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food Archives - The Year of Mud

Where Do Your Morels Lie?

By Photos, Homesteading
Morel Mushrooms 2015

A few paltry (but pretty) morel mushrooms

Well dangnabbit. This year appears to be another bust for morel mushrooms. Last year, resident fungi guru and our friend Tim said (of 2014) “this is the worst year to date, in my experience”. This year he said “this is the worst year to date, in my experience”. Well, humph. Did we bring bad luck with us from Missouri?

At least we found a few… and I mean, a few. Pictured above is a not insignificant percentage of the total haul. I’ve heard firsthand accounts of years where 30 lbs. of morels were plucked out of the woods and carried victoriously home. Granted, that was a rare boom year, but still. The disparity of the prevalence of these morels is rather odd.

Oh well. Maybe next year? Or maybe the other fungi family members will pick up the slack (chicken of the woods, chanterelles, maitake?) Have you had any luck in your neck of the woods?

Oh right, building stuff… I’ve got a big ol’ article in the works, coming at you hopefully within a couple days. It’s been hard to find the time this past week, but my newest post will be about timber framing tools… stay tuned.

Should Humans Eat Meat?

By Book Reviews
Cattle on Farm

Is eating meat benign, extravagant, or something else…?

If there’s one thing that Simon Fairlie’s Meat: A Benign Extravagance reinforces, it’s just how utterly complex the issue of food can be. Especially when it comes to the meat debate. Is eating meat “bad”? Is veganism an appropriate response to decreasing our environmental impacts and greenhouse gas emissions? Just where the heck did some of these popular numbers about carbon emissions and raising animals come from, anyway? Should humans eat meat?

Fairlie does a respectable job of breaking down all of this and much, much more in his book, and though there still isn’t a totally 100% absolute answer by the end (when do absolutes ever exist?), there is definitely a sign pointing in a pretty good direction of what sustainable agriculture can look like, and what is included in it. And some folks will either be pleasantly surprised or disappointed by the message, depending on their proclivities.

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