Folks in rural Columbus County say they may have discovered the ultimate ?alternative crop? to replace tobacco: mushrooms. One farmer talks about his bumper crop of fungus this year here, including his sale of product at an amazing $8 a pound to a restaurant in Carrboro.

No, I can already see you smirking ? not those kind of mushrooms, which I?m guessing are already widely available in Carrboro.

Get a load of the mouth-watering lingo involved in large-scale mushroom production:

The inoculation process involves an oversize plunger that places the right amount of spawn in the hole in the log. Melted wax seals the hole and the magic begins. Mushroom farming is not all harvesting and selling; since the mushroom spores travel through the air, the grower must seek out and discard native mushrooms that may find a home on the moist log. If the population of native fungi is too large, the best thing to do is to isolate the affected log. Slugs like to feast on the budding mushrooms on the bottom layer of logs, and deer and squirrels are fond of the fungi and must be dealt with. Moisture content of the log is vital and must be kept at the proper level.

Farmer and his group have discussed the selling of inoculated logs to others who may want to get into mushroom production.

I?m digging this story ? sorry ? even though some tobacco-settlement money appears to have been involved at the outset. Wouldn?t it be great to overhear ?I?d like two inoculated logs, please? or ?can you clear off the slugs off my log ? they?re eating my spawn!?