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JennGM
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| Posted: May 20 2006 at 8:54pm | IP Logged
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Well, I just want to say thank you. I've been half reading Theresa's Fungus Studies and More Fungus Fun and Leonie's Spore Prints. I never really liked mushrooms, thought they were "icky" so I was just putting the studies for another day.
Until I found some mushrooms in our yard this week. I went back to the posts, looked at the links and information from Backyard Nature and armed myself with more information and am now hooked. I did some spore prints even...they are amazingly beautiful! It's even neater in real life.
I'm so happy I tried this, because now I feel more comfortable to show ds. And I have enthusiasm instead of dread. 
I did have a basic question for you fungus extraordinaires. Would the spore cause allergy attacks if one is allergic to types of mold? Isn't it the spores one reacts to? Although I'm loving this little adventure, every time I'm around the spores I get a little asthma attack...but I'm thinking maybe it's just coincidence? Mold isn't usually a big trigger for me.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 21 2006 at 8:14am | IP Logged
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I suppose it is possible,since molds are a type of fungus, but I am no allergist. You may want to wear a dust mask when working with them or simply invert a bowl over the caps when making spore prints. Even better would be to do it while outdoors-say a porch or patio? That way stray spores could disperse rather than hanging around your home.
It IS alot of fun, isn't it!
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Leonie
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| Posted: May 21 2006 at 11:03pm | IP Logged
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I agree with Theresa - maybe wear a mask if allergies are your concern.
Have fun - since our spore day  we keep noticing different types of toadstools - and different colours of toadstools - even at the zoo last Saturday.
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Leonie in Sydney
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 3:51am | IP Logged
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So far all we've found in our yard are morels (which didn't work if you read my blog  ). I happened to buy a package of "baby portabellos" this weekend and I'm wondering if I could get spore prints from them. Or would their spores already be gone?
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 5:45am | IP Logged
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Dawn,
We got some good prints from large portabella caps we bought at the grocers. Just make sure they look fresh.
We have some mushrooms in our yard that release white spores so we are going to try again to make the white spore prints on black paper today using Comstock's advice of laying down a thin layer of egg white first. I was thinking that might also help with allergies, if the spores get stuck fast, rather than floating around.
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 6:11am | IP Logged
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We are going to try again today with those store-bought mushrooms, but I was wondering, did you all cover your mushrooms while they were, for lack of a better word, "sporing" onto the paper?
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 6:14am | IP Logged
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Nope. Probably should have, but none of us have any kind of allergies here (Thank You Jesus!)so I tend not to think about those things until later 
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Theresa
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Leonie
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 7:38am | IP Logged
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We didn't cover ours - we have some dc with allergies but not, apparently, to mushroom spores.
I was under the impression that the fresher the mushrooms, the more effective the print. Especially if they are damp with dew - so early picked ones are best.
Let us know how the market mushrooms go, Dawn and Theresa!
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JennGM
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 8:05am | IP Logged
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Dawn wrote:
| We are going to try again today with those store-bought mushrooms, but I was wondering, did you all cover your mushrooms while they were, for lack of a better word, "sporing" onto the paper? |
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 No, I guess I should have. I just wasn't thinking. I had it inside next to my desk just as a casual experiment. I wasn't thinking of anything like allergies....pollen has been in the forefront right now.
And the egg idea....won't work here b/c of Food allergies  ...so any other kind of fixative suggestion?
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Jennifer G. Miller
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 8:10am | IP Logged
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I used a light coating of cheap aerosol hairspray to fix prints after I made them. It worked well for the dark prints, but made the white ones disappear, which is why we are going to try the white again. I'd like to get some real spray fixative like is used on pastel or chalk drawings, but have not made it to the art store yet.
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 22 2006 at 7:30pm | IP Logged
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Leonie wrote:
| Let us know how the market mushrooms go, Dawn and Theresa! |
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Rats! The store bought portabellas didn't work either! At this point I am definitely waaaay more invested in this than the kids! But maybe a walk in our woods will yield some fresher, umbrella-capped mushrooms and we will try, try again. 
On an up note, we found a toad in the garden today! 
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marihalojen
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| Posted: May 23 2006 at 7:16am | IP Logged
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Dawn, did you notice all the brown stuff under the portabellas when you lifted them off the tray? Store bought spore prints! Ours are always on black so the spores show up as a nice rusty brown color.
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Dawn
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| Posted: May 23 2006 at 10:53am | IP Logged
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marihalojen wrote:
| Dawn, did you notice all the brown stuff under the portabellas when you lifted them off the tray? Store bought spore prints! Ours are always on black so the spores show up as a nice rusty brown color. |
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Well, the ones I bought were called "Baby Portabellas: Organic and Fresh". Organic, maybe. Fresh - hah! They looked like little button mushrooms only brown. I was wondering, as I pried off the caps, if trimming the edges would allow a greater release of spores? We did it on a couple but it didn't seem to make a huge difference. We did notice a bit of rusty brown left underneath the caps, although nothing resembling any of the prints you all got.
Maybe I should pick up some large portabellas at the market so we can see the spores on the styrofoam at least. (Aren't they supposed to be good on the grill?  )
All we've found out back so far are puffballs. Would they work?
I sound so desperate for these prints, don't I?
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: May 23 2006 at 12:18pm | IP Logged
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We used the large portabella caps and they made nice prints (and a fine pasta topping!). The baby portabellas perhaps are not mature, and so would not be ready to release spores? I don't think puffballs would work, as they release their spores in a cloud upwards.
If the large portabellas don't work, I would say be patient and wait until fall, when you will see many more wild mushrooms.
Is there a pasture (cow or horse) anywhere near that you could look for common pasture mushrooms? We found them growing right beside the manure piles.
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Leonie
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| Posted: May 23 2006 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
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Oh, Dawn, we are in autumn here so keep discovering many mushrooms and toadstools. Maybe put this on the back burner for your next autumn?
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Dawn
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Leonie wrote:
| Oh, Dawn, we are in autumn here so keep discovering many mushrooms and toadstools. Maybe put this on the back burner for your next autumn? |
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Yes, I think you are right Leonie! It fits in nicely with that time of year.
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| Posted: June 21 2006 at 4:29am | IP Logged
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We finally got some! Just a few so far, but we're very excited.
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Leonie
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| Posted: June 21 2006 at 7:47am | IP Logged
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Cool! Are they on your blog?
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Leonie in Sydney
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Dawn
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Leonie wrote:
| Cool! Are they on your blog? |
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Yep, they are! I also posted some pictures of other new mushrooms we've found in the yard.
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Leonie
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| Posted: June 21 2006 at 8:52pm | IP Logged
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I found these activities for a fungi theme here...
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Spore Prints
