Perry County library hosts mushroom growing program with Brad Harth
Brad Harth showed Perry County residents how shiitake mushrooms are grown, with soup, recipes and practical tips packed into an hour at the Tell City Branch.
Perry County Public Library gave Tell City a hands-on lesson in mushrooms Tuesday evening with A Dose of Mycology with Brad Harth at the Tell City Branch. The hourlong program ran from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Larry Beatty Room and focused on shiitake mushrooms, how Harth got started, what it takes to grow your own and a sample of homemade mushroom soup with recipes to take home.
The appeal went beyond novelty. For people who garden, walk wooded trails or spend time outdoors around Perry County, the program offered a practical way to learn what a useful mushroom crop looks like and how it is raised. That matters in a county where the landscape includes forests, rolling hills and country roads, but where wild mushroom picking also comes with risk: the Indiana Department of Health warns that identifying wild mushrooms requires advanced study because poisonous species can resemble edible ones.
Shiitake was a fitting entry point for a public library audience because it is a familiar cooking mushroom and a widely cultivated one. The program let attendees hear from Brad Harth, learn the basics of cultivation and leave with something usable in the kitchen, not just information for its own sake. The soup sample and recipe handouts gave the evening a local, practical feel that fit the library’s role as a community learning space.
The Tell City Branch, at 2328 Tell Street in Tell City, is one of Perry County Public Library’s two branch locations, along with its bookmobile service. That reach matters in a county of 19,170 people in the 2020 Census and a July 1, 2025 estimate of 19,389, with Tell City serving as both the county seat and the largest city.
Tuesday’s mushroom program also sat within a busy June calendar that included the Children’s and Young Adult Summer Reading Program running from May 26 through July 17, along with book clubs and children’s and teen events. Kayla Morris is listed as library director, and Emily Bebee is listed as head of Children and Teen Services, underscoring a staff that is keeping the branch active with more than shelf space and checkout lines. In Tell City, the library is functioning as one of the county’s most flexible public meeting places, with programs that teach a skill, draw a crowd and make local knowledge more useful.
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