Expected & Unexpected Cultivation Successes

Woo hoo, success with getting more sun to the garden!  I mentioned in a post a few days ago, that I was frustrated with our sun exposure.  So, over the past several days, we have cut trees on the three surrounding sides of the garden, resulting in more sunshine on our sweet sprouts!  Today is the first day we have had a relatively full day of sun, and it is clear our efforts made a difference, woo hoo!  It was obvious that as a result of more sunshine, everything is growing better and beautifully, including those things that were struggling a bit.  Lise the Lumberjack finds happiness:)

While working in the yard, planting some giant sunflowers, I noticed we have a raspberry!  Yes, one lone raspberry on the young bushes, but it was a beauty and tasted sweet, and Mountain Man let me have it, (good, kind man that he is) being that it was too small to share.  Isn't it a beauty?  Can't wait until next year when the bushes are full!

While hiking through the woods hunting mushrooms, we found some wild strawberries...nice surprise and we will go back for the next several days until they are completely ripe.  Won't be enough to make pie or jelly, but there are enough both Mountain Man and I can enjoy some!

Wild mushroom hunting...I can go on and on with all we found, but here are the most interesting ones:

...last year we inoculated several tree trunks with mushroom spores, and today we were pleasantly surprised that this one (Shitake), seems to be sprouting...we'll have to keep checking on them...

...these are some interesting beauties that Mountain Man is still studying what they are and whether or not they are edible...(PS, he always gets to eat them first, if he is still around the next day, I might try them, ha ha, but seriously!) Of course, we didn't cultivate these, but mushrooms are sprouting everywhere throughout the woods like crazy...all the rain is good for mushroom lovers! Now please keep in mind that everything Mountain Man had identified below is based on his research and his research alone...do not base identification or edibility on what is stated here. If not identified, we just don't know yet!  But these things are cool looking, and most of the time, when they are edible, delicious!

...the mushroom below is clavaria rubicundula (smoky worm coral), it is not known if you can eat this... 

...below is a ramaria subbotrytis (rose coral), edible (tasty too), but this is based on Mountain Man's research and nothing more...and he hasn't tried this yet...

...not edible (most mushrooms that are red mean danger, russula silvicola, interesting looking, and the bug (see it on the top right side of the cap) seems to like it!...

...this above is likely oyster mushrooms, yum!...

...this above is a peziza badioconfusa, (common brown cup) edible when cooked (we have not tried it,
does not look so tasty)...

And here you have your mushroom exposure for the day:)

Came across this cool dead tree trunk while hiking, not cultivated but had lots of character & though dead trees are not unexpected in the woods, this one seemed to be a special fine...

The mountains are full of interesting things...everything is ever changing, interesting, exciting...makes me very happy to be here.

Thank you for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow, 

Lise