Concerning baskets

Basket - ready to take another season

Despite the doubts concerning the weather (still no rain in the foreseeable future), I took out my mushroom basket from its cupboard for inspection. My father brought it to me from Ukraine 3 years ago, and amazingly it looks like it'll be good for yet another season.

Outside of mushroom season I use it for storing vegetables and bird feed, so it has seen some regular use over the years. Not one twig out of place! That's what I call good quality.

It is made in authentic medieval style, 100% willow, no plastic anywhere. Not that it makes any difference to the mushrooms, as all kinds of baskets provide the same sort of support and breathing for the collected fungi, and they can all spread spores equally well since, obviously, they all have small holes. However, willow is much easier on the hands than plastic, and it makes a big difference if you have to carry home a big crop.

All right, all right, I won't bore you any more with this. To summarise: I have my basket ready for the mushroom season. Yay!