BerniceC: heehee...just please be sure not to pick and eat any LBM's by accident!

BerniceC: heehee...i'm sure i don't know, Lady! :D

i guess they're not exactly free-range, if that's what You mean...

from the "poisonous mushrooms" section of that article i linked to:

There is no quick and easy test that will separate edible from poisonous mushrooms-including peeling the cap, testing with a silver spoon, checking for insect damage or any other folk method. To avoid mushroom poisoning, you should follow these five rules:

1. Identify each and every mushroom you collect, and only eat those whose identification you are sure of. When in doubt, throw it out.

2. Strictly avoid: any mushroom that looks like an amanita (parasol-shaped mushrooms with white gills); all little brown mushrooms; all false morels.

3. Some people are allergic to even the safest mushrooms. The first time you try a new wild mushroom, it is important that you eat only a small amount and wait 24 hours before eating more.

4. As with other foods, rotting mushrooms can make you ill. Eat only firm, fresh, undecayed mushrooms.

5. Most wild mushrooms should not be eaten raw or in large quantities, since they are difficult to digest.

and be careful: puffballs are harmless, but some other mushrooms, like the death cap mushroom, can resemble a puffball in their early stages. from another site:

Landcare Research mycologist (mushroom expert) Peter Johnston said when the death cap was young it was easily confused with a puffball, which some people ate.

"Very difficult to tell them apart... you have got to know what you are eating," he said.

Toxins in death caps stop human cell division, meaning organs which form new cells, such as the liver, stop working, Dr Johnston said.

here's an interesting article on mushrooms including which ones are edible and which are poisonous. i don't think it's exactly comprehensive, but it should tell people some stuff.

you get to the three sections of the article using the links in the brown bar at the top of the article. it took me a while to figure that out.

nobleheart: lol! i love the snowman! :D or the fungusman, i guess.

BerniceC: whatever You do to finally get rid of the black or cover it up, You'll surely want to seal the concrete so the problem can't come back or happen again or something.

Foxy Lady: i love meanies.

ajtgirl: lol! i agree - but if Ms. Fox forbids it in here, i'm not going to do it in here!

Eriisa: i'd say something humorous about the extent of the focus issue, but Ms. Fox has forbidden me to goof off in here now that spring is more or less arriving.

Foxy Lady: lol...this surprises me not at all, Ma'am...

skipinnz: ah, okay. well i'm probably thinking of a type of lettuce and should just shut up on the subject of bok choy.

skipinnz: hmm...yes, that's sounding familiar to me too, now that i think about it.

that's not used in salads, is it?

Foxy Lady: that almost sounds like rhubarb, Ma'am.

well, to me...who knows very little and is prone to taking wild guesses at what You might be talking about.

Foxy Lady: i bet it is, Ma'am. as much because You say so as for any other reason. :)

i may not eat much fresh ginger (though i do get a couple of sticks of it on top of my Indian dishes, and i do eat that), but one thing i've been doing a lot lately is gobbling up the lemon wedges that i'm served with fish and seafood and tea and stuff. i know fresh lemon is good for me. i've developed a taste for pure unsweetened sour cherry juice too, which i think is also very good for me. yum!

Foxy Lady: i'm not sure whether i've ever had *fresh* ginger, Ma'am. i have had the sort of shaved stuff that you get a pile of with your sushi. i thought i'd heard it's good for you...but i just don't like it.

as for bok choy, there's bok choy and there's baby bok choy (as i'm learning from this gourmetsleuth.com site i've just discovered)...

...but much more than that *i* can't tell You...

You know what i think is really interesting is cardamom. i've become acquainted with it through my love of Indian food. it has a fascinating flavor - and one not for the faint of palate!

ScarletRose:

skipinnz: no, silly: everybody knows tomatillos are a cross between a tomato and an armadillo.

little armored tomatoes.

*clank*

*ow!*

like that.

BerniceC: i see. well You're welcome, Lady. sorry i couldn't be of any real assistance... and good luck!

BerniceC: would You want to paint the concrete once You got the mold off? i know they make fungicide or moldicide or something that You can stir into paint and then when You paint the surface the mold shouldn't come back...

(trying this new reply box function for the first time - please forgive me if it does something weird i don't expect! )

ajtgirl: LOL! yes Ma'am! exactly!!

ajtgirl: wow - i didn't know the plants were supposed to be able to support the fruit! i thought tomatoes were *supposed* to grow along the ground!

ajtgirl: nope. She don't. :)

ajtgirl: nice! i should indeed stop by. when? =)

though i need to warn You: i really know zip about gardening. i just co-mod here. (i am willing to learn though! :)

ajtgirl: wow, cool!

erm...what's Your favorite cause?

nobleheart: hey, that's a bad taste bear, isn't it?

i'd need a shovel to find croci today, whether they were peekin' out above ground or not!

ScarletRose: heehee...thank You, Lady. :)

Eriisa: mmmmmmm...can't wait for weather hot enough to take a cold shower! =)

(and i'm glad You could help too, Lady. :)

Eriisa: wheee! what fun!

i use Macs, and our special characters are different from Windows ones and often don't translate from one platform to the other. but now i know a new character! woohoo! thank You, Ms. E., to the Nth °!

okay, i'm jealous of people's ability to make a degree sign. does this (°) look like a degree sign to everyone, or just to me?

Eriisa: lol! i do believe it's working! it's 38 degrees here on long island today, which is warmer than it has been!

yeah, the delicate things always turn out to be tougher than people give 'em credit for. right, Ms. Fox?

Foxy Lady: wowie! what a cool tip! thank You, Ma'am! =)

Foxy Lady: ohhh, interesting! i didn't know that either. i think this bamboo i have is just planted in a bunch of stones and drinking pure water. huh...

skipinnz: aha - thank you! i didn't even know there were different kinds of bamboo. *duh*...

i don't know what kind this is. i'll have to research it.

Foxy Lady: we've had rain all day too. and our snow is all gone because we haven't had any in weeks.

anybody know anything about transplanting bamboo from indoors to out? we have one of those pretty china pots from the grocery store with three stalks of bamboo in it and i've been thinking about putting them in the ground and letting them spread out (as i know bamboo does under the right conditions) and form a natural privacy thingy between our property and the neighbors'...but i don't know what kind of soil conditions or anything bamboo likes. i could just look online, i know, but i figured i'd start here in case anybody has any first-hand experience.

nobleheart:

Foxy Lady: yeep. i bet.

yeah, i think about the duration of winter differently down here too. You think about having Feb, March, and April yet to go; i think about having February yet to go.

Foxy Lady: not sure what we got up to today, but it's about 48 out there now, at 8:25...so it was probably 55 or so earlier. and not even February yet. i can imagine what the weather must be like for You during a *real* winter!

Foxy Lady: yes Ma'am. got it.

Foxy Lady: i'm sorry, Lady, i don't understand: "There are no nutz on BK and such posts will be deleted"

ScarletRose: oh - never mind. i wasn't reading carefully enough. You meant groundhog day, which is...*drum roll please*...

yeppers: february 2.

nobleheart: i saw a moth fluttering madly against the trunk of a tree last night in my headlights, and i knew what S/he was thinking: "damn! it's COLD! i can't fly! this isn't supposed to be happening! helllllllp!!!"

or something much like that, i'm sure.

i think it's the temperature see-saw we've been on all winter, at least around the eastern seaboard here (can you say, "global warming"? sure. i knew you could), and that a few warm days we've had recently have fooled some bugs and buds into coming out way too early.

Ms. ScarletRose: if You mean the first day of spring, and if the Vernal Equinox is the first day of spring, which i believe it is, that's March 20 this year.

Ms. Foxy:

Garden Quotes.

Foxy Lady: yes Ma'am - i *bet* it picks up come Spring!

yay...i'm honored to be added to the mod team. :) and i'm sure i'll learn plenty about gardening here too (i know pretty much nothing about the subject as it is). thank You for the honor of Your invitation, Ms. Foxy - and hi everybody...