Joshua Plymouth

Pearl Sutton wrote:Personally, I'd put several good thick coats of elastomeric paint over it. That makes things waterproof, I expect it would constrain the lead paint.

I hate sheet-rocking over my head. It's heavy!  I'd use wood paneling on 2x4 studs rather than sheet rock. But if I were doing that, I'd still give it elastomeric paint before I did. Lead dust is not a thing to skimp on, and it will continue flaking if not glued in by something evil (like that paint) and the flakes will wander out cracks.

So my vote would be a glue it down hard layer of some sort, followed if desired by a ceiling smoothing layer of some sort. But I would NOT skip the glue down layer, and regular cheap paint won't be mean enough.  

Thanks so much I think this is the best option for me, grinding off the paint residue seems like it will be impossible without removing the Lath and boards against the joists, which I really don't want to do. I do hope however that the paint is heat resistant because a wood cookstove will be under all of this, The drop ceiling could help with the aesthetics of the whole room, however I also want to have a very large drying rack. It will be best to secure a drying rack to the sturdiest support in the ceiling. Pic related is similar to the goal, but this video is more of what i'm going for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6DnQL4E2L0

I have a really old house with lead paint on the ceiling of the kitchen i need ideas of what i could do to prevent that lead paint form getting into my food! The ceiling is lath and plaster, so as I
tried scraping off the paint with a wire brush grinder it started rubbing off the plaster, which I really don't want to do because the lath seems to provide better insulation and support. Scraping it by hand seems impossible because much of the paint tis still very stuck to the top. The next option would be to simply cover it with some sort of drop ceiling, or paneling, but there is plumbing on the under side of the ceiling, however I also have a woodstove in here and I want to have some sort of food drying rack. What are your thoughts or ideas? Let me know! Thanks.

This is totally insane, its like it takes the concepts of wofati and earth integrated greenhouses and perfects them into an easy above ground solution. straw and woodchips and bags of leaves are much easier to obtain than the money needed to build a proper earth integrated greenhouse that can withstand the weight of earth on both sides! Are there any other records of anyone else doing something similar to this? Greenhouse wrapped within a wall of compost???

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjP9dFRIGx4

M.K. Dorje Sr. wrote:This is an interesting question.  The videos you posted of someone growing oysters, turkey tail and reishi on sawdust blocks outdoors were also very interesting and new to me. Even though I've been growing mushrooms (including all the species mentioned) for over 30 years now, I've never seen a successful large outdoor sawdust block growing operation like the one shown. So it might be possible to grow shiitake like this in the fall and spring, but I would suspect that it would be almost impossible to do this and have year-round production without climate control for the summer and winter. This is because shiitake doesn't fruit at temperatures below 45 degrees or above 80 degrees F. (Where do you live?)

My suggestion would be to consult with the person who made those videos and see how they did it and how much input (money, time, supplies, lab work, water, etc.) they put into it and also what their output was. Also important would be their geographical location and your geographical location. For example, if you live in a mild, rainy maritime climate it would be easier to do this than if you lived in a hot, dry desert region.

My gut feeling is that it would be difficult for a inexperienced person to make a decent profit money growing mushrooms year-round, let alone on blocks outdoors. It would be easier as seasonal income stream in the fall and spring.  Mushroom farming takes a lot of skill, a lot of effort, the right resources (clean hardwood sawdust) and the ability to be able to market your crop.

My advice would be to start small and develop your skills, market and strains. I knew a couple years ago who started out small with shiitake on logs, then they branched out into other species. Then they built their own tiny grow room pole building next to their house with climate control and a humidifier.  It was probably less than 14 feet by 10 feet in size. They developed their market and had a schedule where they would travel to restaurants, natural food stores, farmers markets and a small supermarket once or twice a week. They got sawdust blocks in bulk from a regional supplier at a low price and also made their own blocks. They also foraged for wild species and sold morels in the spring and chanterelles in the fall. I think they did pretty well. It would be harder to do this nowadays though because of insurance bond requirements (a big hassle!)  and corporate competition.

I watched a video recently of someone who spent hundreds (or thousands) of dollars making tons of morel spawn and setting up a massive set of long hoop houses in their backyard. They had BIG plans, but their project was a complete failure and they wasted a LOT of money and labor for nothing. They didn't start small and develop their method to make sure it worked. They didn't have a good business plan. It was sad to watch.

But good luck with your plans! Like I said, be sure to get more info and experience before you spend a lot of money- just my 2 cents...

Hey I appreciate it! I certainly don't want to invest time into a fruitless endeavor, thats why i'm here, trying to find anyone else who grows shiitake blocks outdoors. Lionsmane and oysters grow fast, that might be why they thrive under shade cloths on grass, shiitakes are much slower. And Shiitakes I know could soar in sales where I live, but i'm concerned oysters and Lionsmane might seem a bit odd to the locals...

I live in Appalachia, fungus thrives in the rural area where I live.
Certainly growing outdoors would not be possible in winter. I do know that fungus grows well in Appalachia under the trees and near the streams even in the heat of July after big thunder storms. Shiitake might be different as it requires cold shocks.

I do believe growing shiitakes on logs the traditional method is the most sure fire. Not only is it natural, it is sustainable for many years, as the logs keep fruiting periodically. The allure of sawdust blocks is high return with short periods. The draw back is more intensive labor in the onset. However higher return early on could stand to bankroll more fungus endeavors later. I'm just mainly looking for anyone with experience with shiitake blocks outdoors.

just found this article thanks to this permies thread
https://permies.com/t/187194/Sterilizing-mushroom-substrate

Crazy wild stuff seems like this guy is growing shiitake on pine (i thought pine was a no go for shiitake?!) sawdust and from the pictures seemingly outdoors. My main concern with shiitakes is them needing high humidity, however if the oysters seem to be more finicky than shiitakes then that means that the shadecloth/grass method might work swell. Glenn Coville claims that the shade cloth helps with pests especially gnats and beetles, and periodically he moves the whole growing zone if pests become an issue, but that slugs are more of a concern.

https://mycobio.co.nz/how-to-grow-shiitake-from-a-grow-kit/

I'm wanting to grow shiitake mushrooms on a large scale, i have access to land, woodland and pasture. There is a large market for shiitake mushrooms in my area. It is a market that has not been tapped into too heavily. The common method of growing Shiitake is to grow them outdoors on logs in the forest. Using sawdust plugs and wax to seal the wound on hardwood oak cut in the spring. I love this method and hope to move into that general direction, however there is the time constraint issue, inoculating logs takes upto a year before seeing fruit. There is another method thats really only been gaining traction in the past 40 years, sawdust block logs. using amixture of hardwood sawdust and nutritional oats these bags are inoculated and they yield one or two flushes. THe main gain i see in this method is sawdust blocks can take 3 to 6 months to yield fruit if done correctly, that means this coming spring i could make a profit at it however one thing I am just not seeing very often is growing mushroom blocks outdoors in any capacity. I did find this video of growing various mushrooms as an outdoor row crop, using black shade cloths to keep them out of direct sun, however in all of these videos shiitakes are not used. Upon doing more digging i'm seeing growing shiitakes blocks outdoors is not done much, and I'm wondering if there is a reason why, or if there is a good way to do it. Building a grow room is just not financially possible for me right now, furthermore my gut tells me it could be a lot more sustainable of a process if an outdoor block operation is possible.

https://www.mushroom.guide/tutorial/shiitake/2-fruiting-blocks/

https://www.milkwood.net/2012/03/30/making-sawdust-spawn-for-shiitake-mushroom-growing/

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eraFjLDmZI0  


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFp6ITyp-l0

William Bronson wrote: A covered pot in an oven is even better than a pot on a stovetop, in my opinion.
As for bread, the famous New York Times no Knead bread recipe does great in a hot but cooling oven.
It's a very wet dough  that is baked in a closed container for a amazing crust.
I have a very old Chambers gas stove that is heavily insulate with a thick steel plate in the bottom.
I have often baked one last loaf in a session by  running up the heat(It gets hotter than 550), popping the closed lid container of bread in, closing the door  and shutting the whole thing off.
The next day I get a pretty nice loaf, to go with my other, very excellent loaves.
It's not like bread hot from the oven, but it still beats the brakes off of grocery store white bread.
A little less crusty from sitting in its own pot overnight, but still so very good toasted.
As a person with very little focus, I think No knead bread could work for your busy life.
I have baked hundreds of loaves, and even the over baked one were delicious.
It's also extremely cheap.

While I'm thinking about it, that kind of continuous heat could also be great for distilling water .
No idea if that would be useful.

THanks for that! i like the idea of using yeast from the store for an easy bit instead of sourdough, I love sourdough bread, but need some really good starter... I made some myself in the past and it never did rise much  Sourdough is healthier than store yeast they say.. so maybe some time i will just bite the bullet and dive back into it! i wish i could find a person who has some sour dough.

As far as distillation goes I have a plan for that already! i want to use a pressure cooker or two and fit copper pipes on the top, need a good way to connect the piper to the outlet fitting..I hate the idea of using rubber because i fear it will melt and get in my distilled water X_X but i also hate the idea of taking apart the pressure cooker lid and spending over $100 on a proper copper fitting and high pressure seal to make it work in a super reliable way...

23 years old single man needing someone to crash in my old farmhouse with 2 wood cook stoves and keep the fires rolling! I provide water, electricity, and wood, and you sit at the farmhouse all day keeping things warm. It’s a great deal! I work away from the farm so that makes it hard for me to keep it warm. I have 7 cattle, a flock of chickens, ducks, couple small pigs, Guinea fowl, and some cats in the house. Very old lath and plaster home over 100 years. Wanting to find someone to help me out!

Jay Angler wrote:I haven't used a wood cookstove, so I don't know how controllable they are, however, we make a no-knead sourdough rye bread which we mix up in the evening to rise overnight. As soon as I get up in the morning, I put the cast iron Dutch oven into my electric oven and set the temperature for 425F and the timer for 30 minutes. When the timer goes, I pull out the bottom section of the Dutch oven and push the dough into it, put the lid on and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes. Then I take the lid off for 5-10 minutes to crisp up the top.

We can reverse the timing - prepare the dry ingredients in the evening. Add the sourdough/water mix and stir it in the morning, let it rise and bake at dinner time. The mix is supposed to rise for 8 hours and tends to start to sag if left longer than 11 or 12 hours.

I can post the precise ingredients if you think you want to try it. If you have a Cast Iron Dutch oven, it would be good to know what the dimensions are. We have two and have two variations of the recipe based on which we will use.

Waiting on that "no-knead sourdough rye bread which we mix up in the evening to rise overnight" recipe!

Found this recipe, really liking the bread pan idea! Wonder if you could just let it sit in the bread pan all night rather than the bowl?


Every night I put some chicken feed and hog feed into 2 five gallon buckets submerged in water to feed them the following day, I would like it if I could do that for bread too!

William Bronson wrote:Water moderates temperature.
A big pot of soup beans.
Way more water than you actually need, some fat or oil, onions,beans.
Maybe bone in beef or pork.
Let it cook while you are away.
Lid on, even with meat, it should be fine going from high temperature to room temperature.
I might space it off the stovetop, to prevent scorching, but if it does scorch, just leave the bottom layer, don't scrape it up or mix it in.
When you're back home, make fried pancake style corn cakes ,  and reheat the beans at the same time.

For turnips or potatoes I might try a steamer over a huge pot of water.
When you get home they should be ready to go.
Fry em , mash em, stick em in a stew!
Eggs are fast to cook, and not better for more cooking, in my opinion.
A fried egg with runny yolk is a glow up for so many things!
They are good for adding protein and fat, leavening baked goods and making patties and doughs stick together.


Add fatty pork, flour and onions, to what you already have and you will have lots of options.

You are right there are so many options that are submerged or steamed that are so fantastic. I guess I have to not be so picky... Its just I open the oven and its so hot in there I get frustrated because i think "I could be baking something in there!" I guess in the regular life warming up the oven is a bit of a process, takes some planning and forethought, but when you are in a situation where its always being an oven it feels like a waste not to be doing something with it!

Anne Miller wrote:I also have not been fortunate enough to have a wood stove.

So will the wood stove cook things slowly so it can be used like a slow cooker while you are at work? If so here are some recipes:

17 Cozy Slow Cooker Potato Recipes

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/slow-cooker-potato-recipes/

Here is one for turnips:

https://www.food.com/recipe/turnip-custard-crock-pot-117849

In my experience the main thing with the wood cookstove is the inability to find middle grounds, its either way way too hot, 400, 500 degrees, or its too cool... 200 degrees. That 350 is hard to maintain in my experience! Also the heat is unevenly distributed because its all coming from the firebox. It all has to do with the kind of fire in the fire box. This makes things in the oven kinda weird, because the left side is always more toasty. On the top of the stove you just move things to the left to make them hotter and to the right to make them cooler. If you did leave small hot coals and a really small fire all day a slow cooker idea would work, I usually toss in a log at a time, so that makes for an uneven heat, because fires burn hotter when a new piece is tossed in, and then steadily gets cooler. I appreciate the recipes!