Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let’s finish the job.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

This fight is for everything.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The willow is too close to the house.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

I’m sure you banged some questionable people yourself.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / There’s a Fungus Among Us

There’s a Fungus Among Us

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One of my things this winter is growing mushrooms. In the past, I had tried some of those kits you can buy that come in a cardboard box ready to go, but I wanted to do something more hands on and more cost effective. Those premade kids are very spendy.

I did a bunch of surfing the internet and I found two mushroom purveyors I liked, one dude was the Mushroom Man of Peotone, who seemed like my kind of dude and was super passionate and also doing this to pay for his kid’s way through college, and another guy named Charles from G.P. Mushrooms. I liked him because his videos were sometimes out of focus and jerky, a form I appreciate and emulate, and because it’s clear he does it as efficiently and as thriftily as possible. Basically, I tried to avoid folks that require you to have this elaborate setup where you have to become a MUSHROOM GUY in order to succeed, I just wanted to find normal people I could relate to who were having success. I just want to explore and have fun and maybe grow some good tasting stuff for a small price.

At any rate, I got my first kits under way, and I will throw some pictures up when anything interesting happens. I am keeping them under my second desk in the office which never gets direct sunlight and is surrounded by all my plants this winter, so the mushrooms will not become a victim of my issues with object permanence and forgetting to take care of them.

Excited!

Reader Interactions

102Comments

  4. 4.

    Gin & Tonic

    Here in New England, a wet summer and fall made for an outstanding wild mushroom season – ended up being a sort of family competition. My younger daughter and her husband foraged something like 40 pounds. We had maitakes as big as basketballs.

  5. 5.

    Ohio Mom

    And your mushrooms will have the company of the other plants. I think they’d get lonely by themselves in another part of the house.

    I’m serious, even if it’s just bare bones biochemical reactions, I am convinced plants interact with one another.

  6. 6.

    khead

    The first time we drove up to Avondale PA (from NE MD) for sushi my wife basically said “the sushi better be good because this place smells like shit”. We did not know we were rolling through mushroom country until later.  And yes – the sushi was, in fact, good.

  7. 7.

    Mactree

    He can’t hum a note, but he can pee a tone. Sorry, grew up 10 miles from Peotone.
    Also 20 miles from the Beecher Meat Co. in Beecher IL. We’d drive past it
    just to have a laugh. Lots to do in rural IL.

  8. 8.

    Mart

    I worked in the mushroom industry. Collected racetrack horse shit and piss from the stalls hay and straw and trucked to a mushroom farm. Afraid I can offer no advice, other than stripping down and hosing off in the garage, and putting your clothes in the washing machine, or mom will kill you.

  11. 11.

    Ol'Froth

    Oyster mushrooms are super easy.  All you need is the spawn, some sort of cellulose (shredded paper, a roll of toilet paper, etc) water, and a plastic bag.

  12. 12.

    opiejeanne

    My older daughter grew mushrooms on her kitchen counter, from a kit from Starbucks. The growing medium was coffee grounds, the money went to a charity. She got a lot of mushrooms from that kit, I think they were enoki. When the kit was done, she could buy another package of spores. I think they were very reasonable, but that was 11 years ago.

  13. 13.

    TaMara (HFG)

    Are we going to have a mushroom live cam, too?

    This summer, the weather was so weird, my entire front yard (keep in mind, I live in high desert territory) was covered in mushrooms, some the size of saucers. I’m sure some were edible…I just mowed them back into the lawn as fertilizer.

  14. 14.

    p.a.

    I got the itch from watching Adam Ragusea’s utube shroom segment but haven’t pulled the trigger yet.  Will check out your sources.

  15. 15.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Ol’Froth:

    Just a note to let you know that the blog software does not like apostrophes in nyms. Each of your comments will have to be approved by a front-pager unless you remove the apostrophe, in which case just the first one needs to be approved.  “Ol Froth” or “Ol*Froth” would work fine.

  16. 16.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    I have oyster mushrooms on one stump in the yard up front – cooked up about 3/4 pound last night . There’s triple that left on that stump alone.

    I I start tromping around, there are more.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    Nice! Always exciting to really dig into a new hobby.

    I’ve been getting really into minerals lately. In the new year I’m going to get myself a Dremel and rent a workbench and teach myself lapidary, starting off with learning how to polish and shape rough quartz.

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    I see so many astonishing varieties of mushrooms at the local farmers markets, and am always tempted to try some of the more exotic ones (like lions mane).  But it comes down to: don’t they all taste pretty much the same?

  23. 23.

    BC in Illinois

    Last night, after seeing two families of the next generation off on their Christmas travels,* I returned home for a dinner of portobello mushrooms, stuffed with a spinach/onion/something else concoction. Really nice, thanks to Mrs. BC and her internet resources.

    *Three out of four of the families of our children live here in the St Louis area. Two of those families are leaving town for the rest of the year for limited/vaccinated contacts with the in-laws’ families. (They can always see us, under certain circumstances. All four families are fairly observant of protocols, mandates, etc. and all kids — 5 to 15 — are vaccinated.)

    We’ll see the whole crowd — and pretty much only them — in January, when we celebrate the BC/Mrs BC 50th anniversary. (Yes, January. Takes guts to get married in Michigan in January, but it worked.)**

    **Not like daughter #2, who got married in Michigan in February, combining a wedding day with a winter storm advisory.)

    ***Well, that was a rambling series of thoughts, but I was thinking of mushrooms . . .

  25. 25.

    zhena gogolia

    @CaseyL: Oh, no. Not a huge fan but we Slavs have to stand up for the  honor of mushrooms. They come in an infinite variety of flavors, like wine.

  26. 26.

    Josie

    @BC in Illinois: We got married in December, but it was in South Texas.  The weather was gorgeous.  If we actually get cold weather here, it doesn’t happen until January or February.

  27. 27.

    M31

    @Ohio Mom: I am convinced plants interact with one another

    I read an article in Scientific American about how a tree with an disease or infestation sends off chemical signals which other trees can respond to.

    I kid you not, that very same day I saw a headline in a tabloid, “TOP SCIENTISTS PROVE TREES CAN TALK”

    I mean, that’s not wrong

  28. 28.

    Major Major Major Major

    @WereBear: yeah, I’m super excited. Don’t know any actual jewelry stuff, probably won’t learn, but stoneworking will be plenty for now!

    In the future, I might even get a faceting machine, but one step at a time, lol. Years down the road.

  29. 29.

    debbie

    @CaseyL:

    Nope. I don’t know enough to tell you which is which mushroom, but I’ve eaten enough of them over the years to know they aren’t all the same.

  31. 31.

    Salty Sam

    @CaseyL: don’t they all taste pretty much the same?

    Oh no, not at all.  Lion’s Mane have a slight seafoodish flavor- the ‘net abounds with “Lion’s Mane Crabcake” recipes.  Some of the Stropharia species taste meaty- lots of recipes out there for “Pulled Pork” made with King Oysters.   But the best part is the incredible umami they bring to the table…

  34. 34.

    debbie

    @CaseyL:

    Growing up in the Midwest, all I knew were white button mushrooms. One of the best things about living in NYC was all the new foods. I still remember eating an individual pizza of smoked duck and wild mushrooms from a place I think was Nick and Eddie’s on the West Side back in the 1980s. It was like a whole new world—and that was just the mushrooms!

  36. 36.

    dnfree

    @JoyceH: why are they now called sea shantys?  All my years growing up (still working on it) they were sea chanteys. Or chanties, but always “ch”. A shanty to me is a run/down house. 

  37. 37.

    dnfree

    “Issues with object permanence” is the perfect description of what happens to me when I leave a room intending to come back and finish what I was working on.

  39. 39.

    John Cole

    @John Cole:  It’s why it is so fucking important to never use any types of pesticides or any crap like that in your yard. Only use native species and things that belong together. There is literally an entire world we do not understand so best not to fuck with it and let them do what they do naturally.

  42. 42.

    JoyceH

    @dnfree: I know! I always heard them described as chanties, but lately you see the term shanty, so I’m just moving with the times. And yes, a shanty was supposed to be a rundown shack, as in shantytown.

  43. 43.

    JoyceH

    @WaterGirl: what’s funny about it is that unless you’ve been following the saga, the song makes absolutely no sense at all. When I first saw it, I played it five times in a row, snickering.

  44. 44.

    JustRuss

    For anyone with even a passing interest in fungi, Fantastic Fungi is a must-watch.  It’s on Netflix.

  45. 45.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Here in New England, a wet summer and fall made for an outstanding wild mushroom season – ended up being a sort of family competition. My younger daughter and her husband foraged something like 40 pounds. We had maitakes as big as basketballs. 

    And you’re all still alive, so apparently you knew what you were doing!

    We had maitakes as big as basketballs.

    Woah!

  46. 46.

    M31

    @John Cole:  so not only do they alert their friends of danger, they feed their kids by bartering with the local fungal communities to pass sugar along, giving the fungi a cut

  48. 48.

    Honus

    Shiitakes are pretty easy to grow. You just need an oak log and 1” drill to drill holes all around it and the fill the holes with spawn and peanut butter, throw it in cool shady spot next the house and wait.  If they don’t flush, you hammer the log with a claw hammer and that usually does the trick.  There used to be a guy near Cherry River that sold jars of spawn and also the complete drilled and stuffed logs, but that was 30 years ago. I had three or four 24” long logs and got more shiitakes than we could eat.

  50. 50.

    mrmoshpotato

    Look who’s back!

    After a year in Twitter Coventry I guess they just forgot about me. I refiled my appeal after being told repeatedly this this was verboten. That I'd used up all my appeals. But what the hell, right? Anyway, got a short note saying, oopsie, and so…https://t.co/BfjqSvgJgb— Driftglass, Guardian of Inconvenient History (@Mr_Electrico) December 18, 2021

  52. 52.

    Madeleine

    @John Cole: The recent findings about plant communication and support fascinate me!

    Some of the farmers at our local farmers’ markets sell several varieties of mushrooms. One seller (Hodgins Harvest for BJers in NYC) introduced my husband and me to great new—to us—types. They also taught us that shredding the entire mushroom for sauteeing both browns them nicely and allows us to use stems that, when whole, are tough. So good!

  55. 55.

    Feathers

    Different fungus, but I watched the film Pig last night. Amazing film that goes all sorts of places you aren’t expecting it to. Nicolas Cage getting to be as good as he’s always been capable of. Sort of John Wick but with a truffle pig, but also totally not. Violent, but bounded and well telegraphed.

    @p.a.: I really like Ragusa’s videos. It’s important to do the work to make things good, ridiculous to do pointless work just to be fancy.

  60. 60.

    WaterGirl

    PSA #1

    If you were supposed to be receiving your copy of Midnight In Washington and it hasn’t arrived yet, please send me an email ASAP.

    PSA #2

    Starting on Monday, we’re posting holiday pics – from when we were little – in the On The Road time slot.  So please send me your pics.  Doesn’t have to be Christmas, all holidays welcome.  The war on Christmas has begun!

  62. 62.

    SpaceUnit

    We had a couple of premade kids in our neighborhood when I was growing up.  I mostly avoided them.  Have no idea how ‘spendy’ they were because I never wanted to know.

    Then when I went to college there were the pre-med kids who always made a point to let you know they were, in fact, pre-med.  So annoying.  We used to say that, technically, anyone can claim that they’re pre-med until you’re . . .  you know, actually accepted into medical school.

    Like, I could claim to be pre-astronaut, but until I get the call from NASA it doesn’t mean shit, does it?  Seriously.

    Anyway, what were we talking about?  Mushrooms?

  63. 63.

    StringOnAStick

    A few weeks ago I came across a really interesting community of fungi on the end of a log, it made for a fun texture photo.  Then yesterday’s backcountry ski day had quilted, painterly sky and snow/charcoal/wood texture in a standing snag from and old fire.  A few more and I’ll send in a texture collection for the morning post.

  67. 67.

    kindness

    I knew a couple people who used covered hexagonal fish tanks to grow mushrooms in the 80’s.  Big ones.  Their most difficult problem was sterilizing the media.  They were pretty successful though.  Did several batches with great results.  Looked really nice when the mushrooms were all starting to bud out.  These weren’t particularly legal mushrooms though.  It was the 80’s and all.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @zhena gogolia: Guessing that your elbow hurts like hell and everything you try to do is a pain in the behind?  :-(

    Or do they have you on super high doses of tylenol?  When I broke my ankle they wouldn’t let me take advil because there was some research that advil kept the bones from knitting together as well and they had me at the max dose of tylenol.

  73. 73.

    zhena gogolia

    @WaterGirl: It has not been that painful. Can’t comment much with one finger of left hand. I was told to alternate large doses of tylenol and advil and that has worked well — no other pain meds needed. i’m skipping tylenol right now. of course it’s Saturday so i can’t ask my doc about your advil info.

  75. 75.

    Gin & Tonic

    @WaterGirl: With acetaminophen (Tylenol) you have to be careful to limit your intake to 1,000 mg/day or you risk serious liver damage. The alternating acetaminophen/ibuprofen regimen is sound, and has good clinical evidence.

  76. 76.

    MissBarbie

    @CaseyL: Actually, no they don’t. I have some that smell and taste like maple syrup

    (Lactarius rubidus), and others like seafood (Russula xerampelima). Join a local mushroom club, and learn from your fellow shroomers. You’ll never look at the woods the same again.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    By rhe way guys I’ll say it again GET BACK is a f–in masterpiece. Parts 1-2 down and part 3 will get me through

  86. 86.

    narya

    @WaterGirl: I have yet to receive notice that it has shipped, unfortunately. I will email you as soon as I hear, and I’ll call them Monday to make sure the order hasn’t been disappeared. I am trying to support a local bookstore, damnit!

  90. 90.

    WaterGirl

    @Gin & Tonic: My orthopedist was adamant about no advil. ?‍♀️ Not until week 6 or 8 when they took x-rays and confirmed that the bone had healed nicely.  Only then would she let me take advil.

    I HATE tylenol but I took it because she was insistent about the no advil thing.  That was 3 or 4 years ago so there is probably either confirmation of the early research that had a bunch of doctors saying no advil or alternate research that disputed the earlier research.  ?‍♀️

  91. 91.

    WaterGirl

    @narya:  Thanks for the update.

    If it doesn’t ship soon I think you will need to either go with a different source or I can enlist one of the other offers to get the book for your person.

  99. 99.

    Miss Bee

    @CaseyL:  No, they don’t all taste the same.  Lion’s Mane is by far the most delicious.  Do try it. The oyster mushrooms, whatever their color, are all pretty bland.

  100. 100.

    Matt McIrvin

    @WaterGirl: When I got my knee replacement they had me on BIG alternating doses of Advil and Tylenol, plus one regular aspirin a day as an anti-clotting measure. After a week or so, the aspirin and the Advil together caused me to get horrible bruises all over my feet and legs at the slightest pressure, and the solution was to just take me off the Advil entirely and leave the rest. Had to tough out a bit more pain.

  102. 102.

    J R in WV

    @Major Major Major Major:

    If you actually start to work with polishing or forming crystals with a Dermel, WEAR A MASK !!! Get a 3M industrial respirator with at least N95 filtration capacity. A facemask with replaceable filter packs. You can get them at auto-parts or hardware stores, or order them via mail after Googling for a supplier…

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