Now these are some great ideas! I can just imagine what the bubble wrap would make it look like! Like I mentioned earlier, I made mine in two pieces and I won't ever do that again,since it was so hard to glue and clean up with the two tubes of bad GEII...but those were given to me for free so no refund, just learned lessons,lol! It was kind of grainy, so next time I'll know right away if it's bad( I hope!) Great photos, great instructions! Robert I love your little cluster of shrooms and your diagrams! Bright, I don't think I'd use glass for the stem myself, I know it would get broken either by my three grandchildren or sisters grandchildren, or get stomped and kicked by deer or large animal. I used foam coffee cups sprayed with Pam, but I'm going to try paper towel tubes next time.

We've been around the block before on mushroom compost. If you'd like to read more, go to the Search box at the bottom of this page and search This Forum for "mushroom compost." Of course mushrooms don't produce manure, and I doubt the seller believes they do. From what I recall from other threads, to make mushroom substrate, relatively fresh ingredients (not yet fully composted) are steamed to knock down other fungi, then inoculated with mushroom spores. After the mushrooms grow, the substrate is discarded. It has not yet composted, and once the microbes re-populate and get working on it, it can get hot. If you're not putting it on live plants, but tilling in for later planting (weeks or months), it's fine. I would not use too much around live plants, but instead, compost it for awhile till it cools off. Otherwise you can burn your plants.

viola, I sympathize entirely :-)) Between my managerial/buying position for a retail garden center AND running my own design business, spring is a tough time to even slow down enough to take a breath. And in my 12 month gardening climate, I doubt even our spring rush can compete with those located in more limiting climates. My day at the nursery passes in a blur but even with the seasonal crunch, schmoozing with and helping customers is the best part. Unfortunately, I seem to get tied up with more office work at this time of year than I'd prefer. Taking enough breaks is really important - that few minutes away from the sales floor can make all the difference in attitude and enthusiasm. And try to compartmentalize as best as you can - it's tough to give good customer service when you are preoccupied with restocking or ordering for the coming week. And don't forget to have a social life - as tired as you may feel, meeting friends for drinks or dinner occasionally can really recharge your spirits, not to mention spending some quality time with your family or just by yourself. Don't skip days off just because it's the busy season - good garden center managers understand that proper time off is essential to having a good humored and well balanced, enthusiastic sales staff. Organize an afterhours potluck or other gathering - we had a Cinqo di Mayo BBQ afterhours last week to unwind from the Mother's Day weekend prep and gear up for the coming weekend and it was a great stress-reliever (not to mention a ton of good food - don't all nursery workers focus on food??). Believe it or not, I find coming home and spending a bit of time in my own garden is a great diversion from all the other activities. Yes, I work with plants all day long (and with garden designs well into the night) but finding a few moments to spend putzing around my own garden seems to put everything else into proper perspective. But I sure wouldn't mind having a personal assistant to tend to my other affairs - just finding time to return calls, pay bills, take the dogs in for grooming (or me for a haircut) and the car for servicing, even emptying the dishwasher sometimes seems more than I can manage. Just remember that the crunch period passes - sometimes all too soon - and pace yourself.

I just kick them over with my shoe. By the next day they are brown and we just mow them and mulch them with the next mowing. They aren't harmful. Some of them are pretty cool looking. I was working in my garden by the front walk last weekend and I had 2 huge ones growing among the rain lilies. A lady walking down the street remarked how beautiful they were. She thought I was cultivating them. One persons unsightly could be another persons beautiful. Made me look at them in a new way. I let them stay till they turned brown, and then picked them out and threw in the compost.