped growing.

But the good news is that the Pearl Oyster mushrooms grew rapidly and are ready to pick!

Have a look at the video I produced during the growing process; https://youtu.be/5n5gx9B8kTo



I think it may have had something to do with the way the Golden Oyster mushroom substrate floated on Day 1.  It may not have been soaked with water enough, but this wasn’t specified in the instructions.

Tomorrow, I am going to resoak the Golden Oyster Mushroom substrate again, this time placing a weight on top to hold it down for the first 24 hours.  This should kick it back into action.  I will take a few more photos over coming days to see if it works.  I would hate to throw away a perfectly good mushroom kit.

Then I will take a few more photos over coming days to see if it works.  I would hate to throw away a perfectly good mushroom kit.

So there you go.  My first success growing oyster mushroom kits!  Once the Pearl Oysters have finished growing, I am going to resoak that substrate as well to see if I can get another flush.  The instructions suggest that this is possible, so I might get two flushes of mushrooms for the price of one.

Have any of you tried this type of kit?  What were your results?

Quest for some Easy Oyster Mushroom Kits

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It seems to be one of those quests that every gardener has.  A specific plant, or in my case fungus, that eludes them.  In particular, I would like to have another attempt at growing Oyster Mushrooms using a kit.  Something easy that even the worst fungi grower could excel at!

Thankfully, after taking my feedback on board the last time I attempted to grow mushrooms using their kits, Mr Fothergill’s kindly sent me two new sample oyster mushroom kits to test.

This time, they have partnered with Sylvan Australia to produce an easy-to-use range of oyster mushroom kits for the avid fungi grower.  Each kit is available for a recommended retail price of AUD$24.95.

As I’m always up for a challenge, so I will be documenting the progress of growing the Pearl Oyster and Golden Oyster Mushroom kits via this blog and on the Greening of Gavin YouTube channel.

Mr Fothergill's Oyster Mushroom Kits

Mr Fothergill’s Oyster Mushroom Kits

Tomorrow, I will be opening them up and following the instructions to the letter.  Apparently, all I have to do is soak the kit overnight then drain.  Each day I will have to keep the surface sprayed with water to keep it moist.

In 7 to 10 days the pins should appear and I stop watering.  A few days later I simply harvest the mushrooms.  In a couple of weeks, I should have a nice crop of fungi to feast upon!  Fingers crossed.

Let’s see if it’s really that easy.