The morel of the last post turns out to be a true morel after all. No - not "do unto others as you would be done by," but Morchella esculenta, the White Morel. Also known, according to our new fungus friend at the show, as "landscaping morels" because they often come up in the wood chips of a newly landscaped garden. With fungus I fear identification will be difficult - some tiny botanical feature with a weird name - but in this case the advice and pictures were pretty clear (you can Google and see) - false morel has a gooeyer look, and the cap is not joined up to the stem. So no need for vivisection of the lovely things. Until the weekend when Tmouse plans to eat em, that is...
I looked it up in All That the Rain Promises and More, a sterling book by David Arora. Are all fungus folk so wonderfully eccentric? The cover shows Mr Arora playing a saxophone in a tux in a field. Mr Arora says the White Morel is "one of the most highly prized of all mushrooms, delicious fresh or dried. It should always be cooked." And the false morel can be eaten too but is not so good. Actually I think there are various kinds of false morel, not all of which are good to eat.
So - on with the show!
I wish I had gotten a better image of the water pumping windmill, from Rock Ridge Windmills. I can just see it in my garden - ah, dream on...
I liked this uncharacteristically grungy looking display - well the theme was sustainability - and its wonderful name...
I mean, have you ever seen broken concrete or concrete block raised planters at a garden show? I liked how down to earth this whole edible garden exhibit was.
Do you think the moss stuck between the blocks was supposed to make it look better?I forgot to mention "Sproutopia" - the section of the show displaying children's miniature gardens. I love those - it was something I enjoyed doing as a child too. But you can see lovely examples on the DryStoneGardener blog.
Speaking of dry stone walls, one stunning display centered on a dry stone wall - that started low and curled and rose Andy Goldsworthy style to an arched gateway. (Here's another Andy Goldsworthy page on Artsy, for those who want more!) I wish I had a better picture but it was popular and much populated. I blurred out people's faces. So this is just to give you an idea. I love stonework like this and will post about my drystone steps one day. I have drystone dreams of low retaining walls meandering along my hillsides...
In the same exhibit was a wattle fence. I remember seeing walls and fences built using these techniques in my U.K. childhood. Used to pen sheep temporarily.
I'm not so sure about the use of sheets of old corrugated iron in this one though. Us mice thought it was more of a concept garden, and not too visually appealing.But a tipi - now that would be something. Pricey though - I went to the web site (www.salcedocustomtipi.com) and they start at around 1,000 and go way up from there.
Well let me close with a picture of us meeses - Ms Town on the left and Ms Country (moi) on the right - in the California Native Plant Society booth. I was totally hoarse after our stint as "booth bunnies," or mousies in our case, but it was great that so many folk stopped by and picked up some good information and encouragement.
Let me also give a hearty shout out to Ellen Edelson who organized the booth and personally staffed it during the whole show.
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