June Update

By this time of the year, life is abundant and growth is spectacular. In the garden, the first blossoms of the season are on the tomato plants (on the vines of the ultra-early Glacier variety, anyway). The brassicas are all producing: the kale and collards are ready to eat, of course, but the first broccoli florets are rising up, the kohlrabi bulbs are swelling, and the heading cabbages are closing up. Squashes, cucumbers, melons, potatoes--all are growing faster than we can keep track. It's exciting. We do, however, appear to have two unsuccessful crops this year: eggplant (the baby plants have been turned into lace by flea beetles) and peppers (which look alive and fairly healthy but which have not grown in size since being transplanted--perhaps due to being planted in a bed that last year held potatoes, another nightshade). Still, the garden feels great--our direct connection to the mystery and sweetness of life.

Logo Decoded (sort of)

CPI Mushrooms

As the weather gets warmer, wild mushrooms start popping up all over the place. There a quite a few edible varieties. Black Trumpets grow near the stream at CPI. They are delicious. They should start fruiting sometime toward the end of June. Other favorites that grow around our property are Chicken of the Woods, Hen of the Woods, Distant Gilled Lactarius, Oyster Mushrooms, Puffballs, and Chanterelles. I'll post photos of some of these mushrooms as the summer wears on.














Chanterelles, like the one pictured above, have become a favorite at CPI because they go so well with our fresh eggs. Not only are they beautiful, they smell like apricots. There are four kinds of Chanterelle that grow here: the Common Chanterelle, the Smooth Chanterelle, the Cinnabar Chanterelle, and the Scaly Vase Chanterelle.