I was so excited to find this beautiful and flourishing maitake aka hen of the woods growing around the base of a huge oak tree behind our shop. After harvesting it twice, I decided to use the mushroom scraps to start my own substrate and expand the patch into a mushroom garden! Cleaning the maitake is a tedious process which led to scraping and cutting off sections, mostly stem, that I didn'twant to eat. I pondered for a while about what to do with all that waste and decided to mix some of...

<p>It has taken me many years to get here&#8230; I left Florida after 15 years and moved to the countryside in Booneville, Arkansas. There was too much stressing me out there and I needed a clean slate; mountains, seasons, and a bit more freedom to explore and create. After raising a newborn during the pandemic &hellip; </p> <p class="link-more"><a href="https://bluebirdgo.wordpress.com/2025/04/17/bluebird-homestead-has-landed-in-arkansas/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="scree...

<p>I found out last year that the rental I live in has a juniper tree growing in the yard. It needed to be cut back from the house so I looked into all the possibilities of what I could do with the various components. From branches to leaves and berries, they can each be used &hellip; </p> <p class="link-more"><a href="https://bluebirdgo.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/whole-stuffed-yellowtail-snapper-with-blood-oranges-and-harvested-juniper-leaves/" class="more-link">Continue reading<span class="sc...