gecko

I'm thinking that terra preta originated haphazardly from piles of trash burning. cassava peelings and trimmings, palm fronds, fruitseeds and skins etc. generally a food refuse pile that was set on fire and left to smoulder and a bit of soil chucked on it. Seeing 'biochar stoves and burners' etc. over the years, they're no different to choarcoal burners and there's no difference between 'biochar' as it comes out of a retort and charcoal. the crucial difference imo, between Biochar and charcoal, is that charcoal becomes Biochar when it is 'charged' with life and nutrients after extended contact with soil. or more quickly, as an addition to a hot, aerobic compost pile. I've used charcoal from various sources to make biochar Bamboo, grasses, weeds, palm trash, woody fruits ( gumnuts, banksia cones, pine cones almond shells etc) hardwood, softwoods, woody weeds etc. then added them to compost piles. mostly in an open 200litre drum with the bottom knocked out and a tight lid to quell the fire a bit . when the fire gets roaring, I drop some more fuel in on top of it and snuff it out a bit. Then quench it all with water when finished. it stops it burning any more and also washed the ash off. as with making charcoal for gunpowder, the ideal temp is around 400deg C. at that temp , the charcoal is not just pure carbon , but consists of a range of compounds. I don't know what they are exactly, but hotter burned charcoal is different. you don't want to 'burn the life out of it'. charcoal burned too hot is no good for gunpowder and not good for bio-char, but in the case of bio-char, won't be detrimental. same as pyrolising cotton cloth or cord for tinder... burn it too hot or too long and it doesn't work as well. I use pyrolised cotton (with quartz and steel striker) every day to light a charcoal fueled forge. I see variations in different batches of charcoal . some lights up easily and is good for forge-welding steel some just has trouble getting hot enough. ie. it may have been burned too hot when being made

I've done it with muttonfat left over from slaugtering sheep. (pigfat and lard are too yummy to waste as biodiesel ) human fat would be no different it's essentially the same. as are most vegtable oils ie. triglyceride esters of various fatty acids

The pics on their website do appear to be A.tequilana http://www.ausagave.com.au/#/about-us/4546195640

The plants in the pics look more like A.salmiana or A.mapisaga or something. difficult to say for sure , but they certainly not A.tequilana. I've been watching this for some time now with interest. it's always seemed to me a very expensive way to go to grow fuel 8-10yr til maturity for A.tequilana, longer for many other species. Stillman, if you want some A.salmiana plants (seedlings or offsets) for aguamiel, let me know.

I'd imagine that mushrooms would laugh while they consumed it ...with the dead slugs and all .

Yes milk cap 'cultivation' is possible if you expand your definition of cultivation. Trials in Spain sugest that inoculated trees , Pinus spp. specifically can yield mushrooms after as few as 3years after planting out. existing Pines can be inoculated by various methods, the best/easiest way is to place fresh cap under the leaf litter under the dripline of the tree. another is to soak caps/spores in a pail of water with sugar and a teaspoon of salt (to suppress bacteria for a bit) overnight and water that around the base of suitable host trees (in ground or seedlings in pots/tubes) I've used stem butts put into pots growing Pinus halepensis and P.pinea. There is mycelial growth , but no fruits yet 3yrs....just an experiment to see what happens. the soils here are alkaline by nature and so I wont plant them out as it wouldn't suit L.deliciosus. it prefers acidic clayey soils. From what I can gather L.sanguifluus is better on alkaline soils, but I'm not aware of it occuring in Aust....still looking though. ! When people say that "mycorrhizal mushrooms cant be cultivated", what they're really saying is that 1. they cant be grown without a host, 2. they require more money and research than it's worth for someone to attempt if they want to have a guaranteed financial return. -truffles are valuable enough for research to have taken off and fairly resonable success can be expected, but you need money and time. -Matsutake have so for proved too unreliable, but I believe that work is still being done. 3. 'you harvest them wild from the forest' in countries where the 'known choice edible' species occur which is, I guess, another reason for not putting effort into attempts at 'cultivation' So, dont let that statement put you off. If you love mushrooms, and dont expect (depend on) financial return from your efforts, then go for it. Give nature half a chance- give a mycorrhizal host tree spores of a suitable species at the roots, and you're much more likely to get a good result than with no spores. I've been hearing for some years now that Boletus edulis occurred in Aust. and last year it was reported from South Australia that some where harvested and sold to a restaurant. first 'official' reports of it in New Zealand where made around 1999-2000. I dont know if they've been growing in SA for a long time , and if introduced by accident or deliberately. How could they have gone unnoticed for so long if they've been there for a long time , if introduced as mycelium on the roots of living trees- like how Lactarius deliciousus most likely found its way here. Thousands of hectares of Pine plantation/forest could be yielding much more than just milkcaps ( in diferent seasons) if the appropriate species where present. Boletus spp., Edible Tricholoma spp. and Russula spp., Cantherellus spp. Give it a go, spread milkcaps to pines that don't have milkcaps, they need their mycorrhizal friends. delicious milkcaps!. so looking forward to my first feed of the season.

Thanks ZPBG, I was wondering if they'd already started given that we had a fairly mild Summer and with the rain that's been about. It's a long way for me to travel just to check it out, so I'd rather find out from ppl closer to the pines. I wa surprised to find some wood blewits growing in a lawn (and some Fairy ring mushies-Marasmius oreades) a couple of days ago. not so surprised about Marasmius, but I don't normally find Blewits around here till winter. could be a good season everywhere for milk caps (and mushies generally) with all the rain.

Yeah, I mow my lawn with a scythe. The 'Austrian' scythes are much easier to use than the British ones. ...got both, but dont use the British ones much anymore I have several blades, some with the edge set for coarser weeds and some with a fine edge for lawn. I mostly use a 90cm blade I got from http://kosimesnadno.cz/ in Czech Rep. and a few from http://www.scythesaustralia.com.au/ My son has been at me lately to mow the lawn with him, he's 6yo and he uses one of my smaller snaths with a 60cm blade, but I'm gonna have to make him a smaller one to suit his height better. It is a bit of an investment, and takes a little practice to use , but as with most manual skills like that it's worth learning for the many benefits gained from it. If well looked after and used, like a good razor, should last a lifetime or more. Scythes Australia at Mudgee are running a weekend workshop in April (13-15th?) 2012. it's worth getting some instruction on how to set up the scythe for your height and build, How to maintain , peen and sharpen the blade, how to repair damage to the blade etc. but not impossible to teach yourself from the info online or from Peter Vido's addendum to David Tressemer's 'The Scythe Book' the workshops also address other diverse (but not totally unrelated) topics. Previous workshops have included biofertiliser preparation, greenwoodworking, blacksmithing, haymaking, agricultural hand tools, fermented foods etc. I went to the last one (Aug 2010) and I'll be going to this one and giving a bit of a demo on blacksmithing and other general help with the weekend.

Stllman your plant in the pic is definitely A.galanga. A.officinarium doesn't grow as tall and it has fewer flowers per inflorescence. I'd be very surprised ( but excited and happy) if ARHerbs has A.officinarium.

http://www.greenpatchseeds.com.au/barerooted.html I'll be very surprised if it is A.officinarium In fact I'm sure that it will be A.galanga. They'll have mis-labelled it and/or believe that both names apply to the one species. authors of some books have it stuffed up when they just republish the mistakes of others... and the confusion continues. nursery industry is notorious for perpetuating incorect names of many plants.

ha, little bugger! sounds like the inspiration for another *'revenge recipe' to me and perfect to keep with the Andean theme. *Revenge Recipes... I've got a big list of them in my head that I've compiled over the years. some of the family favorites are:- 'Fruit bat with mango sauce' 'Bandicoot with cassava' 'King Parrot curry with pigeon pea dahl' 'Possum with apple (or Cherry) sauce)' 'Starling pie with spiced cherry sauce' ....the list goes on, though not many featuring insects. Nice bed prep for the vines.

Yeah, Achocha....or Korilla as I've known it treat like cucumber but bigger trellis. Only grown it a couple of times many years ago, but it didn't do so well for me at the time for some reason. I do recall someone saying it does better in winter or cool frost-free climate or something. Interested to see how it goes for you. wouldn't mind some seed at the end of the season for next year if thats possible.

wild picked... Saffron Milk-caps, Morels or Wood Blewits from oak leaflitter all three are different and I cant pick one over the others grown... King oysters, or maybe Beech Oysters (Hypsizygus ulmarius) from buried logs in the garden, but maybe the enjoyment of eating them was clouded by the delight of finding them finally fruiting in the garden ...though I may change it to black truffles one day. No, we don't have L.volemus in Aust. but if you're offering sporeprints, I'm always up for a challenge. i have small seedling pines and oaks ready for that sort of thing.

...reckon they're some species of Fir Tree (Abies spp.)...or maybe Spruce (Picea spp). I get them mixed up a bit cause i don't get to see many here, they don't like hot and/or dry. Not Pines strictly speaking, but all are hosts to many species of mycorrhizal fungi just the same.

Yep. pm sent

Pisolithus tinctorius, I call it Horse shit fungus. I can tell you it doesn't taste really good at all! Im curious as to how to use it as a dye source (as it's name, 'tinctorius' suggests). what mordant would you use? let us know if you (or anyone here) ever find porcini in Sth Aus. I'd like some live pieces to inoculate host trees with, also any info re. hosts, soil type, altutude, aspect etc. Boletus edulis deserves much wider distribution in Aust.

Sometimes just put seed into moist peat, coir peat or coarse sand in a small ziplock into the crisper part of the fridge for 3weeks to 3mths. some species respond better to moist peat or sand warm for a few weeks to give seeds a chance to imbibe moisture before the cold strat. If I'm impatient and in a hurry, I use GA-3 in H2O at 500-750ppm in peat in a ziplock for a few days to a week then sow into pots or flats. depending on seed coat of larger seed, sometimes I'll scald with water or scarify before stratification. sometimes add smokewater to the peat, depending on species. natural habitat of the seed in question often gives clues ie. degrees of frost, yearly rainfall distribution, geo-biological niches , fire occurence, dispersal vectors (animals gut acid; water- abrasion, leaching). some fine seed needs light for germination and wont start if covered. short answer to your question though, peat or sand in ziplock bags in the fridge

Thanks for the pics Tripsis, always good to see plants in habitat... If you want to go overseas again, I'd definitely go Mexico! An ethnobotanists wet dream Agaves, cactus, salvias, chiles, maize, tomatos, squashes, pumkins, beans cacao in the southern states, medicinal and culinary herbs, a very rich culture of wild mushroom harvesting, Sapotes and related fruits, edible plams etc... a major centre of diversity of oak, mixed with fir, spruce and pine forests (mycorrhizal mushrooms). tropical humid forests. temperate, wet, cool and hot arid, alpine to tropical humid, all within the tropics /subtropics.... need I go on? If you do embark on a 'round Australia trip' you've always got a place to crash here on the way round buddy!

When inoculating trees with T.melanosporum (usually Oak, sometimes Hazelnut, though there are many host trees), the trees are allowed to grow in pasteurised potting media for few months at least, before spore slurry is introduced. this is done in order for there to be a half decent root system for the germinating spores and resultant mycelium to team up with. Micofora in Spain inoculate pine seedlings with milk caps (L.deliciosus and maybe L.sanguifluus) and say that you can expect to have them produce after as little as 3 yrs. Truffles can fruit that early too, but usually take a little longer. They also produce and sell pellet spawn (spores in a pelletized dehydrated gel or water crystals afaict) of Boletus spp.(I think it's B.edulis, not sure) It's recomended that you dig holes or a furrow 10-15cm deep around the dripline of a suitable host tree (beech, oak, chestnut, pine) 20yrs or older. backfill, water and leave alone. fruit can be expected after 2yrs, but no guarentees, so repeat every 2 yrs. Some plants I've inoculated in tubes with various species have fruited with species I didn't put in there (Poison pie Hebeloma crustuliniforme ). the spores or mycelium either has been present in the potting mix or has blown in. it happened on Chestnut seedlings and Valley white oak (Q.lobata) seedlings, both less than 2yrs old in forestry tubes. I tend towards non-sterile aproach, because as obtuse mentioned there may be other factors needed to get the target species going (esp. Boletus spp. or Cantharellus spp.) Also, the edno- ecto- thing with trees, changing from one to the other throughout the course of their lives. Eucalypts do it. The way I understand it is that they can start of in some pretty hostile sites and therefore may only have endomycorrhizae to work with if spores or hosts are already present. If not there, they usually turn up some how. The tree grows, kills major grass (endomycorrhizal hosts) competition, then the tree shifts conditions to favour ectomycorrhizal species and the biology becomes more complex and fungaly dominant soil develops. If you want to get really serious about it, I recomend This book It deals with ecto- and endomycorrhizae . there are agar recipes for sterile culture of ECMs inoculation methods etc. drawing on a lot of work in West Aus. and some from forestry projects in Asia. Here is a handy site , mostly native species but not all. Of the Boletus spp., I'd get B.aereus if I could, as it grows in warmer parts of Nthn. hemisphere. B.pinophilus for its love of Pine trees... if it could establish in P.radiata plantations, you'd never pick a Slipery jack again Well you wouldn't not use any of them really, B.edulis, B.aestivalis. B.edulis var. grandedulis (Nth Amer.), B.barowsii etc. I have pines (P.ponderosa, P.patula,) in tubes that are showing signs of ECM activity now after inoculating last year with a mix of species. It's a long term project....

No, but I intend to give it a go when i manage to get hold of some. A.tequilana cultivars that is.... A.tequilana 'Azul', the official one as well as older cultivars 'Seguin' 'pes-mulae' or whatever I can get really. also, I'd like to increase the numbers via micropropagation, of some of my other mezcal Agaves. A.duragnensis A.deserti A.sobria A.potatorum A.murpheyi

Paraserianthes lophantha (syn. Albizia lophantha) fresh leaves lather up in water. It's a fast growing Mimosoideae tree legume. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraserianthes_lophantha

Plectranthus rotundifolius is in Autralia.....or at least was in the last 20yrs. I remember it being in some of Isabell Shipards catalogues many years ago. she had it listed as Ratala. All Rare Herbs may also have had it too. be worth checking with them. I've eaten it in Sri Lanka in a curry. I'm pretty sure 'Innala' is the Sinhalese name for. If you know any Sri Lankan folk, ask them about it . You just may find someone growing it. Ubi Kembili , is the Malay/Indonesian name for it. also worth keeping in mind when hitting the asian markets in the cities.

http://www.shaman-australis.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=9976 still looking.... anyone have seeds or plants?

"I'd like to see the Russian recipe..if you find it.." Salted mushrooms (the Russian recipe) This is used for a variety of mushrooms and is a popular preservation method in many parts of Eastern Europe. many edible species that have an acrid taste can be treated this way to reduce the harshness of taste. I read somwhere that Peppery milkcaps (L.piperatus) treated this way have a much mellower flavour after 6 months storage. I've not tried this method yet but I will this year and would also like to hear what others think of it if they try it. Salt is one of the oldest preservatives known, totally natural, easily available and inexpensive. It can draw out and/or change some undesirable flavours and properties and 'increase edibility' of some foods. Materials Glass jar - wide mouthed swing top jar with wire clip rubber seal is good. Ingredients salt fresh clean mushrooms Method use salt to mushrooms at a ratio of about 3:1 3 parts salt by weight to 1 part mushrooms may seem like a lot, but after a soak in fresh water before use would be ok. brush or wipe mushrooms with a clean damp cloth. trim and cut any damaged parts if necessary slice thickly put a layer of salt at the bottom of the jar then a layer of mushrooms. alternate layers til jar is full. the salt will draw moisture out and form a brine. Lactarius deliciosus -their characteristic texture would make them a good choice for this. Suillus granulatus, S.luteus- I'm gonna try them, who knows, the salt may draw out the sliminess and render them more palatable Wood Blewits (Lepista nuda)are supposed to be good salted. (if you can get enough that are surplus to those you'd want to eat fresh)

I've got Epazote seed if you want. you could substitute any herb you like... but tarragon or thyme or parsley are my favorite herbs for mushrooms (apart from Epazote) Salsa verde Tomatillos chiles onion garlic (optional) a bunch of coriander lime juice salt de-husk and washed tomatillos put in small saucepan, just cover with water and bring to simmer then take off heat ie. just barely cook them til they change from nice bright green to a sorry looking yellowy-green colour. You can let them cool in the water and store in fridge til you need them ( up to a week). put tomatillos in a blender with onion (finely chopped) garlic mashed to paste with salt Green Chiles (Prepared how you like- I like Jalapenos charred over fire then skinned and chopped) coriander lime juice salt to taste pulse in blender a few times -a few 2sec bursts to mix but not puree. let stand for at least 10-20 min and it will thicken. The pics below are pretty much the same recipe but with cooked fresh red tomato. and a trad. Mexican molecajete instead of electric blender. the mushroom tacos as described in my previous post. cooking the milkcaps after sauteing onions adding water before covering with pan lid milkcap tacos w/- sour cream (and/or avocado) and salsa on fresh warm corn tortillas A perfect breakfast