I'm gonna jump (in)! / I'm a new fun guy looking for any direction

Hello! I have been working on our new homestead for 4 intense months and I'm well aware it's just the beginning. With all the other projects PERMeating about I barely have any time left but I am determined to at least start an attempt at producing some mushrooms for the dinner table.

I have access to quite a bit of hardwoods, especially oak and ash.

I was planning on just buying 200 + inoculated plugs between shiitake, lion's mane and several oyster varieties, then cutting several oak logs to let sit for 2 weeks before plugging and sealing with wax to then lean them up against the trees I cut them from and see what happens.

One question: I got a bunch of hardwood from a friend/neighbors property, I think it is ash, it was cut/ripped out of the ground about 2 months ago-- I put them in my workshop where the air seems to stay unusually dry. I was thinking about pulling them out to let lay on the ground for 2 weeks before plugging those too... could this work?

Second question; for a total beginner with little time (this year, next year I plan to get much more serious into my research and set-up), in your opinion, what would the simplest way be to start?

Third: I have had my eye on the book "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" by Paul Stamets  ... I love to read and am more than happy to read several books before I really start to consider myself ready proper; any insight on this book or others I should read?

I appreciate any and all feedback, thanks y'all!

Hi Chris,  I will try to give you some pointers, but probably not exactly in the order you asked.

Given the list of mushrooms you mentioned, my suggestion would be to start off with the oysters first, just to get your feet wet.  Ideally, wood *chips* are probably the best way to start as they start fairly easily and fruit well.  Barring wood chips, I suggest getting some straw bales to inoculate, just to get a feel for growing mushrooms.  If that is not an option, then I see no reason why you can’t go ahead and use the logs you have acquired.

Oyster mushrooms are pretty easy mushrooms to get started with.  An even easier one is the Wine Cap which probably grows a bit slower but is very robust.  Just don’t use both at the same time in the same batch!  They will fight for dominance and both loose.

If you like, I have a long-running thread on growing wine caps HERE:

https://permies.com/t/82798/composting/composting-wood-chips-chicken-litter

Most of what is in here will also apply to growing oyster mushrooms.

For reference, I personally like to order my spawn from Field & Forest.net.  But you can of course use other suppliers if you like.

Actually, I found myself in possession of 10 straw bales and I want to break those down with oyster mushrooms so I might be swapping stories with you!

I wish you the best of luck.  If there is anything else I can answer, or just answer more clearly, just ask away.

Eric

Very helpful info Eric, thank you— I think I will do logs & straw, time permitting; should I do same species in the same location (straw & log side by side)?

and, what kind of distance is safe for different species if I were to do winecap & oyster on the property? I was planning about 250 ft..

250’ separation should be plenty!

If you want to do logs and straw next to each other, that should be fine.  But keep in mind the life cycle of the fungi.  Fungi (oysters for our sake) infect wood, digest it, undergo sexual reproduction inside the substrate (wood or straw) and are happy to continue to do so until they exhaust their food supply at which point they sacrifice a part of their “body” to push up a mushroom and release spores (asexual reproduction) into the wind, hopefully to land on more wood and start the cycle over again.

My point is that as long as the mycelium have food (such as the partially intact log), they won’t produce a mushroom.  If you are growing oysters in straw surrounded by logs, the actual fruiting (mushroom) might not occur until the logs are decomposed, well after the fungi has devoured the straw (it just found a new source of food and moved the party).  

In am not saying this is going to happen.  I am saying it is worth considering.  My suggestion is to have straw beds and logs close but not touching each other (I think 1’ separation would be fine, but you can widen this if you like).  Actually I like the idea of having a fast-growing, quick-producing bed and a slower, longer producing bed.

When the mushrooms have finished fruiting, they leave behind a wonderful compost that can be used in a garden bed.  I actually make my garden beds so that they have Wine Cap mushrooms devouring wood chips right in place under tomatoes, yielding up great tomatoes and very fertile garden bedding (I don’t know if this is soil yet, but I do grow in it.).  If you are interested in making mushroom compost garden beds, I can help you with that too.

Eric

Eric Hanson wrote: I actually make my garden beds so that they have Wine Cap mushrooms devouring wood chips right in place under tomatoes, yielding up great tomatoes and very fertile garden bedding (I don’t know if this is soil yet, but I do grow in it.).  If you are interested in making mushroom compost garden beds, I can help you with that too.

Eric

I really like the idea and I know this sounds like a very simpleton question, but I'll ask anyway; I keep seeing and hearing (especially on your posts) about the compost garden beds; these will produce edible mushrooms, correct? If so, I am extremely interested and will soak up every bit of information on the concept as possible. You're really helping to make embarking on the fungi adventure less intimidating; and I really appreciate that, thank you.

Chris,

I will only sow/plant culinary mushrooms.  Wine Caps are definitely one of those species.  And yes, I grew them in garden beds as a stacking function.  I grew tomatoes, obviously for tomatoes, but also for the shade they will cast on the ground and for the root interaction with the fungi—which both tomato and Wine Cap like.

And when the Wine Caps are done fruiting, the left over compost is wonderful bedding material.

I had to make this post short, but to answer your question broadly, the mushrooms are definitely edible and they help the plants in the garden bed grow better.

Eric