On Thursday and Friday, Tamar and I inoculated fifty logs with shiitake mushroom spawn. Shiitake logs generally fruit within six to nine months of being inoculated, so I’m expecting we’ll be swamped with delicious fungus come this fall if all goes well in the mycorealm. Mm, I love me some mushrooms. I hope to do some further mushroom inoculating this spring. Shiitakes are totally worth the effort, because the logs will continue to produce food for years to come (up to eight years or so), without any continuing labor required. The initial work investment is pretty significant, but again, totally worth it, I think.

We had some amazing weather before the current storminess, and I was able to get some plastering work done on my house. I’ve also cleaned up my warren in preparation for making some sheet-mulched garden beds. I’ve acquired a boatload of cardboard that I’ll lay down to help smother the grass.

Earlier in the week, I visited the Possibility Alliance and hung out with their goats, and got the mental gears going in envisioning a goat operation here at Dancing Rabbit. Thomas is pretty sold on the venture, so if all goes well, we’ll have two little does in late spring.

Life’s pretty good right now. I’m excited to continue work on my cob house and move in, and continue on some of the other projects I have in mind.

I finished reading Raising Milk Goats the Modern Way, which has been pretty much my only exposure to goat-raising thus far. It’s a pretty comprehensive book and written for homesteader types, so the perspective is in line with my values. But in another couple of weeks, I’m hoping to trek down to the Possibility Alliance to spend some time with the goats, to feel them out and get a handle of what this venture is going to require. (The does are not producing milk right now, since they are pregnant, but I’ll at least get a sense of their temperment, and help to clip their hooves.)

I’m definitely excited about the prospect. I’ve been talking mostly with Thomas about raising them, and I imagine we’d do most of the work together to get them set up here. But eventually I can foresee something of a co-op getting established. Time will tell.