King Stropharia.... wood chips... straw... or both?

Howdy.... new to fungus.... going to try some Winecaps using sawdust spawn. I have a significant source of wood chips available to me, ranging from very well aged to fresh. Is one better than the other for these shrooms? I also have lots of straw at hand and have read they can be grown on straw. Is there a preference? Thanks for any input.... Gary

Clear a section of your garden in part shade part sun. Put cardboard on it, then spawn. Cover that with chips and sawdust. You can do the whole process one level higher if you want. Then cover the top with the straw so the sun doesn't bake it too much.
John S
PDX OR

New chips are way better than old chips.
John S"
PDX OR

John Saltveit wrote:You can do the whole process one level higher if you want. Then cover the top with the straw so the sun doesn't bake it too much.

Thanks John.... not sure what you mean by 'one level higher'. Also, is this doable in a 'no shade to be had' garden if I kept it hydrated enough? I'd have to open up a new bed a fair distance from all my garden operations otherwise and not too keen on that for the first time effort. What if I could provide an awning of sorts for shade part of the day?

After the cardboard, the spawn and the chips, you can put more spawn and then more chips, up higher in altitude, then cover with straw.

Can you put it in sun, yes. Why not put it behind a tree or bush? Stropharia does better than almost all in sun, but still better in partial shade. Be careful that your water doesn't have chlorine and chloramine, which is put in there to kill fungi.
John S