Mycelium in the garden

You might know them as mushrooms.  We spent the morning picking millions of mushrooms out of our garden beds, debating whether or not to add them to the compost heap, and, finally, throwing them in the garbage so they didn't contaminate said compost.  When we settled down for school I did some research and it turns out our efforts were pretty pointless.  Apparently the mushrooms themselves are just the tip of the iceberg called the mycelium (rhymes with helium) and roughly correspond to the apples on a tree - the medium by which the organism reproduces.  What we did this morning was pick all the "apples" off the tree in an attempt to kill the tree!  I was feeling down about that until I read on and discovered that very few mushrooms are parasitic - most are beneficial to the soil or the plant.  So . . . they would have benefitted our compost heap and we took great pains to eradicate them and throw them out - the irony!

Sorry for the boring, in-depth explanation but hey!  I am a teacher :)

Colored Greens :)

Tonight with our Corned Beef and potatoes I substituted collard greens for the cabbage I ordinarily use.  Madison confessed that she originally thought I said colored greens until she saw my blog post about what was in the garden!  :)  I thought that was pretty cute.  So the consensus is that collard greens (and colored greens) are delicious.

School and the Schooner

Both school and the schooner were sadly neglected today.

A playmate was visiting the neighborhood and, as it is a somewhat rare occurrence, I declared school cancelled for an extended play date.  Madison was overjoyed as said playmate was a little girl.  They spent the day playing in the garden letting their imaginations run wild.   Marco and I spent the day working in the garden.

It was raining lightly - or "sprying" as we Bahamians say - every half an hour, so Keewatin's bowsprit did not receive its intended coat of varnish that was on my Honey-Do list for the boat today.  I'm the "honey" in this case  :)

Marco and I built a compost pile - basically we chopped down four casuarina trees (with a cutlass), chopped them up into five foot logs and layered them in a square for a really cool compost pile.  At least I thought it was really cool.  The comments I received ranged from "interesting" to "move it into a corner!"

Marco also found some bromeliads growing wild in an empty lot nearby.  He was so excited.  He was theorizing about how they rooted along their trailing stems and, because they were in the shade, created many offshoots to find the sun.  It was a perfect "unschooling" moment.  We dug up a few, collected coconut shells and spanish moss, and created some gorgeous, handmade early Christmas presents for some lucky people on our list ;)

So, looking back on the day, I don't really think "school" was neglected after all.

Garden Greens!

Collard Greens                            Red Cabbage                                        Basil

       Bok Choy                                                   Swiss Chard                                            Tomato

                                                 Cherry Tree                                      Eggplant

Cutting Class

No, I'm not talking about truancy!

The kids and I were taking some cuttings of our favorite plants for transplantation today.  Our seed shelves are covered with cuttings.  We started with a clipping from a fig tree from Manjack Cay, which I transported all the way back on both the ferry and the plane!

The stewardess was very concerned.  "You're not planning to take that to the States are you?"
"No, ma'am.  We live in Nassau, we're Bahamian.  No attempted smuggling happening here!"

We took cuttings of our basil and frangipani - very easy, mulberry - a bit more challenging and rosemary, which roots along its trailing stems - Madison loved seeing that one.

"It's just like how ferns grow," she informed me.  I had no idea how ferns grew or that she knew!  I love homeschooling.

We planted some more seeds in our raised beds too.  Carrots, onions, corn and peas.  We only have a tiny gap left out of all of that square footage we built!  I am reserving that for the radishes.

I don't think the chickens noticed our absence - or if they did, they are withholding the egg out of spite now :)

But one of our dogs certainly did!  Knight is still not talking to me!  He just looks away when I call him. I have a lot of making up to do.

The compost pile is not going as planned .  Apparently that particular smell means anaerobic decomposition may be taking place.  I need to aerate and water my compost pile!

And I thought I only needed to water the garden!

Radish Recipe!

Radishes with Pasta and Arugula

20 radishes, sliced

2 cups arugula

2 tablespoons olive oil


1 medium onion, chopped


12-ounce package penne pasta cooked


1/4 cup cooking water from pasta


1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Salt and pepper

  1. Wash and trim radishes. Thinly slice.

  2. Rinse arugula leaves and tear into small pieces.

 3. Heat oil in large pan. Add onions and cook just until they begin to soften.    Add radish slices and cook for five minutes.  Add arugula and cook for another two minutes until radishes are almost translucent and arugula wilts.  Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
4. Add to pasta and toss.  Add cooking liquid from pasta and stir. Sprinkle cheese and toss.
5. Serve with additional grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.


I was looking for a way to cook radishes to see if planting them in our garden would be a good idea.  I also have a ton of arugula to use up and the kids find it a little spicy in salads.  In this recipe it is all delicious and they came back for seconds  . . . and thirds . . . and fourths!

A Truckload of Topsoil

In case anyone is wondering . . . six yards of topsoil is a HUGE pile of dirt!

I ordered some soil for the new garden bed today. I carefully estimated my cubic footage, worked it all out - then doubled it just to be on the safe side :)

Now I have to build another raised bed just to accommodate the dirt! This is getting out of hand.

No eggs.

Puppies, Poultry and Plants

Today was an incredibly full - and fulfilling - day.

The Bahamas Humane Society hosted a mini day camp for kids.  Madison and Marco loved the time they spent there and, as soon as I showed up, insisted on showing me around the entire facility.  Within no time I was up to my ankles in puppies!  The sweetest , most adorable bundles of puppies.  The Humane Society was very impressive - clean, organized and extremely well-run.  

I was also offered a rooster.  

"No thank you,  I already have a rooster." 

Apparently roosters are not the most popular of animals :) 

Probably nothing to do with that crowing thing at all!  Speaking of roosters . . . our chickens are doing very well.  They love their nest, their water dish and their daily bug supplement.  No eggs yet though.

While the kids were at day camp, I ordered some lumber for another outdoor project - a new garden bed. After math and spelling - we did have to do some real school today - I started teaching a woodworking course.  This went surprisingly well considering that I am a beginner myself.  We sawed, hammered, drilled and screwed.  We dug holes for the posts, raked the rocks and leveled the land.  It looks great!  And now we have a lot more space to put those tomato plants in once the seeds sprout.  

Our garden contains: basil, rosemary and arugula - in abundance, chives, sage, thyme, spanish thyme, green onions, broccoli, assorted greens, bok choy (no idea what I am going to do with it), collard greens (ditto), beets, brussels sprouts, squash, cauliflower and cabbage - both purple and green.  I just cannot resist those tiny little plants at the nursery!  In addition, the kids have planted seeds for tomatoes, watermelon and peas.  My favorite purchases for the garden today were four sweet potato plants.

Sawing, sweating and sifting through the soil; I really treasured this special time with the children today.