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| Canola Field |
Years ago, when I lived at home with my folks, a mushroom ring developed in the parking strip at our house. We now have them on the south side of the farmhouse where the raised beds are located.
“Mother
called these ‘fairy rings,’” I said to Mike. But just to be sure, I searched
the internet for “ring of mushrooms in lawn.” Sure enough – “fairy rings.” It’s
a fungal infection cause by the decay of woody substances in the soil. In the
ancient world, the rings were considered mystical and certain superstitions
still linger, such as “don’t step inside the ring.” (Too late – I already
have.) One option is to do nothing. The rings are harmless but likely won’t get
better and might spread. I’m not sure I want that. |
| Lilacs still in bloom at the farm |
A
second option is to dig out at least three feet of soil, bring in new soil, and
replant the lawn. I don’t think we could do that even if we wanted to, and we
don’t want to.
The
last option is to treat the rings with the following procedure:
1) Rake out the mushrooms.
(They won’t hurt the lawn.)
2) Aerate the soil 3 inches
deep with a pitchfork or crowbar.
3) Pour a solution of 1 tsp
dishwashing detergent to 1 gallon of water on the ring.
4) Using a hose, drench the
lawn until you have standing water.
5) Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4
every 3 days for 4 weeks.
The
article I read was published in The Spokesman Review in 2009, based on a
procedure researched through Washington State University.
“Is
that what you’re going to do?” Mike wanted to know. Hmmm. I guess I know where
I stand. I probably can’t keep to the schedule of treatment, but I can try. They
say the fungi will never go away, but you can impact the infection.
Other
updates:
· Our canola fields look
sparse at this point, and we wonder about them.
· I filled the hummingbird
feeders, but action is slow to resume. Time will tell, but it’s possible they
won’t return. Visitation was slow last year.
· Mike raked dead grass out
of the ditch on the lane, and I helped load it into the 4-wheeler trailer. We
had three overflowing loads, which we burned on the slash pile today.
· The rhubarb is healthy,
and I pulled some for a crostata. The peas and spinach are slowly maturing. One
zucchini hill germinated. I should plant more just to be sure I get some. KW
6 comments:
Hmm...Nick is usually excited when he discovers mushrooms in the yard. One year we got lucky and morels sprouted! I plucked the three or so out of the yard and cooked them up in butter and served them to nick on a toasted piece of bread (a mushroom crostini, if you will). Maybe you're thinking about this wrong. Are they edible? Your yard could be a food forest!
Actually, I read that the mushrooms are often edible, but I'm not into that. I'm convinced that you have to know what you're doing to identify mushrooms, and sometimes people get it wrong.
By the way, we have heard from several sources that it's an excellent year for mushrooms in the Blues.
One slight correction: the crop is canola and not rape seed. They both look the same, however.
Dan used to bring home bags of morels from the woods and eat them, sauted in butter. I could never bring myself to eat any. Sad to say, I'm not very adventurous in my eating.
Aunt Margaret told my dad that she and Uncle Ted ate mushrooms they had misidentified and nearly died. That story made a believer out of me.
I do like sauteed mushrooms, though -- just make mine from the store.
Dan probably didn’t mind. More for him! Morels are rich and earthy, which doesn’t sound like a tasty descriptor, but they really are special.
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