Moss Milkshakes Anyone?

You will need:
•Blender (preferably one you don’t want to use again to make milkshakes for yourself to drink)
•Moss
•12 oz. buttermilk OR 1 can of beer OR one tub of plain yoghurt
•½ tsp sugar
•Plastic container
•Spray bottle and/or a paintbrush

Why use buttermilk, beer or yoghurt?
•These ingredients have a low PH (acidic) and moss likes to grow in an acidic environment or soil.
 

Growing Instructions
•Keep the area moist for the first several weeks-- this is critical! Do this by misting your moss every day.  Don’t over water or let water stand on the mosses.
•Keep your moss in a warm shady place.
•Your moss fragments will remain a mixture of green and brown for several weeks.  As the moss acclimates you will see more and more green shoots.  Moss fragments should begin to become green and cover thinly in about 3-6 months.  Moss will begin to thicken and become a solid green carpet within about 12-18 months. 

What else does moss like?
•Mosses like warmth, moisture and shade.  Partial to full shade is essential.  Hot afternoon sun will destroy a patch in no time.  Did you know that moss has no roots?  It has little filaments that allow it to take up nutrients, but no true roots, so it will dry out even faster than ground cover plants.

Interesting facts about Moss
•Mosses are one of the early indicators of plant life.  Lichens are the earliest form of plant life.
•Mosses were often used to stuff mattresses and pillows in the 1800s.
•There is only little truth to the fact that moss grows on the north side of the tree.  It grows on the side of the tree that remains the shadiest and most moist.
•Moss cannot survive a polluted environment.  There are studies being done in Europe, and they have found that mosses are reliable indicators of air pollution risk to ecosystems, because they get most of their nutrients direct from the air and rain, rather than the soil.
•Reindeer eat moss to keep their bodies warm during the Arctic winters.  Moss has a special chemical in it like antifreeze.