Florian Kreisky

Do you have any sources for this information? Until now i wasn't really able to find a lot about the importance of different energy sources in the metabolism of mushrooms, but I would be really interested in disertations about this subject.

As far as I know the main energy source for shiitake is lignin, because it's a white rot fungus. Oyster on the other hand mostly consume cellulose (and use lignin mostly as a nitrogen source), but the importance of smaller sugar molecules for their growth is something I wasn't able to understand until now.

Best regards

Quite some ushrooms still haven't been harvested, but all seem to have stopped producing young ones.

The winter oyster has been by far the best strain this year, with a total harvest of about 30kg (20+kg have already been harvested) from abut 6500kg of logs

The summer oyster has given only about 2,5kg on the same amount of wood, but many young ones have been eaten by slugs

Flaulina velutipes will give about 1kg from 2500kg wood

The nameko mushrooms will give about the same amount from twice the wood,

and the Hericium erinaceus didn't fruit until now


Not that much, but I'm still satisfied, considerng the size of the logs i used and the not at all optimal conditions during the colonisation.


And most importantly I've learned a lot about what i have to do better this time



General improvemets:

- Most importantly I have to spend more time on getting perfect, high quality logs with perfect health, intact bark
- I have to reduce te time between cutting the tree and inoculation to a maximum of 4 weeks
- I will increase the amount of inoculation points about 30%
- I will try t get a bit smaller logs for better handling
- I will store them for 4-6 months without direct grund contact under wet hay and a thick fleece for better colonisation
- I will mix the sterile spawn with 2 parts pasturised sawdust to lower the work and expenses for substrate production about 65%

-P. Ostreatus
I won't make new cultures with the summer strain this year because the Blue winter oyster gives me a product of much higher quality. Also their tendency to fruit around christmas time is great for marketing. Only few fresh products with such a high quality can be purchased around here at this time of year and there are lots of markets all the time

-F. velutipes
These are one of my big hopes for the future because they are such an amazing product and I think It's possible to establish a market for them around here, because there is quite some high class gastronomy within my reach. And like with oysters they grow at a time where fresh food is rare. I'll only inoculate them on willow this year because they just produce higher quaity fruits there and I found a source although willow is quite rare around here

-Hericium sp.
This year I'll only inoculate H. coralloides on beech/oak and H. flagellum on Abies alba so i can compare them to H. erinaceus

-L. edodes
I'll make the first larger patch this year because fresh ones yield high prices around here. Hopefully I can get some oak, if not I'll work with beech or Sycamore maple

-P. nameko
Won't change much there, beech and maple seem to work find. Maybe I'll try some oak as well to compare yields

-K. mutabilis
The jar i stored was infected with yeast and I only noticed it after opening. They have to wait another year


Best regards

just some pctures from today. The Flammulina strain growng best until now and 350g wild ones collected today on the spot i cloned them from. I guess i should search for some willows this year because the velvet feet still produce much bigger fruits there.

S Usvy wrote:I asked my mom to send me her brine recipe for the salting. She scanned me a couple of pages from her ~ 1940s Russian cooking book. The following is my translation. Note - Russians don't really process their pickles (and they LOVE their ferments). This is a direct translation of the cooking book. Use at your own risk. Sorry it's so long

Here goes.

Amazing! Thanks for all the work translating this. These methods all sound very interesting.
It's really amazing how much more importance mushrooms have in eastern European culture compared to here in Austria.



The link about salting also sounds interesting, I have to try this as well.
Maybe in combination with smoking them before salting.


Hopefully I can create some recipes for high-class products for marketing.

Very nice!

I would be careful with the amount of coffee grounds you add at once. These are also a very good culture medium for all kinds of molds. From my experience coffee grounds kept wet at room temperature take about 3-5 days to be moldy. Oysters on the other hand normally take about 1-2 days to really start growing into the new substrate and then they can reach a growth of about 1cm/day. I personally would take a small part of the colonized substrate and feed it in a separate container, only with small amounts of new substrate every few days.

Or you could also make some sterile substrate jars and clone them. It's really not that hard, especially with oysters

Best regards

Thanks. That's what i was hoping for. Some input as how other cultures prepare their mushrooms. Do you know exactly how this salting technique works and how they should be stored? Do yu have to use oil for storage or is it even possible to store them without air exclusion? Or are they fermented like sauerkraut?

I've built a nice closet for drying with a space heater, but of course that's only interesting fro folks who dry bigger amounts of mushrooms, veggies, herbs and fruit

Best regards

Very nice. Could you give me a short description of the general method you use?

How much salt is used, do you add salt only once, at what temp and humidity do you dry etc.

Would be very interesting, because I only have experience with our traditional local method of cold smoking all kinds of meat

As my mushroom cultures are starting to produce fruits right now i was thinking about ways of how to preserve them. The amounts I'm getting this year i can easily sell fresh, but next year i should harvest a lot more.
I already have some experience with canning mushrooms in a vinegar-based brew, and of course drying/freezing is another possibility, but I'm guessing other methods should work also.

So if anyone knows about techniques of salting, fermenting, smoking, or whatever other method i didn't think about to cure mushrooms, any advice would be appreciated.

Also if anyone has interesting recipes for canning feel free to post them here. I always work with a brew of 40% vinegar (from white wine), 60% water, suggar and salt (I haven't measured salt and sugar yet, until now i worked by taste only). In combination with different spices and herbs this gives great pickles

Best regards,
Florian Kogseder

Pholiota nameko

Pleurotus ostreatus