Winter Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Mushrooms & Walnuts

We had the good fortune to meet Roxana Walker a eight years ago and overheard her telling another about her mushroom business ... our ears pricked up and we began to work out how we could get her product and distribute it through our CSA. Later we were fortunate to visit her operation down in Sacramento and see first hand how amazing oyster and shitake mushroom cultivation is.

Roxana is a chemist by trade and discovered a passion for growing mushrooms. She has been avidly creating this very successful small-scale business single handedly. She is currently selling at numerous Farmers Markets and has a cluster of upscale restaurants that buy directly from her. This small operation takes place in her garage and backyard of a suburban home. Firstly the organic rice straw (a byproduct of rice growing comes conveniently chopped into small pieces) is sterilized by steam and then inoculated with oyster mushroom spore, of which she has several varieties. The inoculated straw is packed into 2-gallon plastic bags and then hung in a darkened enclosure with high levels of CO2. The CO2 stimulates the fungus to grow. Ten days or so consuming CO2, the growing bags are ready to be transported to a new environment. In the backyard she has modified a greenhouse, which is fully insulated against temperature swings, ventilated and equipped with blue lights. The heat and moisture is controlled to allow maximum opportunity for fruiting. The fungus begins to identify the light and fruit through slits in the bag. The fruit is harvested, boxed, refrigerated and sold with the spent bags allowed to fruit another time.

We are very excited to offer her product and know that you will enjoy the gourmet quality of these mushrooms. Both Shittake and Oyster mushrooms are high in protein. They lend themselves to any mushroom dish. Oysters are wonderful sautéed in butter and scrambled with eggs for breakfast, breaded and fried individually, combined with other vegetables in a stir-fry. Shitake mushrooms are highly medicinal. Our favorite to add to soups and stir-fry. They keep exceptionally well, longer than most mushrooms in the refrigerator.

What's Up In The Garden

Transition and change! Plants are getting mowed down, the last of the chiles harvested, and the garlic beds are beginning to be built. Will we make it before it rains at the end of the week??

We feel like squirrels this time of year, hurrying around harvesting the last of the crops, storing for winter. We hope that you get a sense of that too, as you eat the last of the peppers, make some of that wonderful bell pepper soup that has the heat of the summer distilled in a jalapeno. We also hope that you open your CSA box this week and cherish the sweetness of the fall tomatoes, make up a batch of salsa with cilantro and chiles and bake an eggplant dish warming the house with the oven!

Bon Apetite!

Outer Aisle FOODS & GOODS "Essentials for the 21st Century". Our mission is to facilitate a speedy transition to a sustainable economy by offering the essential tools, ingredients and knowledge to prepare us for the 21st century.

Behind the scenes of Outer Aisle is Taylor Mountain Gardens. Located just around the corner on Main Street in Douglas Flat, our nearly two acre "beyond organic" farm produces a large variety of seasonal vegetables including these seasonal highlights: summer heirloom tomatoes, fall cauliflower, winter carrots and spring potatoes to name just a few!

OuterAisle FOODS operates a year round CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. We distribute the highest quality, local, seasonal and regional produce and products to members all over Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. We only purchase product from farms and producers who are committed to ecologically sustainable practices and go beyond the National "Organic" standards.