See me at Houby Days - you could win an awesome morel hunting bag

    I plan to be at Houby Days in Czech Village on Saturday, May 15, 2010. The three-day festival celebrates the morel mushroom with food, music, a parade and more, including a houby contest and exhibition. I went on my first mushroom hunt this year, but didn't have the proper container, which should have holes to allow the morel spores to fall through.

   Since then, I found a bag that would be perfect for collecting morels. I ordered a few Nature Bags after writing  about the product, made from kudzu vines by the indigenous Khmu people of Laos.

   Native Iowan Bill Newbrough, a University of Iowa graduate, is providing seed financing for the Nature Bag poverty reduction project in Southeast Asia.

   I thought the bags would be great to use at farmers markets. I gave one to my mom for Mother's Day and she thought it would be perfect to use for picking beans and peas in the garden.

   Since the bags have a mesh construction, I think they would also be awesome for mushroom hunting.

   Apparently, one size of the bag that I ordered was out of stock, so the good people at NatureBag.org sent me an extra one, which I will be giving away during Houby Days. See more about the bags here: www.naturebag.org

    Look for me right before the parade, near Joens Bros. Interiors, 59 16th Ave. SW, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Stop by to say "Hi" and sign up for the free drawing.

   I also plan to do live tweets during that time on www.Twitter.com

   If you're on Twitter, follow me at: http://twitter.com/HomegrownIA

    You can use the hashtag #houby to add your own tweets or follow along Saturday.

    Find the full Houby Days schedule here:

http://thegazette.com/blogs/homegrown/2010/05/07/houby-days-schedule