Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within fungi Search permies
Advance search Google search
Register / Login
Gardening Playing Cards permaculture playing cards with pie you get 2 thumbs up and 1 thumbs down Oehler complete underground house and green house set Free heat movie
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
Gardening playing cards kickstarter Rocket oven bread Free heat movie permaculture playing cards permaculture bootcamp woman working on barrel
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Devaka Cooray
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Nancy Reading
  • Timothy Norton
  • r ranson
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Pearl Sutton
  • paul wheaton
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • M Ljin
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Eino Kenttä
  • Jeremy VanGelder

does anyone grow wood ear mushrooms/fungi?

 
bruce Fine
Posts: 1521
110
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
was looking into what it takes to grow "wood ear" one place that sells liquid inoculant wants to also sell 5lb bags of oak wood dust for like $30.
was wondering if anyone is growing these and what type of substrate you're using?
 
Stacy Witscher
pollinator
Posts: 1518
Location: Southern Oregon
465
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I am not growing these,  but am interested in what others have to say. If it helps, these are often called black fungus in Asian markets, at least here in the U.S.

Living a life that requires no vacation.

 
Skandi Rogers
pollinator
Posts: 2339
Location: Denmark 57N
600
I like...
fungi foraging trees cooking food preservation
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If you mean Auricularia auricula-judae then I've never seen it growing on oak it springs up everywhere here on dead elder, I have once found it on rowan. I've had luck with making a heap of dead elder branches and then plonking a few infected branches on top, it spreads very easily, but then it grows all over here so it's probably not a very fair test.
 
bruce Fine
Posts: 1521
110
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
yes--black fungus, an essential ingredient in properly prepared Chinese garlic sauce recipes
 
May Lotito
gardener
Posts: 2097
Location: Zone 6b
1285
I like...
forest garden fungi books chicken fiber arts ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
They show up naturally on dead oak branches and logs (zone 6). I kind of cultivate more of them by smashing them in paste and squeezing that between barks and dead wood. Maybe you can find some mushrooms in the wild after rain and save some money.
P1110105.JPG.jpg
[Thumbnail for P1110105.JPG.jpg]

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Skandi Rogers
pollinator
Posts: 2339
Location: Denmark 57N
600
I like...
fungi foraging trees cooking food preservation
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Oh wow looking them up there are a multitude of different Auricularia  species so different ones grow on different woods. It's really hard to find information as everyone seems to lump them together but Auricularia auricula-judae is not found in the US so you can ignore my comment about elder. unless you are using a source of cultivates/imported spawn. Auricularia angiospermarum is probably what is growing on those oak logs and might be what you are being sold as wood ear.
 
Carla Burke
Rusticator
Posts: 9380
Location: Missouri Ozarks
5080
7
I like...
personal care gear foraging hunting rabbit chicken cooking food preservation fiber arts medical herbs homestead
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

May Lotito wrote:They show up naturally on dead oak branches and logs (zone 6). I kind of cultivate more of them by smashing them in paste and squeezing that between barks and dead wood. Maybe you can find some mushrooms in the wild after rain and save some money.



May, how well does that work? How long does it take, before they increase in number? We had a handful, last year, but I'd love to bump up their production!

"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin. "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato

 
May Lotito
gardener
Posts: 2097
Location: Zone 6b
1285
I like...
forest garden fungi books chicken fiber arts ungarbage
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hi Carla, I looked back at pictures I took. Oak tree was cut on 2019, I saw woodears in 2020 and started spreading them. We had a wet spring and I harvested several pounds of mushrooms. Dead logs with intact bark and not contaminated by other fungi are the best.
P1100346.JPG
Logs in May 2020
Logs in May 2020
P1130873.JPG
Logs in May 2021
Logs in May 2021
P1130665.JPG
Stir fried with bacon, garlic scapes and eggs
Stir fried with bacon, garlic scapes and eggs

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Carla Burke
Rusticator
Posts: 9380
Location: Missouri Ozarks
5080
7
I like...
personal care gear foraging hunting rabbit chicken cooking food preservation fiber arts medical herbs homestead
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hmmm... I wonder if we've any of those logs left, from last year, that fruited them...

"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin. "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato

 
Daniel Tura
Posts: 58
Location: Reno, NV
4
I like...
fungi trees
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
They are easy to grow indoors as well -would suggest to try hardwoods (oak, poplar, beech, etc). Works best with grain spawn (not liquid inoculum)

Learn how to grow mushrooms and how to make spawn at: https://mushroomclasses.com/

 
Live a little! The night is young! And we have umbrellas in our drinks! This umbrella has a tiny ad:
The new gardening playing cards kickstarter is now live!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/garden-cards
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...