New to Mushrooms

My wife found a nice spot of hen of the woods mushrooms this past year, and I've kind of gotten bit by the bug and want to learn more about mushrooms. Right now I'm trying to learn more about growing mushrooms in the back yard as we have a small grove of black walnuts where nothing but grass will grow under them. I figured maybe starting a mushroom log there would be a good start. Does anyone have advice on back yard mushroom growing? Things they recommend trying? I don't mind things that will take a few years to pay off, just getting my toes wet in something new.

Thanks all!

I'm not new to foraging wilds but am new to backyard cultivating. Oyster's are pretty simple and grow in most hardwoods. For my permaculture beds I'm trying some wine caps, there are many discussions on this forum if you search. About to try some lions mane. Chicken of the woods will grow on fir, if you have any leftovers I'd try to make a slurry and pour on an old stump.

Welcome to the dark, damp side :)

Melonie Corder wrote:I'm not new to foraging wilds but am new to backyard cultivating. Oyster's are pretty simple and grow in most hardwoods. For my permaculture beds I'm trying some wine caps, there are many discussions on this forum if you search. About to try some lions mane. Chicken of the woods will grow on fir, if you have any leftovers I'd try to make a slurry and pour on an old stump.

Welcome to the dark, damp side :)

Leftovers are long gone, but I'll remember that for next time! We don't have any fir (I think we have a spruce, in MD), but I can ask around for some. I've already got the bug out for a 1 ft diam oak log. I do like the thought of pouring mushroom slurry on old stumps, we have a couple....2 cedar and 2 black walnut if anything grows on those. I will have to check around!

Will definitely dive into the posts here, need to do my due diligence :)

Thanks for your help!

Cedar is a natural antifungal, so you're unlikely to have any luck trying to grow mushrooms on it.

Brian,

Melonie is correct about oyster mushrooms.  They are one of the easiest mushrooms to grow.

The other easy starter mushrooms are Wine Caps which might be even easier.  Just don’t mix the two as they will beat each other up.

Welcome to Mushrooms!

Eric

I wonder what effect if any the jungaline or whatever it is that walnut trees have would have on fungi.
ive never seen any fungi growing under any of my wild black walnut trees but have fungi growth under boxelder, pine and there were tons of turkey tails the year after all the ash trees died.

Cedar is a natural antifungal, so you're unlikely to have any luck trying to grow mushrooms on it.

If this is the case, then why do I get mushrooms underneath my cedar trees? The ground has a very thick mat of years of cedar leaf dropping plus lots of seeds in various stages?

As mentioned, Wine Cap is a great starting option. A neighbour had tree people in and I picked up a couple of cubic yards for free. I mixed it with spore and created a raised bed a foot deep under the massive tree at the bottom of my garden where very little grew. The chips have sunk four to six inches. It’s still very warm here, so no fruit yet. There’s a thick mat of mycelium just below the surface, so fingers crossed. Even if I don’t get many fruit, I’ll have some descent compost for mulching in the spring. Good luck with your search and I hope you find something suitable to grow.  

Edward,

The mushroom compost is actually my primary goal in growing Wine Caps.  The actual mushrooms are a bonus.  I have found mushroom compost to be highly fertile bedding for growing plants.

Nice work with the stump!

Eric

Eric - that’s great to know. In my part of the world people grow lawns and trees. When the contractors finish up working on peoples trees, they just shred anything smaller than six inches. The woodchip is mostly free and the contractors are happy to offload it when I ask nicely. When I have a place of my own my path to great soil is going to be trees -> woodchip -> mushrooms -> compost.

If this is the case, then why do I get mushrooms underneath my cedar trees?

I mulched my herb bed with cedar chips when we first moved in. I’ve had an impressive crop of Devil’s Stinkhorn - and no I’m not going to eat the eggs! I’m guessing some fungi can live on the leaves and decayed cedar twigs.

Edward,

That is an impressive and scary looking mushroom!

Actually I like your path from tree to compost.  I do something similar on my property.  I have a living fence consisting mostly of invasive Autumn Olive which needs an occasional trim to keep under control.  Every couple of years I trim a new section of the hedge and chip the trimmings—which are typically 4-6” branches, sometimes larger.  I rent a 12” chipper to get it all done in 1 day, but the last time I did it I got a 7’ tall mountain of chips that I used to fill up 2 new garden beds.  Those beds are now inoculated with wine caps and are breaking down at a nice pace.  The resulting compost makes a wonderful fertile bedding.

Eric