Tenderize the woody conks with a sledgehammer. 10 or 20 hits will usually loosen them up a bit. More is better.
At the Western Montana Mycological Association - we learn alot AND have alot of fun too!
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Paper Making Fun...| |
Step #1 Tenderize the woody conks with a sledgehammer. 10 or 20 hits will usually loosen them up a bit. More is better. |
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Step #2 Take the pounded Polypores and put them in a pail of water to soak for a day or three. |
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Step #3 Remove the conk pieces from the water and pound them some more with the sledgehammer. Note in the photo how they flatten out when you do this. Return them to the water to soak for a few more hours or days, up to a week. Then place 1/2 Cup of the softened polypore conks with up to 2 Cups of water in a blender and whir.... This may be hard on the blender. Make sure your mom say it's OK. Don't keep grinding them if the blender starts to smoke or smell funny.... |
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Step #4 Now you have pulp! It is the consistency of split pea soup, and pours with a slight plop sound. Pour it into a big tub or picnic cooler and add a little more water if you like. |
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Step 5 Take a deckle and mold* like Mike here is doing, and strain out some of the pulp. (* A mold is a square, like a picture frame you can make with 4 short pieces of wood. A deckle is a mold with a piece of screen stapled to one side.) Put the mold on top of the deckle and scoop some pulp up. After the water drains away, like in Picture 5, you can take off the mold and turn the deckle upside down on a piece of felt or newspaper to dry out. After 10 minutes, you will have a thick wet piece of paper. Peel it up and lay it on dry newsprint to dry more. In a day or two, it will be like a piece of construction paper, only better. |
Please send questions and comments about the Fungal Jungal
to Larry: fungus@fungaljungal.org
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