Mycelium Abounds on Organic No-Till Farms and Recipe Ideas for your Veggie Box
Caesar Salad from Recipe Tin Eats. Smoky Lentil and Broccoli Stem Tacos from Jamie Oliver. 15 Ways to Cook with Bok Choy from Taste. Niçoise Salad from Recipe Tin Eats. Our compost is rich in mycelium, strands of white that are parts of the fungus that is breaking down the organic matter. This organic matter is straw and chicken manure, the key ingredients in mushroom compost. It is a very good sign that this mycelium is present, as we also want it present in our veggie beds on the farm. Here it will continue its work of breaking down not only the compost, but also decaying plant residues, and the organic fertiliser we add. This allows the nutrients to be made available to plant roots as secretions from the fungi. In turn, the plant roots provide the fungi with carbohydrates, which are a byproduct of photosynthesis. All of this results in delicious, nutrient-rich veggies. Most veggies in Australia, including organic ones, are grown on large, tractor-powered farms where the mycelium network is regularly destroyed during tillage. Microorganisms are also often missing in these soils as they are destroyed when layers of soil are inverted, leading to temperature and moisture changes away from the ideal for this soil life. Herbicides and fungicides also contribute to unhealthy soil environments and can kill good fungi as well as bad. All of this can mean that fertiliser, often synthetically made from petrochemicals, must be added in larger quantities. Not a great recipe for the health of ecosystems or the humans that eat from them. Luckily we have organically-grown veggie boxes available from a small no-till farm which are picked just before you get them. What could be better than that? To read more about what's happening on our local organic farm this week as we grow and care for veggies for our box delivery, check out this week's newsletter here.