My first mushroom attempt

I decided to try growing some mushrooms this year.
I got some Wine Cap spawn.



And an Italian oyster block.



I prepped a bed on the outskirts of the greenhouse with some partial sun and followed the directions, clear down to dirt, spread straw, spread wine cap spawn, cover with more straw and finally cover with wood chips. That's the 4x4 area in the foreground. The oyster bloc got cut in half and buried just below the surface, covered with dirt and wood chips. That's the area in the back part of the bed.



I also took some wine cap spawn and spread it along the side of one of the beds in my new outdoor garden.
Wish me luck!

Thanks for sharing, great project!

Joshua, how exciting! I've done a winecap bed, but only oyster in logs.

Joshua States wrote:The oyster bloc got cut in half and buried just below the surface, covered with dirt and wood chips.

You don't spread the oyster spawn like winecap? I couldn't tell from their website.
Is the thought that the beds get moisture from rain, or greenhouse runoff?

Burton Sparks wrote:Joshua, how exciting! I've done a winecap bed, but only oyster in logs.

Joshua States wrote:The oyster bloc got cut in half and buried just below the surface, covered with dirt and wood chips.

You don't spread the oyster spawn like winecap? I couldn't tell from their website.
Is the thought that the beds get moisture from rain, or greenhouse runoff?

This company sells Italian Oyster block in a few varieties: some is spreadable spawn, log inoculation, bucket kits, fruiting blocks and plant & grow blocks.
https://northspore.com/search?q=Italian+Oyster&type=product&options%5Bprefix%5D=last

I wanted to buy the plant & grow block but accidently ordered the fruiting block. The fruiting block is "side fruiting" which means you are supposed to leave it in the bag and cut one of the sides open. The mushrooms grow out the side of the bag. It doesn't matter which side you choose. I wasn't going to grow these indoors, so I decided to take the chance and treat the fruiting block like two smaller plant & grow blocks. I cut it in half, turned each side up, and planted them. We will see what happens.

The beds will likely get watered by rain and by hand until I get my rain catchment system set up. I live in a very arid climate.

Joshua, now I'm more interested in hearing the updates!  Keep us posted.

Joshua,

Very Nice!

You have a nice wood chip bed for your mushroom spawn.  If you want to encourage them a little more, maybe find some straw and cover with 1-2 inches of light, fluffy straw--don't overdo it.  This is just enough to keep the wood chips damp.

But again, these look very good.


Good Luck,


Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:Joshua,
Very Nice!
You have a nice wood chip bed for your mushroom spawn.  If you want to encourage them a little more, maybe find some straw and cover with 1-2 inches of light, fluffy straw--don't overdo it.  This is just enough to keep the wood chips damp.
But again, these look very good.
Good Luck,
Eric

Thanks Eric,
IDK if you caught it, but the spawn is scattered between two layers of straw that came with the spawn. The only straw I have access to is the bulk stuff from stores like Tractor supply and other animal feed retailers. This contains seeds and I have vowed never to use it as mulch again. I spend way too much time weeding straw out of my beds. I have a good supply of oak leaves and pine needles though. I am using this as mulch in my new outdoor garden. Perhaps some of that would do?

Joshua,

Leaves should work just fine for these purposes.  The mushrooms should be able to digest the leaves, but maybe not as quickly as straw, but who cares?  Basically, you just want to keep direct sun off the bed in order to regulate moisture.

Good insticts!


Eric