A Mycophilia Interlude

Our #diykitchen renovation project should be taking all our time, but we're distracted by babies. Tiny seedlings, baby chicks, and these exciting newborns.

Way back in the late autumn, I built a bed of wood chips, straw, and oyster mushroom spawn. It was old, suspected non-viable spawn from Swainway Urban Farm worthwhile only of a couple hours effort towards experimental outdoor mushroom growing.

When I saw tiny chocolate lumps, I knew they were mushrooms but they looked nothing like the oysters Swainway Urban Farm cultivates regularly. As the outdoor primordia grew, covered by fabric to shade and retain moisture, the tops flared and developed their characteristic scent of the sea. We have a bed of wild growing oyster mushrooms!

Coincidentally I was reading Eugenia Bone's Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms as our oyster mushroom mycelium was running. My brain soaked in Eugenia's journey from a culinarily-motivated hobby hunter to a seasoned amateur mushroom expert. Written like a memoir but full of scientific accuracies, Mycophilia goes deep inside the worlds of wild mushroom harvesters, research mycologists, psychedelic mushrooms, and gatherings that include all aspects of mushroom love and lore.

Mycophilia sheds light on the wild and mysterious kingdom of fungus. Fungus live among and within us, in many ways that we barely understand. A few species can kill humans, many are benignly inedible and several are among the healthiest (and tastiest) things to eat. Fungi have potential for remediating oil and toxic spills and they are critical to healthy soil. Eugenia Bone shares all these facts and more in her easy-to-read, fascinating book, recommended for anyone who wonders about mushrooms.

A Mycophilia Interlude

Our #diykitchen renovation project should be taking all our time, but we're distracted by babies. Tiny seedlings, baby chicks, and these exciting newborns.

Way back in the late autumn, I built a bed of wood chips, straw, and oyster mushroom spawn. It was old, suspected non-viable spawn from Swainway Urban Farm worthwhile only of a couple hours effort towards experimental outdoor mushroom growing.

When I saw tiny chocolate lumps, I knew they were mushrooms but they looked nothing like the oysters Swainway Urban Farm cultivates regularly. As the outdoor primordia grew, covered by fabric to shade and retain moisture, the tops flared and developed their characteristic scent of the sea. We have a bed of wild growing oyster mushrooms!

Coincidentally I was reading Eugenia Bone's Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms as our oyster mushroom mycelium was running. My brain soaked in Eugenia's journey from a culinarily-motivated hobby hunter to a seasoned amateur mushroom expert. Written like a memoir but full of scientific accuracies, Mycophilia goes deep inside the worlds of wild mushroom harvesters, research mycologists, psychedelic mushrooms, and gatherings that include all aspects of mushroom love and lore.

Mycophilia sheds light on the wild and mysterious kingdom of fungus. Fungus live among and within us, in many ways that we barely understand. A few species can kill humans, many are benignly inedible and several are among the healthiest (and tastiest) things to eat. Fungi have potential for remediating oil and toxic spills and they are critical to healthy soil. Eugenia Bone shares all these facts and more in her easy-to-read, fascinating book, recommended for anyone who wonders about mushrooms.

Lessons in Demolition

1) Demolition is fun for the first swing. Then you will get tired. Lil effectively removed zero material but has been a trooper about entertaining herself while we work.

2) You will need a sawsall. We had two going at once a few times.

3) You will struggle with certain tasks until you find a way that works. Eventually Alex figured out a wedge method to remove three ceramic tiles and backing at once, which made that layer of tear out go much more quickly.

4) All the demolition will create dust and debris. Everywhere. You will sneeze, sweep, dust, and sneeze some more.

5) You will find surprises. Like this soffit under a soffit. And the person who used square headed screws every two inches in the tile underlayment. And the person who was really excited about the stapler and added spiral nails to the sub floor just for good measure. Curses all!

6) Eventually you will come to a stripped down, patched, empty room that represents serious satisfaction.

Next up is adjusting electrical, plumbing, and gas. Then new lights, flooring, cabinets, and appliances. The hardest labor is over!

Lessons in Demolition

1) Demolition is fun for the first swing. Then you will get tired. Lil effectively removed zero material but has been a trooper about entertaining herself while we work.

2) You will need a sawsall. We had two going at once a few times.

3) You will struggle with certain tasks until you find a way that works. Eventually Alex figured out a wedge method to remove three ceramic tiles and backing at once, which made that layer of tear out go much more quickly.

4) All the demolition will create dust and debris. Everywhere. You will sneeze, sweep, dust, and sneeze some more.

5) You will find surprises. Like this soffit under a soffit. And the person who used square headed screws every two inches in the tile underlayment. And the person who was really excited about the stapler and added spiral nails to the sub floor just for good measure. Curses all!

6) Eventually you will come to a stripped down, patched, empty room that represents serious satisfaction.

Next up is adjusting electrical, plumbing, and gas. Then new lights, flooring, cabinets, and appliances. The hardest labor is over!

10 Days to a DIY Kitchen

In my last post about our kitchen plans, I mentioned that we think we can do this project in ten days. Our last kitchen went from demo to functional in about the same time, so we have some confidence that we can do this again.

Why Rush The Timeline?

We love to cook and want to minimize our time without a kitchen. Second, Alex has limited ability to be away from work, so we want to maximize his time off. (I'm still working farmers' markets and teaching Bitter is Better and Kids Keep Chickens during the project.) Finally, we're putting housecleaning and homeschooling and social plans on hold while we renovate but don't want to keep those things at bay for very long.

10 Day Renovation Schedule

Here's how we hope it will play out:

Day one - Tomorrow! - tear out Day two  - tear out Day three - fix problems in sub floor, walls, hopeful we uncover nothing else Day four - adjust gas line, plumbing, electric, venting for new configuration Day five - install pre-finished flooring Day six - build island base, build and install cabinets Day seven - build and install cabinets Day eight - build and install cabinets Day nine - install appliances, sink, lights, vent Day ten - build and install counters

Cheats and Delays

The savvy among you may realize that there's a lot missing from our schedule - trim and handles and unpacking and decorating. Our ten days is counted from the time the old kitchen was semi-functional to the time the new kitchen is semi-functional. We don't expect to be truly finished for awhile later. We lived in the last kitchen for almost a year before we had finished wooden countertops!

And already we have a delay. The universe must not believe in a ten day kitchen because when we ordered appliances, the range top we wanted wasn't available for delivery until April 17. Other models that met our timeline cost $500-1000 more - for that amount we can afford to wait.

I'll take pictures and share updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if you want to follow along. 

10 Days to a DIY Kitchen

In my last post about our kitchen plans, I mentioned that we think we can do this project in ten days. Our last kitchen went from demo to functional in about the same time, so we have some confidence that we can do this again.

Why Rush The Timeline?

We love to cook and want to minimize our time without a kitchen. Second, Alex has limited ability to be away from work, so we want to maximize his time off. (I'm still working farmers' markets and teaching Bitter is Better and Kids Keep Chickens during the project.) Finally, we're putting housecleaning and homeschooling and social plans on hold while we renovate but don't want to keep those things at bay for very long.

10 Day Renovation Schedule

Here's how we hope it will play out:

Day one - Tomorrow! - tear out Day two  - tear out Day three - fix problems in sub floor, walls, hopeful we uncover nothing else Day four - adjust gas line, plumbing, electric, venting for new configuration Day five - install pre-finished flooring Day six - build island base, build and install cabinets Day seven - build and install cabinets Day eight - build and install cabinets Day nine - install appliances, sink, lights, vent Day ten - build and install counters

Cheats and Delays

The savvy among you may realize that there's a lot missing from our schedule - trim and handles and unpacking and decorating. Our ten days is counted from the time the old kitchen was semi-functional to the time the new kitchen is semi-functional. We don't expect to be truly finished for awhile later. We lived in the last kitchen for almost a year before we had finished wooden countertops!

And already we have a delay. The universe must not believe in a ten day kitchen because when we ordered appliances, the range top we wanted wasn't available for delivery until April 17. Other models that met our timeline cost $500-1000 more - for that amount we can afford to wait.

I'll take pictures and share updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if you want to follow along. 

The DIY Kitchen Master Plan

I asked on Facebook about what parts of our DIY kitchen renovation you want to hear about and people commented that they want it all. Ok, here we go: The master plan.

Overall Vision

We plan to create a highly functional cooking space by updating to more powerful appliances and adding much more storage. We're aiming for a clean farmhouse look with stained white cabinets and warm, earthy accents.

From The Bottom Up

After the old cabinets are re-purposed in other areas of our home and the old flooring is sent to the dump (sadly, we can't think of anything to do with cracked tile and worn vinyl), we'll lay in new wood or bamboo flooring. Unlike last kitchen when we spent big bucks for cork, this go-round we will choose something within our budget from whatever's in stock at a local flooring company.

Leonard Krashoc, mastermind behind the mudroom and children's book author (go buy his books!), will help us out with the kitchen. He's a whiz with drywall, so he's going to expand a doorway to allow easier flow through the house. He'll also help extend the gas line, fix the goofy wiring, and troubleshoot any unexpected projects we might uncover. Everyone cross your fingers that we don't find too much trouble behind the walls.

We went to IKEA today to order cabinets during their 20% off kitchen sale. It's not as boring as Lil makes it out to be - if you've done your homework with the 3D kitchen planner like we did, staff just does a double check, prints the list of every individual part, and collects payment. We opted for $149 delivery to our house which could have come as soon as this Sunday! (But we pushed them off a week because we aren't quite ready for stacks of cabinet boxes.)

All the base cabinets we ordered, including those in the island, are full of drawers. We miss drawers! Because we despise corner cabinets, we arranged for straight runs of cabinet only. Straight lines will make counter construction easier too.

We're going to make our own countertops again - this time with zinc over a plywood base. Zinc is food safe, easy to work, and will patina over time to add to the farmhouse feel. Catch up with how we made wooden countertops at our previous house in 2009.

The next big purchase to be made is the gas range top, double ovens, and outside vent hood. We're going with large, semi-professional grade cooking appliances in brushed stainless finish. We are not replacing the dishwasher and refrigerator right now because they're still working fine and we're wanting to stay within our budget of cash saved.

Lighting, paint, and decor will be simple and comprised of some pieces we already have.

Our plans sound straightforward when I write them out and perhaps that's why I only have ten days set aside for the project. I'll share our schedule and why I think we can remodel a kitchen in this timeline soon.

What do you think of the master plan? Will our third IKEA kitchen be our last?

The DIY Kitchen Master Plan

I asked on Facebook about what parts of our DIY kitchen renovation you want to hear about and people commented that they want it all. Ok, here we go: The master plan.

Overall Vision

We plan to create a highly functional cooking space by updating to more powerful appliances and adding much more storage. We're aiming for a clean farmhouse look with stained white cabinets and warm, earthy accents.

From The Bottom Up

After the old cabinets are re-purposed in other areas of our home and the old flooring is sent to the dump (sadly, we can't think of anything to do with cracked tile and worn vinyl), we'll lay in new wood or bamboo flooring. Unlike last kitchen when we spent big bucks for cork, this go-round we will choose something within our budget from whatever's in stock at a local flooring company.

Leonard Krashoc, mastermind behind the mudroom and children's book author (go buy his books!), will help us out with the kitchen. He's a whiz with drywall, so he's going to expand a doorway to allow easier flow through the house. He'll also help extend the gas line, fix the goofy wiring, and troubleshoot any unexpected projects we might uncover. Everyone cross your fingers that we don't find too much trouble behind the walls.

We went to IKEA today to order cabinets during their 20% off kitchen sale. It's not as boring as Lil makes it out to be - if you've done your homework with the 3D kitchen planner like we did, staff just does a double check, prints the list of every individual part, and collects payment. We opted for $149 delivery to our house which could have come as soon as this Sunday! (But we pushed them off a week because we aren't quite ready for stacks of cabinet boxes.)

All the base cabinets we ordered, including those in the island, are full of drawers. We miss drawers! Because we despise corner cabinets, we arranged for straight runs of cabinet only. Straight lines will make counter construction easier too.

We're going to make our own countertops again - this time with zinc over a plywood base. Zinc is food safe, easy to work, and will patina over time to add to the farmhouse feel. Catch up with how we made wooden countertops at our previous house in 2009.

The next big purchase to be made is the gas range top, double ovens, and outside vent hood. We're going with large, semi-professional grade cooking appliances in brushed stainless finish. We are not replacing the dishwasher and refrigerator right now because they're still working fine and we're wanting to stay within our budget of cash saved.

Lighting, paint, and decor will be simple and comprised of some pieces we already have.

Our plans sound straightforward when I write them out and perhaps that's why I only have ten days set aside for the project. I'll share our schedule and why I think we can remodel a kitchen in this timeline soon.

What do you think of the master plan? Will our third IKEA kitchen be our last?