Fungus among us

There is a brain growing on my walkway.

Actually I think it is a puffball fungus.

Mushrooms growth spurt

When we started the mushroom kit we got for an advent treat I was skeptical. My dad had no luck with two kits and several people mentioned online that theirs either molded or only grew fruit flies.

But sure enough after a couple days these little guys started to grow.

They grew pretty rapidly after that. There was a lot of talk around the house of them applying to college and getting their drivers license soon.

They turned out pretty nice. I had plans for making an omlet out of these but we didn't have time so I dried them. I would like to try growing other kinds of mushrooms.

Stink Horn

When we came home from San Diego, the grass in our yard had become... longish. I spied something bright red in the middle of it and went out to investigate. I found what appeared to big a long, skinny tongue growing out of the ground! One instagram later asking what it was and I had my answer... a stink horn mushroom!

The stink horn's scientific name is Phallaceae and it comes in many forms. Some are really crazy looking. Google it and you will see.

"Stinkhorns are amazing mushrooms, notorious for popping up suddenly and unexpectedly in urban settings. They are very diverse in appearance, but all of them share at least two features:

1 - Some part of the fruiting body, at some stage in development, is covered with a foul-smelling slime.

2 - The fruiting body arises from an "egg," traces of which may disappear by maturity."

Delightful!

Front yard mushrooms

Aaron and I were working out in the yard when I noticed lots of little mushrooms around a big old tree.

I have no idea what kind they are but they are cute.

Someone on twitter said they look like fairy houses.

The more I looked, the more clusters I found. I love mushrooms!

Cement mushrooms

I have been meaning to share this project for awhile. It isn't a simple or quick one, but I love it! It is something my mom and dad taught me how to make... cement mushrooms.

When I was a kid, we always seemed to be pouring cement for one thing or the other. Clothes line posts, porch, etc. My Grandpap even had a little portable cement mixer we used.

When my parents helped us build the patio at our old house we had some leftover cement and they showed us how to make the mushrooms. First dig a hole sorta shaped like the top of a mushroom upside down.

Place a plastic garbage bag over the hole and fill it with cement.

Tap the cement down and smooth it out.

Cut the top and bottom off of a plastic liter soda bottle and place it on the concrete top. Fill that with concrete.

Let it dry and tah-dah!

We made different size mushrooms with different size plastic bottles. This summer I have started painting them white and red. They look so cute sitting outside with my plants.