Blogs

Growing a variety of mushrooms from grain and sawdust spawn

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of growing mushrooms. They’re mysterious because they seem to pop up at random places yet I’ve heard they’re difficult to grow. So I hired one of our Merit Academy teachers to be my mentor. She helped me select spawn and all of the ingredients and equipment I needed. Yesterday, we put together a mini mushroom farm in my greenhouse, veggie garden, and oak grove.

I got a truck load of woodchips at Lewis Tree Service, 2 bags of sawdust at San Lorenzo Lumber, coffee grounds at Starbucks, and compost from my garden. We mixed up all of these ingredients to make the “food” for the mycelium (mushrooms). Then we layered the grain spawn on the woodchip mixture. It felt good to turn the soil and fill the planter boxes.

We also created mini totem poles and put the mycelium between each log. Two months ago, I drilled holes in an oak log to start mushroom plugs. There are so many ways to cultivate mushrooms!

 

 

Now we wait for the mushrooms to grow. We selected Pink Oyster, Blue Oyster, Almond Agaricus, Golden Oyster, Lion’s Mane and Pioppino mushrooms. Can’t wait for our first harvest! I’ll be able to get spawn from my mushrooms to grow in our lab. If all goes right, I should have huge bounties of mushrooms in 10 days that I can propagate forever. Well, I’m not good at growing things so this is a big experiment for me.

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An easy way to know if you’ve been exposed to COVID-19

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

Okay Californians – let’s stop the spread of COVID-19. Finally, there is an app (CA Notify) that tells you when you’ve been exposed without doing contact tracing. This system augments the contact tracing process by notifying people you’ve been in contact with – even those you don’t know. By using your cell phone (Android or iPhone), the app simply notifies people that an anonymous person they were in close contact with has tested positive for COVID-19. CA Notify doesn’t know the identities or contact information of the individuals.

If you were unknowingly exposed to COVID-19, this app will notify you. Your privacy remains intact because the app doesn’t know your identity or your contact information. It’s ideal for those who want to protect their privacy because your location is not tracked and they don’t have information about the people you meet. The best part, they contact people you don’t know – like a salesperson or receptionist that you talked to. It’s more efficient than contact tracing because you most likely don’t have names and phone numbers of every person you see.

If a person tests positive for COVID-19, they’ll receive an anonymous verification code. They’ll also receive resources to quickly get tested and the medical care needed to prevent exposing others to COVID-19. You won’t get the name of the person, the location, or any details.

This app is free and it’s available for teens (ages 13-17) and all adults. I just signed up for this because I want to know if I’ve been exposed to anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19. This is an easy way for me to do my part to protect others, and myself.

Check it out:

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Grades vs Pass/Fail; the Conversation Continues

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

As we approach the end of fall semester, college students across the nation are pushing to extend the Pass/Fail grading system they all received last spring. But, most colleges aren’t allowing it. Each college has set up their pandemic grading protocols – albeit by the seat of their pants – to deal with student issues. Some colleges allow students to choose between grades and pass/fail, but the problem is WHEN they allow students to make this decision. If the students choose this at the beginning of the term, that would be more fair than allowing students to choose just before finals. In other words, if a student is not doing well in a class, should they be able to opt for a Pass instead of a C?

When students have pass/fail marks on their transcripts instead of grades, it doesn’t work to their benefit when it comes to grad school. Admissions officers are going to prefer a transcript with real grades to one that is riddled with passes or no-pass/fails. If students are really suffering because of COVID-related issues, they can always discuss their circumstances in an essay or interview.

Even at the high school level, most students are receiving grades this term. High school students face the same dilemma as college students when it comes to competing to get into selective colleges. If their transcript shows stellar grades, the students will be more likely to impress admissions officers than students with a transcript filled with passes. So if a student is getting all A’s in their classes, a transcript with passes will make them appear to be average A-C students. Not good.

Spring 2019 and Fall 2020 have already set students back because of the chaos that ensued during the transition to online classes last fall and the fact that online classes just don’t offer the same learning experience that face-to-face classes do. Students who get grades will do much better than students who get passes.

Source

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Thanksgiving outdoors on our redwood deck

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

Nicole and Brad joined us for Thanksgiving on our redwood deck. Separated by 10 feet, we sat at bistro tables in the oak grove. We just installed lanterns, string lights, and electricity so we could have our buffet warmers, heaters, and music. Instead of hosting a party for 15-40 people where we’re running around and leading activities, we got to talk and enjoy ourselves.

   

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Home hardening: Removing all vegetation around my house

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

When the fire marshal and inspector told me that the wisteria and trumpet vines I have been meticulously training to climb the walls and railings of my house would act like a wick in a wildfire, I spent 2 weeks hand cutting down every plant within 5 feet of my house. It was oddly reassuring while it was really sad. What a crazy world we’re living in today.

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More fun with costumes and dogs!

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

If you knew Nicole and Brad’s dog, Loki, you’d know that this shot was next to impossible to get. He doesn’t like wearing anything on his head and playing dress up for Nicole and me was not his idea of fun. But, Loki has a keen appreciation for his ball, and Nicole cleverly distracted him with it while I shot this picture of him wearing Nicole’s grad regalia.

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Never ending projects for social distancing

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

To keep our bistro tables clean, I sewed covers. But my design didn’t work because rainwater pooled between the chairs. So, I made little rods to hold them up. Then the winds came and blew the covers completely off. So I added grommets and tied them down with wire. Simple pleasures.

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Starting a new mushroom project

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

Getting ready to grow a variety of mushrooms. First I harvested shiitake spores from mushrooms I grew from a kit. Then I built 4 redwood planters and put chicken wire at the bottom to keep out the critters. Next I got a truckload of wood chips from Lewis Tree and coffee grinds from San Lorenzo. I collected compost from our garden. All ready to get started. Just waiting for the spores to arrive.

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Male? Female? Genderqueer? Gender Fluid?

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

 

In this ever-changing world of gender identities and appropriate or respectful pronouns, the University of California system has set a new policy for UC-issued documents and information systems. It’s comforting to know that California’s 3rd largest employer has recognized and supports transgender rights.

All students, employees, alumni, retirees, vendors, medical center patients and others will now have the option to choose man, woman, or nonbinary gender identification options on official documents. The really big change is that they can choose a “lived” name or a preferred name that might be different from the legal name on their birth certificate. The legal name will be required but it will be kept confidential and not published.

SOURCE:

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45 colleges offer “need-blind” admissions – that means no loans!

Susan Tatsui-D'Arcy

For those who think a college education is too expensive, here’s some good news. Some colleges like Grinnell College has just announced that they will eliminate college loans and replace them with grants – that’s free money that you don’t have to pay back!

Grinnell has an endowment of over $2 billion and they will make this offer to over 50% of their students who need financial aid. While it might appear that they’re doing that in response to COVID-19, they’re planning to keep this generous plan going forward.

There are about 45 colleges that are “need-blind” and offer enrollment to students who need financial support.

 

SOURCE:

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