No more water. Forbidden. Started this week. Immediately. The use of ground water for agricultural or other purposes is no longer possible. Drought. The Netherlands, the land of water, built on top of water is in the middle of an unimaginable drought.
A shortage of precipitation and consistent high temperatures has turned many typical evergreen meadows of the Netherlands into parched yellow praries. Images of my childhood summers in Australia come to mind: endless arid fields , everyone hot and tired and my subconscious constant longing for the colour green to dominate the countryside again and bring everything back to life.
The Edible Wood Farm is situated in a landscape in the east of the country that is designated as fragile and protected. Lowering the water level any further would probably damage this protected area irrevocably. There is no ban (yet) in other parts of the country but everyone has been urged to use water wisely. The consequences of the water ban has turned my period of summer slumber into a period of unexpected summer activity. Until last week I was spraying the logs a couple of times a week to prevent them from drying out. The level of humidity was sufficient and I was content. Mycelium from the shii-take and oyster mushroom need a moist environment to be able to keep on developing. An edible log without moisture is like a cushion without a filling. Result – no money in the jar. Give up? No way. If it is not possible to bring the water to the logs, the logs will be brought to the water.
Foto: last soaking of the week