These are Blue Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus var. columbinus) Fruiting out of 2 & 5 Gallon Buckets. Barley & Wheat Straw was used as a substrate.

The straw was pasteurized by soaking in Lukewarm Water + Pickling Lime (CaOH) + Potash (Ashes from our fireplace) for 6-24 hours. The straw was then packed into the buckets and layered with colonized Wild Bird Seed as an inoculate.

The 2 Gallon buckets take about 3-4 weeks to colonize and the 5 Gallons take about 4-6 weeks.

I built a fruiting chamber out of some pvc pipes for frames and plastic drop cloth to keep the humidity high.

























4 lbs. of Blue Oyster Mushroom:

One of our White Oysters:



Oystership Enterprise

Main photo for my website: Carmella Gardens . net

Thanks for showing us Rob. The more successful trials we can show people, the more options people will have to provide food and medicine (or in this case, both) for their families. Good pictures, too.
John S
PDX OR

I love the buckets. All of the oyster cultivation I have seen has been in non-reusable plastic bags and tubes.

I am curious about your sterilization procedures to allow the reuse of the buckets.