Just because mushrooms grow in forests, under trees, and in unexpected areas does NOT mean that they’re easy to grow. On my first attempt, I bought mycelium spawn that was completely ready to go into grain. I prepared 4 beds in the greenhouse and 4 beds in an outdoor mushroom grove. So far, I have only gotten one batch of Golden Oyster mushrooms – still it was exciting, and delicious. But my other 7 beds haven’t produced any mushrooms. Ugh.
Today, I inoculated millet grains that I soaked, cooked, and sterilized. This time, I bought the mycelium syringes filled with 7 different types of mushrooms spawn. I even made a glove box to prevent contamination – one of the biggest problems with growing mushrooms. I learned how to use a lighter to flame sanitize the needle (think: drug addict!) and carefully inoculated 12 jars of mycelium in my glove box.
I have to admit that I enjoyed conducting this science experiment in my kitchen. I watched dozens of YouTube videos and worked with one of my Merit Specialists to get detailed instructions. Now my grain jars are sitting in my office, living room, and bedroom closet waiting for the mycelium to grow. Once they completely fill the jars, I’ll put them in the beds I’ve made with a new batch of substrate (soil, compost, coffee grounds, and sawdust). That’s where they actually turn into mushrooms. Learning something new every day!
Just because mushrooms grow in forests, under trees, and in unexpected areas does NOT mean that they’re easy to grow. On my first attempt, I bought mycelium spawn that was completely ready to go into grain. I prepared 4 beds in the greenhouse and 4 beds in an outdoor mushroom grove. So far, I have only gotten one batch of Golden Oyster mushrooms – still it was exciting, and delicious. But my other 7 beds haven’t produced any mushrooms. Ugh.
Today, I inoculated millet grains that I soaked, cooked, and sterilized. This time, I bought the mycelium syringes filled with 7 different types of mushrooms spawn. I even made a glove box to prevent contamination – one of the biggest problems with growing mushrooms. I learned how to use a lighter to flame sanitize the needle (think: drug addict!) and carefully inoculated 12 jars of mycelium in my glove box.
I have to admit that I enjoyed conducting this science experiment in my kitchen. I watched dozens of YouTube videos and worked with one of my Merit Specialists to get detailed instructions. Now my grain jars are sitting in my office, living room, and bedroom closet waiting for the mycelium to grow. Once they completely fill the jars, I’ll put them in the beds I’ve made with a new batch of substrate (soil, compost, coffee grounds, and sawdust). That’s where they actually turn into mushrooms. Learning something new every day!
I’ve always been intrigued by the concept of growing mushrooms. They’re mysterious because they seem to pop up at random places yet I’ve heard they’re difficult to grow. So I hired one of our Merit Academy teachers to be my mentor. She helped me select spawn and all of the ingredients and equipment I needed. Yesterday, we put together a mini mushroom farm in my greenhouse, veggie garden, and oak grove.
I got a truck load of woodchips at Lewis Tree Service, 2 bags of sawdust at San Lorenzo Lumber, coffee grounds at Starbucks, and compost from my garden. We mixed up all of these ingredients to make the “food” for the mycelium (mushrooms). Then we layered the grain spawn on the woodchip mixture. It felt good to turn the soil and fill the planter boxes.
We also created mini totem poles and put the mycelium between each log. Two months ago, I drilled holes in an oak log to start mushroom plugs. There are so many ways to cultivate mushrooms!
Now we wait for the mushrooms to grow. We selected Pink Oyster, Blue Oyster, Almond Agaricus, Golden Oyster, Lion’s Mane and Pioppino mushrooms. Can’t wait for our first harvest! I’ll be able to get spawn from my mushrooms to grow in our lab. If all goes right, I should have huge bounties of mushrooms in 10 days that I can propagate forever. Well, I’m not good at growing things so this is a big experiment for me.