Hello!

[NEWCOMER]

So, technically speaking I am new but not new. I am on the site backyardherds.com as well under the same user name. I am currently working mushroom cultivation. Look forward to meet u all

Edit: I want to grow mushrooms (non magic) on a log outside

 

[Alaskan]

The family likes puffballs best, and there is a relative of them that grows in the woods that we also like, they are prolific.

Also morels are around here.

I need to get my book, and look up the actual names...

The kids and I, when they were little... would go harvest, and research all of the mushrooms...

But then we learned which ones we liked to eat .... and over the years I can no longer remember their true names.... the great thing about mushrooms is that they grow in the same spots... the mother plant is simply invisible ... but it is there.

Then you just remember when to visit or start checking each patch... and a wealth of goodies are laid out before you.

I trained the kids from the start to be SUPER careful with harvest, never pull or twist the mushroom up, always slice off the base at or above the ground...

So the patches have grown over the years.

 

[Alaskan]

Oh... when I first started, with the kids... we had a small local mushroom book, as well as one of those in depth mushroom guides, like the Peterson one that has everything.

And ALL mushrooms were put on white and black paper for spore prints.

When you start... you need to be meticulous and go slow.

The gilled mushrooms can be harder to identify correctly all of the way down to the individual.

Also... the really tasty gilled ones tend to get filled with maggots fast... have to harvest those very soon after they pop up...

But again, if the first year you learn where they are growing... even if they are maggot filled and you don't want to eat them... mark down WHERE you found them... and maybe you can get a nice fresh one at the next crop.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Wine cap is super easy. Preferred growing medium is hardwood chips, though they will grow in soft wood, and once established they will grow in any natural mulch. They can even grow in straw, though they won't establish for multi seasons in straw. I bought spawn about 4 years ago, put some in my garden, and in the orchard, and still get flushes of them now and then. They are great as companions in the garden if you use Back to Eden method. Fungi actually work symbiotically with plant root systems to increase nutrient uptake in the plants.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Yeah, the chickens scratch up the microcelium so they prevent the bed from forming. Ducks will snarfle the mushrooms up, and chickens will eat them also.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

What kind of mushrooms do you harvest? I'd LOVE to have a mushroom mentor!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

My understanding is that you can even propagate from a spore print. The Wine Caps have a purple spore print. I have an old print in my fridge. Wonder if it's still good? I've also heard that you can get mycelium generation from fresh mushrooms you buy at the grocer... but that may be old wive's tale. Might be worth experimenting with, though not an advantage regarding time investment vs. cost of buying a good spawn.

 

[Hinotori]

I just wish that growing button mushrooms didn't smell so bad.

There is the factory/farm down in Lacey at Mushroom Corner. It predates the town growing up around it. You smell that long before you get there. All that composting manure smell exactly like you'd imagine.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Under the raspberries would be a great location. And, what ever you have for wood chips would most likely work just fine. Especially if they are aged. Look at the detritus (my big word for the day!) on the forest floor. Lots of rot going on there, and thriving fungi of all sorts!

 

[Alaskan]

Cool... what kind of shrooms?

Huge indoor full room setup?