Maitake Mushrooms

I was picking up some groceries at 4Life, a great lil' shop in Kensington Market that sells organic produce and bulk goods. Sometimes they'll have some interesting produce brought in by local farmers.

About a month ago, I noticed a box of unfamiliar fungi. The shrooms were little bunches of woody gills, sitting in a plain brown box, waiting for adoption. I was told they were maitake mushrooms, brought in from a mushroom farmer in Waterloo. Figuring these rare gems would probably cost a fortune, I bought the runt of the litter. He was just a little bigger than a toonie. (It rang up a measely 50 cents, but I was too embarrassed to ask for more).

I ate a little bit raw, and it was delicious. Nice mild earthy flavour. I broke the rest up and mixed it in with a half bowl of spaghetti, garlic and olive oil. M-m-mushroom. If only I had more.

How-To: Compost Food Scraps with Worms

A few months ago, my workplace purchased several vermicomposters. Pretty progressive move for a corporate head office. Yeah, it would have been a lot cooler if we got a big fluffy dog instead, but Rover can't turn food and paper scraps into nutrient-rich "soil" like worms can. Well.......... it's debatable, but let's just agree that I'm happy with the worms-in-office situation.

The worms were purchased and delivered from TheWormFactory.ca, a small local organic farm in Ontario. Through reading and working with the worms, I've quickly learned that vermicomposting....

- Doesn't stink (literally). Worm bins allow air circulation.
- Is a good way to use shredded paper scraps. Worms consume paper, and use it as bedding.
- Is a good way to use food scraps. Worms can consume their weight in food, each day! No onions, meat or fat/oil though. My worms seem to like apple scraps.
- Worms are very independent. They can survive days/weeks without having to give them food.

With some gentle persuasion from co-workers, I decided that I should start my own home vermicomposter. The castings would be used to fertilize my future crop plants. It was easy enough to start: take a handful from one of the existing bins (worms + castings), and mix it with a handful of shredded scrap paper in a tub (with air holes). Voila: my own wicked lil wormies.

I've also picked up some great vermicomposting tricks:

- When feeding, make a hole and fill with food scraps. Cover with shredded paper to create a smell-barrier.
- Trace feeding locations in a spiral pattern. That way, the worms will learn where to look for food, and the whole bin will be used equally.
- Always have 2 to 3" of shredded paper to cover the worm's environment.
- Add water if needed to ensure environment is moist.
- When the castings are ready for harvesting, feed worms applesauce (or other blended fruit/vegetable mix) on one side of the bin. Prop the bin up on the other side, and leave for 2 weeks. Almost all the worms will have migrated to the applesauce side, allowing you to scoop up worm-free castings from the other side of the bin. Easy as pie.

Please feel free to send me a message or email if you have any questions about vermicomposting!