'Shroom boat

[Nanohedron]

A watercraft made of ... mushrooms? (← link)



I think it's a champignon idea.

[kkrell]

That's crimini-al.

A girl in every port-o-bella.

Shii take a little trip?

Don't enoki if you haven't tried it.

Sorry to truffle you.

[Nanohedron]

Jeez. Puns all the way up to mycelium.

[kkrell]

Big words like that should be hyphae-nated.

[Nanohedron]

If I had, they would've said I blewit.

The boat is living mycelium, BTW. Buoyant and watertight, but every time it gets put in the water it sprouts reishis, so I suppose one must weigh the drawbacks and benefits: seaworthiness, or dinner?

The greater implications are compelling, though.

[an seanduine]

I am certain Katy has a more than passing familiarity with the writings of my buddy Paul Stamets, whom I have nick-named ´St. Paul of the Mushrooms´, the owner of Fungi Perfecti. Paul led me down the ´garden path´ to becoming a part-time shii-take grower, provisioner to the kind of restaurants I can´t afford to eat in. . .
He has been an early and influential proponent of ´myco-ecology.´ He proposed setting up successive sawdust berms colonized by Stropharia to clean up polluted water running off from dairy farms into Puget Sound. This eased a conflict between the dairy farmers and the state ecology board seeking to protect the salmon fishery. Win-win. No pollution and the Farmers got a secondary crop of high protein livestock feed from the mushrooms sprouting from the berms.
Nano, I hope you know you are in an area with many people growing shii-take in the traditional Asian log-culture method.

Bob

[Nanohedron]

Nano, I hope you know you are in an area with many people growing shii-take in the traditional Asian log-culture method.

It's news to me, TBH. But I guess I'm not surprised, either. I don't know if there's such a thing as an ideal climate for shiitake production, but when I was in Akita, which has a climate somewhat analogous to Minnesota's (putting aside the rainy season, the typhoon season, and some really big bugs), it wasn't unusual to come across shiitake log sites during hikes through the satoyama, an economic zone of managed mountain woodland marked by little hamlets. If large-scale shiitake farming exists, these setups would be called modest at best; they suggested cottage industry. The first time I saw a shiitake nursery (don't know what else to call 'em) I was fascinated because each log sported a lot of impressive-looking mushrooms, it was clearly someone's doing, and the setups were just sitting out all alone in the forest shade, no fences or signs or anything. You could have walked right up and picked some, but I had no wish to play the Ugly American. There's a good amount of wooded area in MN as well, so if you can easily cultivate a choice and sought-after mushroom here and profit from it, why not? Plus with log cultivation, not to mention it being out in the open, the overhead is as minimal as you could ask for. Being eco-friendly seals it.

I wasn't really aware of the concept of mycoecology prior to the article above, but I'm on board now.

[Wanderer]

I am certain Katy has a more than passing familiarity with the writings of my buddy Paul Stamets, whom I have nick-named ´St. Paul of the Mushrooms´, the owner of Fungi Perfecti. Paul led me down the ´garden path´ to becoming a part-time shii-take grower, provisioner to the kind of restaurants I can´t afford to eat in. . .

I've purchased from that website many times.


When I first bought the house I live in now, I bought their myco-grow product to help my lawn come in, and I must say it worked pretty well.

[Nanohedron]

When I first bought the house I live in now, I bought their myco-grow product to help my lawn come in, and I must say it worked pretty well.

I was going to give this a try, but checking the website, it's all out of stock.

[an seanduine]

Wanderer, that particular ´block´ of fruiting shii-take started out as a sterilized bag full of enriched alder sawdust as you know. That particular strain was procured from mainland china, where they practice mushroom farming on an astonishing scale. I´ve seen pictures of oyster mushroom farms that stretched to the horizon with lines of tanker trucks with water to maintain the humidity of windrows miles long.
Nano, the log culturists in your area use a strain similar to ´Winter Giant´, which prefers your winters for its resting time. The farmers like your Northern Hardwood forests, particularly oak. In Asia its native host is called the Pausania, sometimes called the ´edible oak´. In Japanese, the Shii Tree. Another acquaintance started a log-farm in Ontario because of the abundance of oak, and again the winters. . .brr.
Once, in a Chinese Restaurant, We chanced into a conversation about mushroom cultivation with a fellow diner as we were both enjoying dishes made with ´the fragrant mushroom´, Dong Ku, (shii-take). He grew up on a mushroom farm on a mountain on Taiwan. The farm was ´pie shaped´ running from the base to an apex near the peak, with impossible switchback roads running up past little ledges beside icy mountain cascades and freshets. They would position ricks of logs there to be continuously sprayed and misted. As the logs fruited they would be hauled down to the fruiting yard and then put in resting sheds. Altogether a brilliant low tech operation with the exception of a battered pickup truck, and a sort of motorcycle (actually a motorized tricycle) with a pickup bed.

Bob

[chas]

I am certain Katy has a more than passing familiarity with the writings of my buddy Paul Stamets, whom I have nick-named ´St. Paul of the Mushrooms´, the owner of Fungi Perfecti. Paul led me down the ´garden path´ to becoming a part-time shii-take grower, provisioner to the kind of restaurants I can´t afford to eat in. . .

I've purchased from that website many times.


When I first bought the house I live in now, I bought their myco-grow product to help my lawn come in, and I must say it worked pretty well.

I bought one of those inoculated sawdust things many years ago. I followed the instructions meticulously for many months with no results. Then I tossed it into the yard and a month or so later it began growing shrooms. I guess I just needed to neglect it more.

Speaking of which, it's been a reasonably wet spring, I need to start looking for morels.

[Nanohedron]

... the winters. . .brr.

We rationalize staying where we do with an old Norwegian saying: There is no bad weather - only bad clothing.

The rest is pure payoff.

...´the fragrant mushroom´, Dong Ku ...

When it comes to these things, I can't help but look them up. The Japanese use the Chinese-derived name "donko". "Fragrant" is probably a common epithet, because dong ku, donggu, and donko all use the same kanji (冬菇) which directly translates as "winter mushroom". That would seem to fit with Akita (and MN, no doubt). It's been almost thirty years, so memory's a bit hazy on detail, but it's highly probable that that's what I saw being cultivated; I vaguely recall an impression similar to the pic below.



Apparently it's one of the high-grade varieties of shiitake, but you wouldn't think so by looking at it.

... ricks of logs ...

Now there's a good word.

... I need to start looking for morels.

When you're immorel, that's always a good course of action.

But on a serious note, I never took to the flavor of morels, myself.

[Tunborough]

But on a serious note, I never took to the flavor of morels, myself.

A couple of times we've had a good crop of puffballs behind the house, but I've never taken to the flavour of them. We tried frying up one, and since them have let them be.

[Nanohedron]

But on a serious note, I never took to the flavor of morels, myself.

A couple of times we've had a good crop of puffballs behind the house, but I've never taken to the flavour of them. We tried frying up one, and since them have let them be.

I've never tried puffballs, but have always been curious. How would you characterize them?

[Tunborough]

I've never tried puffballs, but have always been curious. How would you characterize them?

Tough question. It was years ago. As I recall, the taste was not objectionable in moderation, but when one slice is the size of a dinner plate, it's more than you want to swallow. Maybe in smaller quantities with the right sauce ...