..... good for insulating your home!
Really?
Well, according to a report in the Boston Globe yesterday, our favourite veg is also set to become part of our fight to conserve energy.
Most of the time, having fungus or mould of any kind in your home is a big, big problem. But not so for inventors Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre. Together they have created an organic insulation made from mushrooms.
Both graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, they have created a patented technology called "Greensulate" — a fire-retardant board made of water, flour, and oyster mushrooms. Although the technology is still in development and estimated to be more than a year from release to the market.
What next? Tomatoes to offset your carbon footprint? Broccoli to replace tar in road construction?
You just never know .....
Saturday 28 July 2007
Tuesday 24 July 2007
Mushrooms to make poverty history?
MushWorld is a non-profit organisation devoted to poverty alleviation in the world through mushroom growing. The people behind the Korean-based charity believe in the magic of mushroom growing, especially in developing countries. Mushrooms convert agro-waste into a wonderful food source with high culinary and medicinal value, which makes mushroom growing cost-effective and eco-friendly.
To support poverty reduction efforts in developing countries, MushWorld provides
free, unlimited access to mushroom information
a mushroom information hub where members freely share their ideas on the web
technical and financial support for the growers in the developing countries
If you'd like to know more about MushWorld, visit their website
To support poverty reduction efforts in developing countries, MushWorld provides
free, unlimited access to mushroom information
a mushroom information hub where members freely share their ideas on the web
technical and financial support for the growers in the developing countries
If you'd like to know more about MushWorld, visit their website
Sunday 22 July 2007
Tips from the top!
The poor old BBC has come in for a bit of hammering over the last few days but any TV channel that features Delia is OK by me! 
The Beeb have now jumped on the wild mushroom bandwagon with a very informative web page dedicated to Wild Mushrooms.
Take a look here for some good info on gathering and eating wild mushrooms. And, of course with their connections, they are also able to feature great recipes from some of the country's leading chefs. That said, not one of them is a patch on Granny Harrell!!
Further to our chat about finding your own mushrooms, if you are looking and picking, check here for the Mushroom Pickers Code of Conduct
Saturday 21 July 2007
Looking for mushrooms
"Aaah" we often hear "why should I buy my wild mushrooms from you when they're ... well, wild?".
A good question - but one that's easy to answer.
Although it would make a lovely story, we don't spend our time foraging for mushrooms. Indeed we have a network of growers all over the world who send us their dried mushrooms - we then package them and sell them to discerning mushroom lovers all over the country.
In addition to wild mushrooms we also process fresh mushrooms for sale to the UK food industry - and if you've ever eaten food products containing mushrooms then the chances are that they're ours!
So, you'd expect us to say that we know our mushrooms - but that would be an understatement! We're passionate about mushrooms and barely a day goes by without yours truly enjoying one of nature's finest products.
I have also enjoyed the odd forage too because we're in a part of the country that's bursting with mushrooms - but that's if you know where to look. Of course not everything is as it seems when looking for mushrooms growing wild - so you really need to know your ... ahem .. onions when looking for good fungi.
Here's a website I've found which is a treasure trove of mushroom knowledge - why not check it out before you go hunting http://www.mushrooms.org.uk/.
A good question - but one that's easy to answer.
Although it would make a lovely story, we don't spend our time foraging for mushrooms. Indeed we have a network of growers all over the world who send us their dried mushrooms - we then package them and sell them to discerning mushroom lovers all over the country.
In addition to wild mushrooms we also process fresh mushrooms for sale to the UK food industry - and if you've ever eaten food products containing mushrooms then the chances are that they're ours!
So, you'd expect us to say that we know our mushrooms - but that would be an understatement! We're passionate about mushrooms and barely a day goes by without yours truly enjoying one of nature's finest products.
I have also enjoyed the odd forage too because we're in a part of the country that's bursting with mushrooms - but that's if you know where to look. Of course not everything is as it seems when looking for mushrooms growing wild - so you really need to know your ... ahem .. onions when looking for good fungi.
Here's a website I've found which is a treasure trove of mushroom knowledge - why not check it out before you go hunting http://www.mushrooms.org.uk/.
Monday 16 July 2007
And you thought my mushrooms were big!
Blimee - my eyes watered when I saw this story in my Sunday newspaper!
Check this out - a 40lb mushroom!!
Now, that would make a soup!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/12/wmroom112.xml
Check this out - a 40lb mushroom!!
Now, that would make a soup!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/12/wmroom112.xml
Wild mushrooms are found all over the world and I help to prepare them for sale to discerning mushroom customers throughout the UK. We take delivery of our mushrooms in East Sussex and most of them arrive already dried - a process best carried out soon after picking to retain the flavour.
Wild mushrooms come into season at different times of the year and are therefore seasonal. We want our customers to experience and eat wild mushrooms all year round - which is why drying them is best. In fact dried mushrooms have much stronger flavours than fresh mushrooms and lose none of their nutritional values.
Dried wild mushrooms increase in volume by 3 - 4 times when re-hydrated. So a 100g bag of our mushrooms is actually somewhere between 300g and 400g in real volume.
You shouldn't use dried mushrooms until they've been rehydrated - but re-hydration is easy. Simply boil some water and pour into a bowl, add the quantity you require, but remember that dried mushrooms increase in volume to 3 to 4 times. Soak your mushrooms in the boiling water for about 20 minutes or until fully re-hydrated stirring occasionally.
The mushrooms can then be drained from the water and used - but don't pour the used water down the sink! This is now a fantastic broth that should be strained before use to remove any sand/grit and can then be used in many recipes for soups and stews etc. You can even freeze it to use at a later date.
Wild mushrooms come into season at different times of the year and are therefore seasonal. We want our customers to experience and eat wild mushrooms all year round - which is why drying them is best. In fact dried mushrooms have much stronger flavours than fresh mushrooms and lose none of their nutritional values.
Dried wild mushrooms increase in volume by 3 - 4 times when re-hydrated. So a 100g bag of our mushrooms is actually somewhere between 300g and 400g in real volume.
You shouldn't use dried mushrooms until they've been rehydrated - but re-hydration is easy. Simply boil some water and pour into a bowl, add the quantity you require, but remember that dried mushrooms increase in volume to 3 to 4 times. Soak your mushrooms in the boiling water for about 20 minutes or until fully re-hydrated stirring occasionally.
The mushrooms can then be drained from the water and used - but don't pour the used water down the sink! This is now a fantastic broth that should be strained before use to remove any sand/grit and can then be used in many recipes for soups and stews etc. You can even freeze it to use at a later date.
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