We’ve had some fantastic opportunities to do FiMBY related things away from the house. Talking to people about our garden and being social over food and compost is, dare I say it, even better than being in the garden.
On Wednesday evening we went to a mushroom evening at Moorilla, organised by the Tasmanian mushroom growers. I tried not to embarrass Scott, so didn’t take any photos. Well, OK, I took one photo before we went inside – but I didn’t subject him to my usual photographing of all the food. It started off great! There was someone cooking and answering questions, and the canape was great. It was a mushroom topped with fetta on top of hummus that had been spread on apricot toast. Really yummy. Everyone had name tags, and it was an odd group of doctors, nutritionists, etc and a huge contingent of FiMBY gardeners. We met Danny, one of the Fimbaristas who helped fill the berry patch with soil, and FiMBY’s other new staff, Hazel and Ben. Scott had a chance to meet Juliet. We chatted with other FiMBY clients about our gardens. It was great!
It went a little downhill when we sat down for dinner. Just as there is no free lunch, there is no free dinner. As we were being served the entree, a nutritionist with a PowerPoint presentation started speaking. The highlight of her speech was when she asked who had an edible garden at home, and the couple tables of FiMBY people all put their hands up high. 🙂 The entree was yakitori mushroom and chicken skewers on rice, with a salad of cabbage and pickled ginger (etc). Yummy. But we really wanted to be able to talk. The other couple at our table is just starting out with FiMBY too, and it was great hearing how they were turning the garden of the house they just bought – currently all conifers and coloured gravel – into fruit trees, veggies, and chicken heaven. However the next speaker soon started up, again with PowerPoint. I felt like I was at work. He was a bit of a better speaker, a Tasmanian mushroom grower, however he certainly couldn’t keep my attention better than my huge field mushroom topped with cheesy yumminess on a couscous (with pumpkin, raisins, toasted almonds and pistachios).
I’ll summarise what the speakers had to say that evening: mushrooms make you immortal. They help with everything. Really, I don’t know how bodies could function without them.
And to prove our indoctrination is complete, we had mushrooms for dinner the next two evenings. Danny very kindly harvested mushrooms for me from the centrepieces of one of the neighbouring tables, and as I had stuff to make a nice yakitori marinade at home that’s what we had Thursday night (served with quinoa with sultanas, pistachios, and wilted rocket mixed through). And last night I made gyoza with shiitake mushrooms, chinese cabbage, etc with broccolini. We will live forever.