Growing Mushrooms

As regular readers will know I am quite keen on picking chantrelle mushrooms when they are in season. Due to the extreme dry spell we are having there are not many about where I go a foraging and the ones that have come through are very dry. Last Sunday I went to the Royal Highland Show and purchased a Woodland Oyster mushroom growing kit from Ardnamushrooms stand in the food hall. So it is all set up and in the new shed as the temperature is perfect for mushroom growing, so we shall have to wait and see the results. I am now inspired to grow more mushrooms especially as I get through quite a lot at breakfast time and it is easy to obtain button/chestnut mushroom spawn.

Strathmore & The Glens Community Market

Had a quick trip into town this morning and had a wander around the market, which is held in the Wellmeadow, usually on the last Saturday of the month in the summer. Also went down to look at the river, which is very low as we have not had much rain.

A drive over the A924

The A924 is the road that takes you over to Pitlochry from Bridge of Cally. It is a fantastic road to drive, watch out for the sheep, and the scenery contrasts between moorland and lush pastures.

Edradour Distillery

I came back via Pitlochry and over the back road, making a quick stop off at Edradour Distillery

Blair Atholl Watermill

Today I had a whistle stop trip around some of Perthshire, for reasons to be revealed. First stop was to Blair Atholl where there is an original working water mill. The water mill dates back to 1613 and they mill and sell stoneground oatmeal and flour, there is also a tearoom. I was rather pleased to see they also sell their own muesli.

Neuchatel Classic

For two nights this week I had three couples staying with me, who were doing a big car tour around Scotland. The people staying with me were the organisers and the rest of the group were staying along at Kinloch Hotel. Thank you to Kinloch for recommending me as 'overflow'. As the title of my blog suggests they were driving classic cars. They had a superb itinerary around Scotland, visiting and staying in all manner of different places.

Love to Eat 2010

Love to Eat 2010, is a celebration of food and drink in Blairgowrie & East Perthshire. It was launched last week at a local produce lunch at the High School, and they intend to have events through the year. The idea of this pilot scheme is to promote local food and drink tourism. The lady who is organising it all dropped off some leaflets yesterday. Perthshire has an abundant supply of local produce and passionate producers, which are all easily available at farmers markets, shops etc.