Julian Mastromatteo

Hi Eric,
The party only just started!!

It would be great if you could point me in the direction of your experiences with mushroom cultivation :)
I believe that being exposed to some anecdotes and information would give me a great head start.

Thank ya!

Thank you all for the great information and advice!

Tim--
Thank you for the follow-up!
Letting softwood chips decompose to eliminate antifungal compounds is a really interesting idea that I haven't heard of until now.

Apparently, there is a wood chip dump (random wood types) site at a park near me, so I will make sure to check there, now that I know about this technique. My property is way too small for chip drops lol!!

Nancy--
The Chaos Fungorum edible forest garden mix is really interesting.
I did some research for Canadian alternatives, and I came across 'Root Rescue', an endo/ecto mycorrhizal powder mix, suited for both woody and non-woody plants, which would be a big benefit to a food forest.
*Generally, ectomycorrhizal fungi interact with trees, and endomycorrhizal fungi interact with shrubs and herbaceous plants. Endomycorrhizal fungi do not fruit/produce mushrooms.*
It seems that the Chaos Fungorum edible forest garden mix is solely ectomycorrhizal fungi, as it says that all of the species within the mix are edible--endomycorrhizal fungi do not fruit/produce mushrooms (this suprised me), so it must not be in the mix. So, it seems that the mix would be great for supporting trees and producing mushrooms, but would not benefit most shrubs and herbaceous plants--more suited for forest gardens comprised of mostly trees.
Something new I learned about mycorrhizae today, and thought that it might help you and others in your future food foresting goals! :)  
𖠰 𓍊𓋼 𖣂𖥧

I'm jealous!! I hope that I come upon a ripe puffball in the near future. I have a stump in my backyard that is inhabited by turkey tail fungi; so when they fruit I am going to try to create my own innoculant!
I need to do some more research on it, but turkey tail seems to be somewhat of an immune system miracle supplement.

Maieshe--
I haven't thought about using sawdust and dead leaves as a primary growth medium until this point; that is a good thought.
I was unaware until this point that sawdust helps compacted soil, and that worms love it; that's great info. If I happen upon sawdust before good woodchips, I will make sure to start growing with sawdust first.

Awesome, thanks for the input!

Tim--

Can you elaborate on your success with growing winecaps in primarily softwood with some hardwood?
From what I have seen online, growing mushrooms in softwood is generally a no-go, so it is interesting that you have had some succes with this.
Some local landscape supply stores do have mixes of hard and softwood chips, would you reccomend this, or try to go a different route?

Megan--

Thanks for the reference, I will check it out now :)

Also, it would be sooper cool one day to have even lower maintainence, long-term 'meadow' mushrooms that casually coexist in my little backyard ecosystem; like puffball, morels, chanterelles (especially because chanterelles are mycorrhizal shroomies)...

Do you experienced mycelial stewards know of any low-maintainence, long-term mushroom species that would simply "exist" in my little 6b sanctuary? If so that would be very cool, and I would love to know about their specifics and that would be required for their integration into my ecosystem.

𖥧 𓅪  𓋼𓍊 𖤣𖥧 𓆨  𓍊

When I made my second hugelkultur bed (that I will soon showcase!), I made an effort to put some mycelial logs from my local forest into the hugel.
I was so thrilled when I found the first tiny little unknown mushroom pop out the hugel... so neat.
I personally love the idea of a 'foraging garden', where there is mystery and suprise nearly every day. So having mushrooms popping up in random niches of my garden would be very magical :-D

Hi permies!

I want to get into mushroom cultivation, as I believe it will be a great addition to the diversity in my produce, diet, and backyard ecology :-)

From my beginner's research, it seems that wine cap mushrooms would be my best option for a hardy, productive, low-input, forgiving, beginner's mushroom species. And it would perennialize in my 6b climate.

It seems like the best method for creating a perennial wine cap bed is to:
- create a 3" layer of hardwood chips
- spread spawn on top
- repeat until around a foot high
- use soaked straw
- add 3" of chips/straw after each flush

*Do you have any personal experience with growing wine caps, and lessons you have learned along the way?

Also, it has been suprisingly hard finding fresh hardwood chips! I am kind of in a strange situation, as my car is not big enough to pick up big piles of chips I see on fb marketplace, and I have only seen softwood chips at the local chain stores. It would be great if I could get it free, though! :-)

*Tips and experience with finangling free hardwood chips?

Thanks for your input!!

Hi! We are Julian and Melody—two young, loving souls on a quest to explore what it means to live, broaden our skills to help us achieve a sustainable and authentic life, and form deep and meaningful connections with others.

After seeing and being subject to the soulless toils of modern living, we have fully embraced a lifestyle which celebrates personal growth, intentional living, and following our hearts and souls.

We are very into all facets of permaculture, and we have been looking into experiential learning opportunities, mentors, and a community to connect with. For reference, we are in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada.
Even if you are outside of Niagara, we would love to chat with you!

One day, we wish to live on a permacultural homestead, in a community with like-minded individuals. If this future interests you, please reach out to us!!!

Love and warmth <3

Thank you for your lovely eyes and ears!! Feel free to subscribe to our free blog on substack: https://substack.com/@thehunnies