workshop Archives - The Desert Echo

Mushroom foraging family

June 3, 2019 No Comments

Have mushrooms started popping up their little umbrellas all over your soggy autumn garden? We’ve seen a few, but are leaving these tiny and more importantly unidentified offerings for the fairies.

On the weekend we decided to take a treasure hunt. Not for buried gold, but something more ancient and fascinating. Mushrooms! The secret underground lives of fungi are incredible, their elusive above ground form being only the tiniest hint of their immense underground network.

The pine forest we visited in Macedon Regional Park would not even be there without a scoop full of soil from their native forest floor in the Northern Hemisphere. Even before their symbiotic partnership between trees and their particular fungi friends was understood by scientists, foresters saw that their exotic imports languished in this foreign soil without a little something from home. A mutually beneficial nutrient exchange necessary for survival, could you get more permaculture?

As we descended into the misty pine forest we were engulfed in memories of our San Francisco adventures. Mornings where the world was just a few metres of clarity and the rest all foggy shapes and shadows.

Ember, our baby stowaway, delighted our fellow foragers by disguising herself as a heavy backpack. It was pure joy to confirm that the adventure doesn’t end with kids, in fact it becomes even better.

We took the flat option whilst the others scampered down the steep slope despite no evidence steepness results in a better harvest or reduced competition. As autumn turns to winter these pine forest are descended upon by mushroom foragers and some even sell their finds at farmers’ markets! The forest is immense though so there are still mushroom to go around. Most mushroom foragers stick to the European species of mushroom because there is little documentation on Australian natives.

Dylan found our best edible mushroom closest to the car park! It’s a beautiful saffron milkcap (Lactarius deliciosus). We had always called these pine mushrooms when purchasing from the farmers’ market, but I guess there are lots of different pine mushrooms! I love these ones not only for their wonderful taste, but because they are so easy to identify. Food goes down much easier when there is no fear of poisoning! Aside from the orange colour the stalk snaps like chalk.

Next we found parasol mushrooms which look more like deathcaps than I feel comfortable. According, to our mushroom guide, Jim, deathcaps like to hang out with oaks so he has never seen one in these forests. Once Jim IDed these two shrooms the hunt was on!

The forest was gorgeously creepy in typical pine forest fashion. Pine mushrooms love to hide under the pine needles, cheeky things!

The big parasol was a bit past its prime, but all these mushrooms are edible.

Ember enjoyed herself so much she fell asleep!

Another forager’s haul. But watch our some of these aren’t edible. The red amanita is the most obvious.

Some mushrooms that others collected can make you vomit. I overhead Jim telling someone if a mushroom smells like marzipan they are good to eat, but if they smell like phenol they make you sick. They couldn’t get a clear read on that one, so best to chuck it.

Back at the Sanatorium Lake Picnic Ground, Jim, who was a chef in a past life cooked lunch with a mixture of farmed and foraged mushrooms.

Jim’s cooking tips

To stop the enzymatic browning cook the mushrooms as soon as possible. Jim explained the difference between enzymatic browning (like an old banana) and non-enzymatic browning (like caramelisation of onions). Reminding us how much of a science cooking is.
Mushrooms pretty much can’t be overcooked as long as they don’t burn because their proteins are heat stable.
Cook mushrooms without fats first to remove the water from the mushrooms. If fats are added at the beginning then the mushroom absorb large amounts as it replaces all its moisture with the fat.
It is also okay to wash mushrooms before cooking despite what people say, but cook straight after washing.
Add a little water to the pan so mushrooms don’t burn before they release their own juices. Jim washes down the sides of the pan with some extra water after they have cooked for a while to make sure he captures all the mushroom flavour stuck to the sides.
Once the cellulose has broken down in the mushrooms they are ready for the fat to be added. Only a small amount is required. Jim cooked one batch with olive oil, one with butter and one with cream. All were delicious.
The left over mushroom liquid can be drained off to be used later as a kind of gelatinous stock or left in for extra flavour.

After a delicious lunch of mushrooms and vegetable soup Jim checked our baskets for edibility.

Ember tasted her first mushroom and judged it to be acceptable. She tried a buttered one. Then she flicked off her sock-gloves for a spot of crawling practice.

Tour details

To book a mushroom tour of Mt Macedon contact:

Jan Claire – tour operator
0430 507019
www.cthemarket.com.au
www.facebook.com/cthemarket

Garden, Guides

Baskets from the garden

November 27, 2017 6 Comments

On the weekend I caught the last day of the Intertwined exhibition as the Koorie Heritage Trust. As well as the more traditional baskets and eel traps, Lisa Waup‘s little woven nest of feather and fibre really stood out. Lovely pastel colours interwoven with wallaby browns. Artwork like Lisa’s and that of Ruth Woods of Craft School Oz are so inspirational. It’s just amazing what you can do with found objects and plants from the garden, plants that I thought were rather useless, but grew where edibles refused.
I have a brown thumb when it comes to growing bush tucker. After years of doing nothing my Midyim berry was ended with a careless boot. My cranberry heath although they began promisingly lush and green, were taken with a sudden browning around the edges which in a matter of days engulfed the entire plant. Meanwhile the poa grasses, almost mockingly thrive on neglect, self-seeding and spilling beyond their allocated borders onto paths. The lomandra too are getting so long they threaten to fell passersby with a tentacle around an unsuspecting ankle. Nature will have its way, if I can’t eat it , I might as well learn to weave it.

A fortnight ago I had the opportunity to indulge in two passions: crafting and gardening. Ruth runs workshops all over Victoria, but the one at Alowyn gardens includes a wander through the silver birch forest garden and perennial border gathering weaving material as we walked. Such a treat! I couldn’t recommend it more, it is such a special place to learn from an especially talented lady.

Ruth’s work is a unique mix of all the styles shared by women from South East Asia to Arnhem land and no doubt her own particular panache. Her enthusiasm is infectious and I loved that she is always on the eye out for new materials to work with. Agapanthus may be too fleshy to use, but why not try succulent leaves? I was particularly taken with the cordyline leaves which although were once green dried to lovely obergine, just to show that you cannot judge a leaf by its colour.

It was a lovely day and at then end each basket reflected the personality of the maker, some were meticulous and small, some adorned with flamboyish sweeps of leaves or nuts. Mine was the biggest I think, not sure what that says about me? No time for timidity? Probably more that I thought making cordage was a particularly neat trick. Each basket was different, although from what I overheard, almost all destined to become a resting spot for kitchen eggs!

I hope you can find some inspiration from the beautiful collection that was whipped up in a day by a cheerful group of amateur enthusiasts. Let me know if you have any weaving tips, tricks or inspo, I’d love to hear about it.

Lomandra leaves can be used green, or collect the try bits by pulling as you pass, they’ll just come away from the base.

Iris leaves are fiberous and a fantastic material to use. Dry for a few weeks then soak in water to make them pliable.

Daylilies are edible and great for weaving!

Like corn husks succulent leaves can be wrapped around strappy leaves or cordage.

Ruth used palm inflorescence for the top

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Coiling a cordyline cordage. What a tongue twister!

A few of the stunners made at the workshop

Naturally dyed raffia was fun to use, much nicer than the dental floss texture of the artificial sinew

These friends didn’t know the other was attending. Maybe a new shared hobby for those summer evenings on the porch.

Guides

Eco dyeing and printing

March 5, 2016 4 Comments

It’s a perfect day for writing. Grey, but warm with the occasional patter of rain on our tin roof. A sound imprinted on most Australians from childhood. It’s a dawn for reflection and The Art Deco Music Collection.

Has a little, superficially insignificant thing stirred you into action? I often dream about learning skills, they’re relatively simple to achieve, but somehow I need a reminder that the time or cost isn’t an extravagance, retirees have it right. The reminder came when my friend confessed her desire to learn Auslan, just for fun. Not astounding in and of itself, but astounding because of its source, a person not disposed to whimsy. She is straightforward-sensible, inclined towards planning and irked by impulse. This change in her was an inspiration, time for me too, to wander off the well-worn path.

Soon after the fates delivered me the Handmaker’s Factory, via an untraceable web of click links. I had decided to book a workshop before I even realised it was on my door steps, 15 minutes’ walk away in Kensington. Good luck or good Google data collection?

Eco dyeing is something that has fascinated and mystified me since I first spied India Flint’s Eco Colour. Complexity lurks beneath the surface of art. It is not as simple as step into your back garden and there are nature’s dyes in all their natural glory. It seemed more like a confusing science experiment of mordants and modifiers, some of which, though natural, could kill you!

Although the internet is abundant with information, nothing really beats learning from an expert. Nichola, of Handmaker’s Factory, broke it down and gave us the confidence to take our knowledge home for our own experiments. We could leave the toxic chromium mixtures for the experts and opt for soy milk and vinegar instead.

I couldn’t rave about Nicholas’ approach enough, minimum lecturing, learning by doing. I highly recommend you take her workshop; you even come away with your own eco dyed silk scarf. Here are a few Eureka moments I had during the workshop, I hope this will encourage you to try doing some eco dyeing yourself. Perhaps this can be your reminder to be inspired? I’d love to see what you come up with.

All the equipment you need is a cooking pot, bucket, steamer and tongs; but save these for eco dyeing, food and dye don’t mix even if it is natural

A mordant helps the dye bond with the fibre, some dyes like eucalyptus contain their own. Although natural dyes are doomed to fade over time, sun and water, a mordant will make colours stronger and last longer. Just add the mordant to a bucket of water and soak. You can pre-mordant whole batch of material, dry it and use it a later date. You can also soak and dry the cloth a few times for extra strength. Watch this space for experiments!

Alum (Aluminium sulphate found in hardware pool department) + cream of tartar (grocery store) is what we used for animal fibres, they are classified as “protein fibre” and take colour more easily

Humble old unsweetened soy milk adds protein to cellulose fibres so the dye sticks. This is an interesting post on cellulose fibres and eco dyeing

Colours will differ depending on the fabric you use, creating colour swatches is a fantastic way to keep track.

When boiled carrot tops create lovely yellow-green colours

Purple cabbage provided a brilliant purple

Eucalyptus leaves have a huge array of colours and can even vary between seasons in the same tree or even from leaves harvested on different sides of the tree! We achieved lovely reddish colours.

Some plants will surprise you with their dye colour, brilliant coloured flowers may have a different colour such as red marigolds being yellow or no colour at all blue hydrangeas hardly left an imprint at all.

You can even change the colour of the fabric after it has been dyed by bathing it in a few teaspoons of a Modifier in water.

The simplest way of modifying the colour is by changing the pH from acidic to alkaline or vice versa. We tried vinegar and washing soda (grocery)

Iron darkens, copper adds green. (iron sulphate and copper sulphate from nurseries or gardening section of local hardware. We used this to dye a concrete slab in New Mexico!

The longer you soak, boil and leave to dry the stronger the colours. Our steamed bundles didn’t have super strong leaf prints because after steaming we only left them an hour or so before unravelling, would be great to see the results of leaving for a few weeks. It’s an exercise in patience!

Do you have any other hints? What passions have you indulged in recently?

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Guides, Permaculture design, Travel

THE WOOMERA PIPELINE

June 22, 2010 No Comments

The tutors told us to bring out paint brushes and nothing else. No easel, no paper. We drove along a dirt road and they told us to get out. It turns out the Woomera-Adelaide water pipeline was going to be our canvas. It was such a fun morning, half way through some of us abandoned brushes and fingerpainted, later I found a tennis ball and Brent and I loaded it up with gouache and took turns throwing it at the pipe. Some of my clothes were the worse for wear afterwards, but it was just a blast.