What's up with the bees? / ¿Qué pasa con las abejas?

For those who think all is lost when it comes to our environment, there’s good news: I keep on running into people concerned with the environment, people who are doing their share to change things, informint others, raising awareness, moving things in a better direction.

Recently, I met Jocelyn Demers, producer of a couple of films that tackle issues related to sustaintability. One of the documentaries is about bees: Saving the Life Keepers. You can check the trailer here:

If you have no idea why I’m talking about bees, here’s a 4-minute summary about the issue:

Y en español (de España) otro video reciente, de media hora que explica el tema de la muerte de las abejas (síndrome de despoblamiento de las colmenas) y lo que eso representa para nosotros:

¡A informarse y tomar las decisiones correctas!

Pickled wild mushrooms: sooo yummy!

After picking the wild mushrooms, it was time to wash them carefully. Then, boiling the mushrooms 3 times (each time changing the water) to get rid of the bitterness. And then, the pickling.

Some basic ingredients are enough (cc) OSJ

I like adding other veggies: in this case I had onions and bell peppers, carrots are also good. Some other flavors from the garden: I had rosemary and bay leaves. Peppercorns and coarse salt are good additions too.

I cut everything in thin slices and put it to boil in a pan with olive oil, vinegar and water in 3 equal parts. Just enough to cover everything. About 5 minutes and it's ready. Let it cool down.

Everything chopped and ready for the pan (cc) OSJ

After it has cooled you can store them in glass jars. In the fridge, they probably last up to a month or more. I'm guessing on that, because we always finish them before that. They're that good.

We went a couple of days later around the house and there were mushrooms everywhere: we picked enough to prepare a pot-full of mushrooms and have enough now for a few weeks.

Pot-full of wild mushrooms! (cc) OSJ

A few jars to eat and share (cc) OSJ

They're super on bread or crackers, and have tried also with a tomato salad.


Any other tip on mushroom picking, preserving or eating? Please share :)

Foraging for wild mushrooms: a child's game

Rembember the giant monster mushroom in our first year of blogging? That was the last surviving mushroom at the end of the season. This year, we're here at the beginning of mushroom season (with all the rain, it began early) and we have the happy surprise to get a handful of them right on our door step.

Talk about a local 100-mile diet, this was more like a 10-steps diet!

Home-delivered mushrooms, courtesy of Eucalyptus tree stump (cc) OSJ

I'd been reading about the behind the scenes of wild food foraging and mushroom pickers back in Canada when a bunch of little mushroom buds popped up in front of my door. Time to call the nephews for some food-appreciation class.

I've found that the    alleged yucky-factor of veggies disappears when kids have a chance to see the whole process, from the little seed that sprouts to when they pick the fruits. Involving them in the production of food generates some sense of ownership and pride in collaborating to provide food. Or something like that.

So, after helping them 'discover' the mushrooms and waiting for a couple of days for the mushrooms to grow to an edible size, we picked them by cutting, not uprooting, so that they would grow again next year.

Then, off to processing (coming next)!

Enough for everyone to get a taste (cc) OSJ

Cutting carefully and leaving the smallest ones
to grow a couple of days more (cc) OSJ