How to grow a mushroom bed or garden in a hugelkultur bed?

Morning folks. I wanna find out how can I create an edible mushroom garden or bed on hugelkultur this fall or spring of next year? I've never grown mushroom before in my life, but wanna create a garden for them so I can produce more day in and day out. I wanna find out which mushrooms are native to the Midwest including Illinois and are more common to find. How long or wide do my area have to be for my mushroom garden and how we grow them in full or half sun? Please show me what a native mushroom garden is like so I can get a reference. Please let me know in the box on your experiences on growing mushroom gardens. Take care.

Blake, I want to learn to grow mushrooms too.

To me, I feel the first step is to learn about mushrooms and the 2nd step is to decide which mushrooms to grow.

Here are some threads that may help you or others get started:

https://permies.com/t/175645/Choosing-Fun-Guys

https://permies.com/t/174814/Step-Step-Instructions-Growing-Wine

https://permies.com/t/176222/Experiences-Growing-Mushrooms

https://permies.com/t/154906/Mushrooms-Permaculture-Garden-picture-blog

Looking forward to visiting these pages. You heard of the puffball mushroom? If so, how I grow it?

The vast majority of mushrooms you can grow are those that decay things.  Covering the bed with wood chips or straw would work well with wine cap and oyster mushrooms, but you’d have to replenish the chips or straw.

What about the other types of mushroom such as portobello, shiitake and others?

Hi Blake,

On a Hugel mound I would think a Wine Cap would be best.  Wine Caps are pretty bulletproof mushrooms.  I like to call them mushrooms with training wheels as they are that easy.  In particular, Wine Caps like the wood-soil interface  that you will find on a hugel mound.  Wine Caps are also not all that picky about shade conditions.  Even if you don’t eat the actual mushrooms, the compost is amazingly fertile.

Second best would probably be an oyster mushroom, though they are more of a wood-only eating mushroom and have less of an affinity for soil than a wine cap does.  Still, it is an aggressive and delicious mushroom that many enjoy growing.

From there, things probably get more tricky on your hugel mounds as many other mushrooms really want pretty deep shade.  I am not saying it is impossible, only that these mushrooms won’t be as easy to grow as Wine Caps or Oysters, but if you want to go that route, go for it.

Any other questions, fire away.

Eric

What's happening Eric! I wanna find out if we can grow mushrooms right now to fall cause I just spent too much from the grocery store or farmer market when I should be growing my own mushrooms. I'm looking for Midwest native ones for full to partial sun and are any of those out there right now? If they are, then which places or sources to find them? Thanks.

So what I can best explain to you are the Wine Caps.  Right NOW actually might be a really good time to grow these, especially if you want to jump start things with straw bales.  I don’t know how straw bales fit into your growing scheme but that is probably the best way to get things started.

The reason is that the soil is still warm and the temperatures are starting to ebb from their summertime highs.  If you were so interested, maybe we could work out some sort of plan.

Eric

I don't use straw bales, but I do hugelkulter and how I grow wine caps on that bed when we're right here in August? Does it have any better flavor for stir fries and stuff?

Generally, people like Wine Caps best if cooked/fried so I think you will like them there.  If you had some random wood chips perhaps you could stuff them into your hugel mound next to some logs/stick/other wood.  And not to sound like a broken record, but straw could serve the same purpose, but if you don't have it, don't sweat it.  Straw starts super quick which is why I mention it, but it does run out early.

What I have not done is try to use sawdust spawn to try to inoculate a bunch of sticks/branches/roundwood.  I imagine it could be done, but we would have to come up with some plan, perhaps aided with some pictures.

Eric

I'm trying to cook my mushrooms without oiling or frying them. How we cook our mushrooms without excessively frying them? I'm trying to make my mushrooms healthier as they can be without me being sick and stuff. Are there more mushrooms for stir fries, salads, soups or burgers to grow from my hugelkulter beside wine cap?

Absolutely Blake.  I would try giving Oysters a try.  Oysters generally like a lot of wood and are not as thrilled about soil contact, but they are aggressive and they are definitely a choice mushroom.  I would really consider giving them a try.

Eric

Ok. I have full sun right now and I wanna grow mushrooms for veggie burgers on my mound. How many mushrooms should I grow to make a burger? And do mushrooms have protein just as beans have? All mushroom burgers at stores are too processed and I want mine free from e-coli and stuff that cause recalls everywhere. How we make our stuff recall free?

I wish I could comment about mushroom nutrient content, but I can’t.  Having full sun might be problematic for most edible mushroom varieties.  Not to sound like a broken record, but Wine Caps are probably going to handle the sun the best.

But you want something else.  That’s ok, but you will have to make some shade and manage humidity.  It can be done, but this does get a bit more complicated.  While oyster mushrooms are a fine, edible choice, I don’t think they are what you want for grilling unless you wanted to chop them up and mix them with something that would bind them back together so you could make them into a patty.  The shape just isn’t all that conducive to making burgers (but if you have an idea, why not give it a try?).

Probably your best best for grilling are portobello mushrooms, which you have clearly tried before.  If you are really itching to try these, you could make it work but you likely would have to set aside a section of your hugel mound to dedicate to shade.  You will also need to get a supply of wood and sterilize it.  Portobello mushrooms are considered to be fast growers, but they are nothing like oysters or wine caps.

I know this is not the news you wanted to hear, but if you really want to try it, I say give it a chance.  What do you have to lose?

Of course I will try to offer my thoughts if you decide to try portobellos or other, similar mushrooms, but I have no experience with them.  I still think they can work, and their resulting compost can be a real boon to your growies.

So what do you think?

Eric

Could we eat wine caps raw? I ain't eaten mushrooms raw before. If I eat them raw, how should I store them after harvest them to last through the winter?

If you want to grow oysters, be sure to check the fruiting temperatures that the different types require.  I grow blue oysters, as they aren’t as picky about what temperature they fruit at.

Y'all know about a law in Louisiana that ban growing or harvesting wine cap for food? Seen it on Wikipidia.

Huh, who would have thought?

Turns out the reason apparently is because Wine Caps are listed as being psycho active!  Don’t worry, they aren’t.  I have eaten them—raw, and they taste fine and didn’t give me any wonky effects.

The reason is probably because those other, funky, so-called magic mushrooms used to be taxonomically named Stropharia Cubesis.  This just close enough to Stropharia Rugalosa (Wine Cap) to make someone suspicious.  The funky mushrooms have been reclassified and are no longer so easily confused.  But honestly I have no idea about the status of the actual Wine Cap in Louisiana.

I will see what else I can dig up.

Eric

As far as I can see I can order them from Field & Forest.  Maybe the law is no longer being enforced?  I really don’t know.

Eric

I believe some states or countries want folks to grow them for ornamental purposes only, not for eating. What a world! You been to anywhere where they ban growing mushrooms for food?

Honestly, I have never heard of banning
mushrooms as food.

I heard oyster mushrooms taste much like lobsters, Which other mushrooms have a strong seafood taste other than oyster? I'm trying cut back on fish and stuff that have mercury.  Could we make sushi from mushrooms and eat them raw  the same way as regular ones from Japan?

Blake,
I haven’t found oysters to taste like lobster, but everybody’s taste buds are different.  But lions mane does taste like crab.

If you want to grow oysters, the simplest way I’ve found so far is on straw in buckets.  You could use hardwood chips in place of the straw, but it would not yield as quickly.

I take a five gallon bucket with a lid, and a drill with a quarter inch bit.  Drill three or four drain holes in the bottom, then drill holes all over the bucket, spaced about four inches apart. There is no need to be exact.

Soak straw overnight, weighting it down.  A wheel barrow or trash can works well.  Pull the wet straw out to drain off excess water.  Put a two or three inch layer of straw in the bottom of the bucket, compressing it.  Then scatter blue oyster spawn over it. Put in another layer of straw, then more spawn, and repeat until the bucket is full.  Put the lid on the bucket and put it someplace shaded and out of the wind.

In about five weeks it should start pinning,at that point spray the pins and developing mushrooms at least twice a day (you can’t overspray).   Pick each cluster of mushrooms as the first mushroom in the cluster starts to turn its cap up.

If you do multiple buckets, you can stack them.  I find one bag of spawn will make eight buckets.  A bale of straw yields 10-16 buckets, depending on the size of the bale and how tightly its packed.

I find I cans grow more mushrooms, in the shortest amount of time with this method.

And when your first buckets are done,use the colonized straw in them as the spawn for the next set of buckets.

Initial cost is higher, if you’re buying the buckets and spawn.  Subsequent buckets are very economical, as you only have the cost of straw.

Capital idea! Have mushrooms been grown in buckets for decades? I wanna go to truffles and how they related to mushrooms. I was wondering if they could grow on hugelkulter beds in the same way as mushrooms. How could truffles be grown on hugelkulter and do they special care?

Kevin Hoover wrote:Blake,
I haven’t found oysters to taste like lobster, but everybody’s taste buds are different.  But lions mane does taste like crab.

If you want to grow oysters, the simplest way I’ve found so far is on straw in buckets.  You could use hardwood chips in place of the straw, but it would not yield as quickly.

I take a five gallon bucket with a lid, and a drill with a quarter inch bit.  Drill three or four drain holes in the bottom, then drill holes all over the bucket, spaced about four inches apart. There is no need to be exact.

Soak straw overnight, weighting it down.  A wheel barrow or trash can works well.  Pull the wet straw out to drain off excess water.  Put a two or three inch layer of straw in the bottom of the bucket, compressing it.  Then scatter blue oyster spawn over it. Put in another layer of straw, then more spawn, and repeat until the bucket is full.  Put the lid on the bucket and put it someplace shaded and out of the wind.

In about five weeks it should start pinning,at that point spray the pins and developing mushrooms at least twice a day (you can’t overspray).   Pick each cluster of mushrooms as the first mushroom in the cluster starts to turn its cap up.

If you do multiple buckets, you can stack them.  I find one bag of spawn will make eight buckets.  A bale of straw yields 10-16 buckets, depending on the size of the bale and how tightly its packed.

Initial cost is higher, if you’re buying the buckets and spawn.  Subsequent buckets are very economical, as you only have the cost of straw.

I am so looking forward to setting up a double stack like this in the next year! Maybe 2 sets to accommodate different colors of oysters!

I will have to figure out how to grow lions mane if I can't forage it on the homestead.

Lions mane is more difficult to grow.   I mix one pound each of hardwood sawdust and ground soy hulls with three pounds of water in a grow bag.   I fold it over and rubber band it shut, then pressure cook it for two hours to sterilize it.  After it cools, I drop in lions mane spawn, close the bag after pushing all air out of it and seal the bag with a zip tie. Then I’ll shake it to distribute the spawn.  Then let it set.  When colonized, I cut an X in the sides and top of the bag. I put it into a grow chamber with a humidifier and a fan bringing in fresh air.

Some sort of grow chamber, even a small one like a shotgun fruiting chamber is crucial in growing lions mane.

Kevin Hoover wrote:Lions mane is more difficult to grow. .

Thanks for that quick tutorial!  I'll keep it in mind!

Blake Lenoir wrote:Capital idea! Have mushrooms been grown in buckets for decades? I wanna go to truffles and how they related to mushrooms. I was wondering if they could grow on hugelkulter beds in the same way as mushrooms. How could truffles be grown on hugelkulter and do they special care?

Truffles only grow under specific types of trees and the tree roots need to be inoculated while they are still seedlings.

Expect to wait 10 or more years before you will know if the truffles are going to grow if at all.

I strongly recommend that you take Eric's advice and start with winecaps which are the easiest of mushrooms to grow as they can out compete most other fungi.

Also read the threads that Anne has given you links to in order to learn about mushrooms and decide which ones that you wish to grow,

I tried 3 times plug inoculating logs (shitaki, oyster, lions mane) and then mostly burying them with an exposed end ~3 months later, hoping for choice mushrooms and faster soil food bonus.   But no choice shrooms were ever seen in those attempts...

In my PNW rainforest experience, anything other than winecap is going to fail to be competitive with the many types of fungus the ground is already crawling with.  Even then, I saw a few dozen winecaps over a few years come out of the 3 yards of oak chips I raked out into a 4-6" layer.  And then the winecaps were gone...hardly a success for the input.

Mostly I've seen many different troops of small inedible mushrooms on ~300' of 3' tall hugel berms.   Sulfur tuft dominates the conifer, turkey tail and polypores if it isn't buried, with a relatively rare flush of conifer tufts now and then.  One time a noble fir hugel put out over 100 large white dapperlings (4-6" thick and meaty caps) in the third year.  Too bad they're a volva away from the Destroying Angel and most of them rotted before I finished the edibility test.  And they all but disappeared in subsequent years.

It seems like trying to control fungus on/in the ground in an environment with an active and diverse resident fungus population is a lost cause.    Or I was just doing it wrong : )

I landed on the solution of keeping the processes separate; suitable deciduous logs are used as Blue Oyster (#1 aggro grow winner here) logs in stacks held off the ground by either rock or cedar) and once they are spent as Oyster logs a few years later, they are somewhat spongified and ready to be returned to the Earth in hugel form.

Or you could say, mushroom cultivation is the first step of hugelculture with fresh-cut clear deciduous logs....it's a 5 year plan though.

John Hutter wrote:I tried 3 times plug inoculating logs (shitaki, oyster, lions mane) and then mostly burying them with an exposed end ~3 months later, hoping for choice mushrooms and faster soil food bonus.   But no choice shrooms were ever seen in those attempts...

In my PNW rainforest experience, anything other than winecap is going to fail to be competitive with the many types of fungus the ground is already crawling with.  Even then, I saw a few dozen winecaps over a few years come out of the 3 yards of oak chips I raked out into a 4-6" layer.  And then the winecaps were gone...hardly a success for the input.

Mostly I've seen many different troops of small inedible mushrooms on ~300' of 3' tall hugel berms.   Sulfur tuft dominates the conifer, turkey tail and polypores if it isn't buried, with a relatively rare flush of conifer tufts now and then.  One time a noble fir hugel put out over 100 large white dapperlings (4-6" thick and meaty caps) in the third year.  Too bad they're a volva away from the Destroying Angel and most of them rotted before I finished the edibility test.  And they all but disappeared in subsequent years.

It seems like trying to control fungus on/in the ground in an environment with an active and diverse resident fungus population is a lost cause.    Or I was just doing it wrong : )

I landed on the solution of keeping the processes separate; suitable deciduous logs are used as Blue Oyster (#1 aggro grow winner here) logs in stacks held off the ground by either rock or cedar) and once they are spent as Oyster logs a few years later, they are somewhat spongified and ready to be returned to the Earth in hugel form.

Or you could say, mushroom cultivation is the first step of hugelculture with fresh-cut clear deciduous logs....it's a 5 year plan though.

Have you looked into the totem method?  I found that this works better for me. I tried plugging with no success since bugs ate through the wax to get to the grain.  Also a suggestion. Start with a fresh log, soak for 24 hours, cut into sections and innoculate as a totem and place in a plastic garbage bag with a cotton ball for venting.  Let it start to colonize out for a couple months.  Then bring out to the open.  Keep logs moist.

Blake Lenoir wrote: Y'all know about a law in Louisiana that ban growing or harvesting wine cap for food? Seen it on Wikipidia.

Well bless your heart for warning us.