STAY CONNECTED WITH JCWIFI.

from SVM_Lake Lifestyle_Feb 2023

A Guide To Lake Carroll Real Estate

FAST. RELIABLE. ALWAYS ON. EXPERIENCE OUR PREMIER INTERNET SERVICE.

Northwest Illinois’ largest, locally-owned internet provider, JCWIFI, is committed to providing dependable wireless internet from farm homes to lake homes across the region. We proactively manage the network to stay ahead of any issues that may arise. Whether working from home or just relaxing with family, JCWIFI has you covered for internet service you can rely on.

What you can expect: aNo lag, buffering or service loss during video calls, online gaming, streaming and system updates aThe use of multiple, in-home devices online at the same time without “stealing” each other’s bandwidth aA plan that fits your needs and budget

Fast. Reliable. Always on internet service in Stephenson, Jo Daviess and Carroll counties.

WANT articles and advertisements are the property of Sauk Valley Media. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Ad content is not the responsibility of Sauk Valley Media. The information in this magazine is believed to be accurate; however, Sauk Valley Media cannot and does not guarantee its accuracy. Sauk Valley Media cannot and will not be held liable for the quality or performance of goods and services provided by advertisers listed in any portion of this magazine.

Contact us. With cutting-edge technology and upgrades, JCWIFI ensures that ALL of our plans have the service that you and your family need and expect.

Call 815.233.2138 or visit jcwifi.com to get connected or to upgrade a current plan.

FEBRUARY 2023

PUBLISHER Jennifer Heintzelman

EDITING & PAGE DESIGN Rusty Schrader

PUBLISHED BY Sauk Valley Media, 113 S. Peoria Ave., Dixon, IL 61021

DO YOU HAVE STORY IDEAS FOR LAKE LIFESTYLE?

E-mail rschrader@saukvalley.com

FOR ADVERTISING ...

Contact Jill Reyna at 815-631-8774 or jreyna@saukvalley.com

By Cody Cutter | Sauk Valley Media

or most drivers, snow is something they’d rather do without — but for a local club, when winter’s white stuff drops in for a visit, they can’t wait to get back on tracks.

The Pearl City Sno-Pearls look forward to the frigid fluff because that’s when they can fire up their snowmobiles and whiz along their happy trails. The trails wind over the hills and through the woods in a 20-mile radius around Lake Carroll, and they’re maintained by the group of snowmobiling enthusiasts who enjoy their off-road rides.

Established in the late 1960s, the group has about 40 duespaying members who create and maintain a network of trails both alongside existing roads and on private properties for all snowmobilers to enjoy. The club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at the Slurp ‘N Burp tavern in Loran (read more about the Slurp ’N Burp in the Jan. 2021 issue of Lake Lifestyle). Along with the usual orders of business, members also talk about their snowmobiling activities and keep others up-to-date on what’s going on with them.

When there’s enough snow on the ground — at least 4 inches — that’s when things shift into high gear for the club. All of the time and effort members put in to maintaining the trails pays off when they can finally hop on their snowmobiles.

The club’s leadership is headed by president Ryan Gruhn, co-vice presidents Teddy Ils and Jared Nesemeyer, treasurer Tom Wienecke and secretary Stephanie Nesemeyer. Some members, such as Jeff Nesemeyer and Eldon Julius, have been with the club for several decades.

Though Jeff can remember when the club had twice as many members as it does now, he’s still proud to be a part of a club full of history and fond memories.

Over the creek and through the woods ... All it takes is something like a stream to stop snowmobile traffic; that’s why members of the Sno-Pearls roll up their sleeves and build bridges along their trail system. The one seen here is the longest along the club’s trails. The 50-foot long bridge spans Yellow Creek, southeast of Freeport, connecting Becker School and Forest roads.

“We’re the second oldest club in the state,” Jeff said. “We have a lot of members — at one time we had around 100 with a large territory — and a lot of Lake Carroll people who come out.”

Julius has been hooked on snowmobiling for a while. He purchased his first snowmobile, a used one, in the late 1960s for $300, and moved up to his first new one, laying out $700 for it in 1972. He’s seen the hobby change and evolve in the many decades he’s been part of the SnoPearls, but each year is just as fun as the previous one, and he enjoys meeting new members and forming friendships.

“I enjoy the camaraderie,” Julius said. “That’s really the whole thing, the camaraderie and the poker runs. They help with all of the support of it. A lot of people don’t understand snowmobiling; they just think you’re out there being a bunch of honyocks. It’s just fun.”

Wienecke enjoys winter, a lot more than most other people he knows, he said. He, too, is a longtime snowmobiler, and it’s his job as treasurer to make sure the club’s money is spent wisely.

“All of the people I’ve met, they all have one common goal, and that’s just to have fun,” Wienecke said. “There’s a lot of camaraderie, like Eldon said, and it gives a lot of people something to do in the winter, and it’s fun.”

Snowmobiling is a hobby that Wienecke has shared with his family for many years, often occupying many winter weekends.

“My kids started when they were 2 years old,” he said. “Our neighbors, when we were in the suburbs, they would see us leave on Saturday morning — load up the sleds on the trailer, go out, come back well after dark, and do it again on Sunday. They’d say, ‘How can you take those kids out in that cold?’ They have the proper clothes on, they have helmets, and, guess what? We’re enjoying winter as a family, and you’re looking out the window going, ‘When is spring coming, because I hate winter.’ For us, winter went by fast.”

The Sno-Pearls’ trails connect with those of other clubs that surround them, tapping in to a nationwide network that makes it possible to even go from one end of the country to another, as long as there’s snow on the ground. The Sno-Pearls also sometimes team up with other clubs in the northwest Illinois region for fundraisers and occasional maintenance tasks.

When the weather starts to get colder and the chance of snow becomes a real possibility, the club will schedule a work day where members scope out the trails, make sure signs are in place, and inspect land and man-made bridges and structures along the path to make sure they are safe. Trail markings are removed each spring.

The trails, originally mapped out decades ago, have evolved and realigned several times over the past 50 years, but continue to cover the same area around Pearl City and Loran.

However, club members can’t just simply lay out a trail wherever they feel like; property owners have to grant permission first, and the club supplies liability insurance to the landowners to prevent financial loss due to accidents. Trails are then marked from one property to another.

CODY CUTTER/CCUTTER@SHAWMEDIA.COM

From left: Pearl City Sno-Pearls treasurer Tom Wienecke, president Ryan Gruhn and secretary Stephanie Nesemeyer are seen here during the club’s January meeting. The club meets at 7:30 p.m. the first Thursday of the month at The Slurp ‘N Burp tavern, 4319 Loran Road in Loran. Go to facebook.com/snopearls or contact Wienecke at 815-977-0542 or snoblrs@aol.com for more information.

“The trails change from year to year,” Wienecke said, with the current system encompassing more than 100 properties. “Sometimes the land owner will sell out and someone else will buy or lease it, and you may have to reroute the trail. Most people don’t know what goes into marking trails. Being a club, people may think we can just snowmobile anywhere, and not know how these markers get put up. You got to get permission from the land owner, and without that, we don’t have a trail system.”

Julius said riders may not realize that the paths are what they are because of the efforts of dedicated clubs that make them possible. The Sno-Pearls have several raffle fundraisers to help pay for trail maintenance and liability insurance for landowners.

“There are a lot of snowmobilers who do not belong to a club,” Julius said, but the Sno-Pearls would like to see more riders become a part of a club and help grow the hobby. “That’s how a lot of the things get done. It all gets done that way, really.”

The club also sends each land owner along their network a turkey each Thanksgiving, as a thank you for the use of their land.

The gobbly gift is something that longtime landowners look forward to — and they haven’t been receptive to any substitutes. One year the club switched to giving out gift cards, Julius said, but people really missed that big turkey.

“They look forward to that turkey,” Julius said. “Believe it or not, they really look forward to it.”

Pending snow cover, trails in Illinois are open to snowmobiles from Dec. 15 to March 15. Snowmobiles traveling in Illinois need to be registered with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Likewise, if traveling from Illinois to trails in Wisconsin, an out-of-state trail pass is needed, which can be obtained through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Along the Sno-Pearls’ 100-mile trail network are bridges that carry snowmobiles over small streams. The longest bridge is one over the Yellow Creek southeast of Freeport connecting Becker School and Forest roads, which is about 50 feet long. Maps can be obtained at the Slurp ‘N Burp, 4319 S. Loran Road in Pearl City, for a small fee.

As with most snowmobile clubs, members’ dues go to help pay for the bridges, posting trail signs and liability insurance to landowners along the trails. Individual yearly membership dues are $25, and family membership dues are $35. Checks should be made payable to “Pearl City Sno-Pearls”. Club members also receive the monthly Illinois Snowmobiler magazine with news and feature stories about snowmobiling throughout the state. Stop by a monthly meeting or find the club on Facebook for more information.

“It’s a hobby that’s come a long ways,” Julius said. “It gives you something to look forward to and makes you enjoy winter.” om Calam must be doing something right. After all, he’s had his customers hooked on his business for quite a while.

The friendly face at Tom’s Tackle Box belongs to owner Tom Calam, who’s been behind the counter at his store for more than 35 years, hooking up customers with anything they need for a day of R&R — rest and reel-axation.

For more than 35 years, Calam has been keeping anglers’ tackle boxes and buckets full of fishing supplies and bait from Tom’s Tackle Box, his small shop on Freeport’s east side, which doubles as an auto detailing shop on the other side of the building that he owns as well.

From bait to all types of panfish gear and terminal tackle to poles meant to last for years, Calam boasts an impressive inventory to serve customers who stop by his shop from all corners of northwest Illinois and beyond, Lake Carroll included.

“I get a lot of support from the guys who go down and fish at Lake Carroll,” Calam said. “I listen to the guys to see what they are looking for and I tell them what’s what.”

Whether it’s at Lake Carroll, on any of the region’s rivers that range in size from the Plum to the mighty Mississippi, or other private lakes such as Lake Summerset or Apple Canyon, Calam has a good idea what’s in them and knows what it takes to reel them in. His experience allows him to know what kinds of fish are more prominent where, as well as the various rules and regulations that different spots have — Lake Carroll, for instance, has several rules in place about catching certain types of fish.

Calam’s inventory goes from wall to wall along two small rooms, and is rotated seasonally. During ice fishing season, Calam puts out plenty of tungsten jigs for customers. Tungsten jigs sink faster and push through slush on water better than a regular jig. For those who prefer the good ol’ favorites they’ve always used, Tom’s carries a selection of Rembrandt jigs, which used to be popular before the tungsten ones caught on.

As for bait, depending on the season, there’s a selection of nightcrawlers, red worms, leeches, minnows, chicken livers and sucker fish available.

Though his business keeps him busy, Calam still likes to answer the casting call whenever he can. The store is open seven days a week, and he’s there to catch the fishing crowd, which likes to get an early start, opening up at 7 a.m. and if that’s not early enough, an outdoor vending machine with bait and general supplies is available around the clock from April through October.

If it’s fishing gear you need, chances are Tom’s Bait and Tackle has it — lures, baits, hooks, rods, reels, and more. In an area between Dubuque, Dixon, Rockford and Madison, Tom’s has the largest inventory of any independent bait and tackle shop. “There’s a little more selection of products to choose from,” than at the big box stores, owner Tom Calam said.

“You wouldn’t believe how many people roll in at about 1- or 2-o’clock in the morning saying they’re headed out to go fishing and getting minnows and bait. There’s terminal tackle in there, bobbers, hooks, weights and catfish bait.”

Being out on the water has been a lifelong passion for Calam. Before having his own shop, he used to work for Hank Perdue of Perdue Marine when it was on the north end of Freeport. Then he got involved with his uncle and cousin at a retail shop about 40 years ago, where they started selling a small selection of fishing equipment during the mid-’80s. At first, not a lot of customers took the bait, but like any patient fisher, Tom waited for it to catch on. He took over from his relatives and he began to get more nibbles.

“My uncle always sat back there and made spinners and buzzbaits, and doing the different lead heads,” Calam said. “That lasted about a year and a half, and he said, ‘The hell with it,’ and wanted to sell the stuff off. Then I got the idea of trying my own deal of selling them and buying a little more of this and a little more of that.”

Calam’s constant communication with vendors and staying up-to-date on the latest advances in the fishing industry has helped him keep the business going. He has one vendor who sells a product called Gulp! Alive! — an artificial bait that looks about as close to the real critters as you can get. They’re especially useful at places that don’t allow live bait, other than worms or spikes, to be used.

The business has managed to survive and thrive in an industry that’s undergone several changes in recent years. Smaller fishing equipment companies have been bought out by larger ones, and local shops such as Calam’s are disappearing from the rural landscape. In an area between Dubuque, Dixon, Rockford and Madison, Calam’s place has the largest inventory of all independent shops.

While big retailers reel in a lot of customers looking for fishing gear, there’s still a difference between small businesses and big box stores: Shops like Calam’s offer not only personalized, firsthand local knowledge that comes from years of experience, but a better selection, too.

“There’s a little more selection of products to choose from,” Calam said. “You’ll go to Wal-Mart and they’ve only got a few jigs. I hear a lot of people that say they’d rather come here, and it may be another dollar or fifty cents more, but at least there’s a selection they can choose from.”

And then there are the fish tales.

A lot of Calam’s customers enjoy chatting with him, swapping stories about the ones that got away — and the ones that didn’t — and getting tips and pointers, and Calam will share his own experiences as well.

“I had a gentleman — he’s in a nursing home now — who once said: ‘I remember when I used to go down to the river around Thanksgiving-time and ice fish, even around Christmas,’” Calam said. “Old-timers, they’ll come in and tell you about the Pec and how guys used to drive their old beater cars when it got bitter, bitter cold, and say how the Pec would freeze up with four feet of ice and they’d drive on the river.”

It’s the kind of banter you’d be hard-pressed to find in a box store, and it’s part of what he enjoys about having a shop to call his own — though he does admit that thoughts of retirement have been crossing his mind these days more than they used to.

“As I’ve found out, once you get involved in a bait shop, it takes a lot of hours of work,” Calam said. “It’s something you can’t just turn the key and come in and work; you got to be around seven days a week.”

But when the day finally comes that he’s ready to cut bait and sell his business, he hopes someone comes along to tackle the job of owning the shop and keeps the business going for years to come. That way, he can swap the “Open” sign at his business for one that he can hang on his front door back home …

“Gone fishin’.” from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. A 24-hour outdoor vending machine for bait and select fishing supplies is available on site April to October. Call 815-232-3337 for more information. here used to be a time when most people would make out their shopping list and head downtown to visit their neighborhood grocer.

In Lanark, you still can.

Nestled along a row of historic buildings in the city’s business district, in a storefront that dates back to 1881, the Lanark Food Center has bucked the trend of big box stores and their miles of aisles to offer a small-town shopping experience to customers with grocery lists long and short.

Whether you’re gathering up ingredients for some goodies, planning a cookout, need a snack and some sundries, or you’re just making your weekly grocery trip, chances are you’ll find it in the store’s half-dozen aisles, where

BY CODY CUTTER SAUK VALLEY MEDIA

owner Tushar Patel and his staff are stocking something else in those aisles: smiles.

Patel has been welcoming shoppers to his store for nearly 15 years, and customers who come through the store’s doors aren’t just from Lanark, they’re from all over the area — Lake Carroll, Shannon, Chadwick, Milledgeville, Pearl City and Forreston, to name a few. There aren’t many grocery stores in small, rural towns as there were even just a few decades ago. Lanark Food Center is one of only three grocery stores in Carroll County, and is the only one located in the eastern one-third of the county. And while convenience stores and other general stores that can be found in small towns offer some grocery items, Lanark Food Center offers a full line of groceries — produce, fresh meat, deli foods and more.

Having a store to call their own has earned Patel a lot of respect in a community he’s called home for more than a decade.

“The community has always supported us,” Patel said. “We live here in town, and our kids are going to school here in town. It’s a small community where everyone knows everyone. Almost half of the people know my name, stuff like that.”

Patel came to Lanark from the Chicago suburbs to buy the store and keep it going after its previous owners sold out. Understanding the importance a grocery store has on a community as small as Lanark, Patel has invested a great deal of time in making sure it thrives and survives, and that involves keeping not only his customers happy, but also the community he lives in as well.

Tushar Patel, owner of Lanark Food Center, likes the small-town flavor of his community, and the community likes the small-town flavors they find in his store. “The community has always supported us. We live here in town, and our kids are going to school here in town. It’s a small community where everyone knows everyone.”

The store has donated to several churches in Lanark through an arrangement where churches collect store receipts from their congregates, and bring them back to the store, where Patel donates 1 percent of the total sales on each receipt collected to the church.

The store also has its own rewards program. Those enrolled earn 1 percent in rewards on most purchases, which is like getting $1 for every $100 spent during a visit. There are some exceptions with the program, though: beer, tobacco, lottery, newspapers, gift cards, propane sales and DVD rentals; and rewards can’t be redeemed for those items either. Rewards can be earned with non-beer liquor and wine purchases, but rewards cannot be redeemed for them.

Patel started the program in the summer of 2021, and it’s paid off for many shoppers.

“People like that,” Patel said. “They get the points and cash it out on buying groceries. All they have to do at the counter is enter their phone number. We had almost $6,000 redeemed last year. That all goes back to the people in our community.”

Another way Patel’s stepped in and stepped up to help the community: When COVID hit in 2020, many people weren’t able to leave home to get groceries, so the store began a delivery service, from Monday through Friday throughout the eastern one-third of Carroll County during the height of the pandemic. These days, delivery service is still offered, but only on Wednesday.

“We have a few customers every week now, but it was very helpful in the pandemic time when we were delivering almost every single day except weekends,” Patel said. “Every day we’d get somebody who would call and ask if we’d deliver. At that time, the elderly people who couldn’t get out needed that service. Everybody’s come to know all my employees’ names.”

Planning a party and need some hors d’oeuvres? The store can put together meat and cheese trays, vegetable and fruit trays, or fruit baskets.

Want to see what’s on sale? The store publishes its sale flyer at lanarkfoodcenter.com and on its Facebook page, and paper copies are available both at the store and in the weekly Prairie Advocate newspaper.

The store will also occasionally share recipes on its Facebook page, too. Recent dishes include three cheese macaroni, keto beef stew, instant pot Cuban chicken and soft ginger cookies.

Along with cash and debit/ credit cards, food stamps via the Illinois Link program, as well as WIC assistance, also are accepted at the store.

Patel is grateful his store has come to play such an important role in the community, and he hopes to keep it that way for years to come.

“To be in a small community, it’s hard,” Patel said. “Not every small town has a grocery store. You got to make everyone happy in a small town, but our community has helped us real good, and that’s why it’s here.” ature makes it look so easy.

Working inside a portable laboratory, William Thomas injects a nutrient-rich growing medium with the culture. A powerful hepa-filter keeps out impurities that can ruin mushroom growth.

Armed with a portable lab, an industry standard refrigeration unit, fresh air filters, sterilizing chambers and two climate-controlled incubation and growing rooms, William Thomas, 55, founder/ grower of Meddling Sheep Gourmet Mushrooms in Amboy, is replicating nature’s microclimate to grow a variety of gourmet mushrooms.

Thomas first started his gourmet growing business — its name is a nod to one his favorite bands, Pink Floyd — as a hobby about five years ago. “I wanted to buy different mushrooms but couldn’t find them,” he said. “Plus, it was a bit of challenge.” So after doing some research and investing in some basic equipment, he got started. The hobby grew, and so did the mushrooms, and Thomas enjoyed the fruits — make that, fungus — of his labor. The end. Then COVID.

When his carpentry work succumbed to the pandemic, Thomas made the decision to focus on the mushrooms full time. “I cashed in some Bitcoin, used some tax return money, and started investing in the process.”

That investing was in more than just equipment; there’s an investment of time too, and there’s a fair amount of it when it comes to growing the finicky fungus.

First things first: Thomas will order a mycelium liquid culture from a reputable growing house, which is injected into a nutrient-rich buffet of oats that have been sterilized. The batches are kept in special bags that allow for the flow of gasses. The inoculated grain is moved to a warm incubation room where the white tendrils of the mycelium start to spread throughout. After a few weeks, the grain is broken up and mixed with oak pellets, soybean husks and water and moved to the growing room, a cooler space where the bag is cut open to allow oxygen in and cause the tiny mushroom heads to burst forth.

Harvesting and storage is the final step.

The Pathfinder, is an exacting species, and is nicknamed a “teaching mushroom.” If a grower can perfect this then they know what they’re doing. “The mushroom is a native of Washington state and has a texture typical of most oyster mushrooms, but the flavor is unique as it has a sweeter essence to it,” Thomas said.

Like any new endeavor, mushroom growing is not without its challenges. There’s an art to the science of coaxing mushrooms to show themselves. It takes time and patience — and being able to understand mushroom talk.

“Figuring out my mistakes, learning to understand what my mushrooms were telling me. You have to figure out what they’re saying,” explained Thomas, “and after that, the grind of the boredom. Mixing substrate, doing the laboratory work, it’s the same [thing] over and over and over again.”

The spent growing substrate is a great compost that Thomas offers for five dollars a bag at his Amboy home.

Despite these Sisyphean tasks, Thomas was finally able to sell his first mushroom on Sept. 1, 2021, at a farmers market in Amboy. Recently, he’s set up at indoor farmers markets at Loveland Community House in Dixon and the Twin City Farmers Market in Sterling.

Meddling Sheep Gourmet Mushrooms: Call 708-408-0031, e-mail MeddlingSheep@gmail.com, or find Meddling Sheep Mushrooms on Facebook.

Since then, he’s built up a loyal clientele — a loyalty that’s not lost on the grower.

When things were at their darkest and Thomas was questioning whether to continue this pursuit, his daughter asked: “If you quit growing mushrooms, would anyone be disappointed?”

Thomas’ simple answer was “yes.” n

Mushrooms can double in size every 24 hours. A finger-lickin’ good fungus — An edible mushroom that grows in the wild tastes nearly identical to fried chicken. The Laetiporus sulphureus, or ‘Chicken of the Woods,’ can be found across Europe and North America, mainly on oak trees but can also on yew, cherry and sweet chestnut trees. Laetiporus is brightly colored, succulent and soft, and has a fleshy middle. But be warned: Due to its similarity with other poisonous fungi, it’s best not to pick unless you’re an expert.

Mushrooms are 90% water

Mushrooms do not need sunlight to grow and they can be grown and harvested year-round. MORE FUNGUS FACTS page 28

Looking to learn more about mushrooms? Curious what they taste like and how to prepare them? Meddling Sheep’s mushroom master can help. Check out his tips and info below and on the following page. ...

“The King Blue mushroom is a hybrid mushroom created by Andrew Reed of Mossy Creek

Mushrooms in Tennessee. It has turned out to be one of my favorite mushrooms because of its versatility in cooking and its delicious mild flavor.

If you are only interested in sautéing this mushroom, I have found that salted butter with no additional salt added is perfect — though a little garlic and some grilled onions bring it together nicely. But this is just the entry door to this mushroom’s array of uses.

Stir fry, deep fry, breaded or not. Quiche and casseroles, sauces and gravies, this mushroom is a gem. Some blue oysters have a tendency to be a bit chewy, which some people love and some people don't, but the King-Blue is tender without being mushy. I have it on my pizzas, in my eggs and omelettes. It goes well with all types of meat, venison, beef, pork, chicken. If preparing something in the crock pot, I make it a point to throw them in about a half an hour before serving. Of course, you can find other mushrooms that are better in a particular category but I have not yet found another mushroom that is across the boards able to be used in such a wide variety of ways. From fancy to simple this mushroom shines.”

“The Blue Oyster. As a mushroom grower, I have grown four different strains of blue oyster. This is my favorite for a variety of reasons. It has an eye-popping blue color, and a long shelf life when kept in a ventilated container or paper bag in the refrigerator. It has a firmer texture than most oyster mushrooms, and it has a mild mushroom flavor, which lends nicely to most dishes while absorbing the flavors of the foods around it.

The stems are a bit fibrous, which may be a turn-off for some mushroom connoisseurs, but is something I personally enjoy. When sautéing, I cut stems in quarter-inch lengths and sautéed with the caps. There will be a mild crunch and a bit stronger mushroom flavor.

These mushrooms are good on pizzas, in eggs and omelets, casseroles and quiches, soups and many different sauces, and of course, sautéed as a side dish or on top of poultry, pork, venison and beef.”

MMUSHROOM TIPS cont’d to page 29

Grow and glow ‘shrooms — There are at least 12 known Bioluminescent varieties of mushroom that create their own eerie green light when the sun goes down. These species contain a compound called oxyluciferin, which emits a spectral glow similar to ones generated by fireflies, and some species of algae. It is theorized that this light is intended to attract insects at night, which then help spread the mushrooms’ spores.

The most popular mushroom variety grown in the U.S. is white button, followed by crimini (brown or baby bellas), portabellas, enoki, oyster, maitake and shiitake.

It takes about three weeks to produce the first mushrooms for harvest. Throughout the growing period, mushroom farmers play Mother Nature, manipulating water, airflow, temperature fluctuation and more.

Farmers combine materials such as hay, straw, corn cobs, cocoa shells, and horse or chicken manure and place them in stacked wooden beds mixed with the spawn.

Every mushroom harvested in the U.S. is harvested by hand.

One Portabella mushroom has more Potassium than 1 medium banana.

Mushrooms are low in calories sodium, fat and cholesterol, and are gluten-free. Mushrooms are a leading source of the antioxidant nutrient selenium. Antioxidants protect body cells from damage that might lead to chronic diseases and also help to strengthen the immune system.

Mushroom growers are known as the ”ultimate recyclers“ for their ability to convert byproducts and waste from other sectors of agriculture into the compost or medium used to grow mushrooms. Because of this recycling of other agricultural crops and byproducts, mushroom farms have a smaller environmental footprint than almost any other farms.

FUNGUS FACTS cont’d to page 29

Cont’d from page 28

“The Black Pearl is a hybrid mushroom. It is a cross between the King Oyster (which is not technically an oyster mushroom) and the motherof-pearl oyster.

This is a dark, meaty, dense heavyweight earthy mushroom. It is my go-to mushroom if I'm having steak, and to be honest it's one of the meatiest mushrooms, so you might consider skipping the steak. These mushrooms can be huge, sometimes weighing in at 3/4 of a pound individually, though they grow in beautiful clusters.

The caps and the stems have the same consistency, so use everything when sautéing. Some of the larger specimens have stems over an inch in diameter. These are favorites for making mushroom steaks. In addition, I will cut the stems into 3/4-inch lengths when cooking and they remind me of the same texture of a scallop. These mushrooms are also great for grilling as they are tough enough to be abused.

I have nicknamed these mushrooms my ugly-ducklings. Some of the mushrooms will have warty looking growths on top of the caps while others will have a fuzzy white covering on the cap. This is just the nature of this mushroom and nothing to be worried about as they are truly swans of the mushroom world.”

“Chestnuts are one of the odd ducks that I grow. It does not taste like a mushroom at all. This is one of the mushrooms that fall into the love it or hate it category. I always recommend people start out with a small amount to see if they like it before they get too enthusiastic.

The taste is nutty, like combining almonds and hazelnut. But you have to get the mushroom crispy to bring that essence all the way out. I suggest an extremely hot skillet with a high temperature oil or an air fryer.

If you do not get this mushroom crispy it is a slippery mushroom, and that's a deal-breaker for a lot of people. I love to stir fry this mushroom with vegetables, and the texture of the caps will be like an oyster and the stems will be like a stiff noodle. The nutty flavor will not be as pronounced, but it will be more like an over tenderized piece of meat. Think of stir fry at a Chinese restaurant and you get the picture.”

“Lion's Mane is not your typical mushroom. Its appearance is strikingly strange. It does not have gills for producing spores, it has teeth.

It is legendary for its health benefits and its flavor of lobster. If you were to take all of the ocean flavor out of a lobster and mix it with a mushroom, you would have Lion's mane. And to be honest, it tastes more like a scallop than lobster but people tend to argue this point.

This mushroom is not a good sautéed mushroom, though many people do. Do not cut this mushroom, you will shred it. It has a crab meat texture which makes it perfect for making vegan crab cakes.

Where this mushrooms shines is in soups. It'll make the best cream of mushroom soup. I love to add it to any chowder like potato soup. It does well in wonton and gumbo.

If you break it into larger pieces, baste it with olive oil and garlic, it is ideal for grilling.”

Cont’d from page 28

Today’s growers have refined their growing process to use less than 2 gallons of water to produce one pound of button mushrooms, compared with an average of 50 gallons of water per pound for other fresh produce items.

Mushrooms don’t require as much land as other crops. On average, one square foot of space in a mushroom bed can produce 6.55 pounds of mushrooms. One acre of land can produce 1 million pounds of mushrooms annually.