Jackson Barry

Although as I think more about it, I'm probably oversimplifying all of this. When I moved in last summer the first thing I did was cut 2 massive dead pine trees that were in danger of falling on the house. So, those root systems aren't photosynthesizing anymore, they're probably inhabited by saprotrophic fungi right? It seems like that's just the natural phase of the garden at this time. there's more stuff decomposing than there is photosynthesizing. So there are different types of mycorrhizal, Arbuscular mycorrhizae being the type that searches for nutrients left over by saprotrophic fungi. It seems like once the wine caps kick in, I want to make sure the trees I plant this fall are mycorrhizal, but more specifically Arbuscular Mycorrhizal sense there will be more nutrients laying around from decomposition than photosynthesis, right?

So the question, do wine caps play nice with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi?

Thanks for the great replies, life pulled me away from the garden for a bit but the winecaps are finally on their way! I've been doing some research, and it looks like wine caps are saprotrophic- I don't mind if they eliminate other native decomposer fungi, but do they pose any threat to the mycorrhizal fungi? What about once the wine caps have eaten through all of their food source in the wood chips? I get that they inhabit different layers of the soil, but could they go start a fight with native mycorrhizal fungi in enemy territory?

They can be playground bullies in the woodchips all they want as long as they stay away from the soil/root systems. In the end of the day, I'm here for the nutrient sharing function of mycorrhizae.  If using wine caps threatens that in any way, I'd probably just find a different way to inoculate these wood chips.

Also, I've been collecting grass clippings and coffee grounds from the neighborhood, racked up quite the supply. Should I hold off on adding it to the chips until the fungi has time to inoculate the chips? Maybe add to a section that I wasn't planning on inoculating right away?

Hey Eric, just the man I was hoping to hear from haha! Thanks so much for your reply and documenting your journey with winecaps so thoroughly, I’m really loving this forum as a resource and still working on getting through all of your wine cap posts but seriously, thank you. I’ll be putting in an order soon to see what I can get started! I’m sure I’ll check back in with updates and asking for help haha. I have much to learn.

So, in the mean time y’all,

We had lots of rain and some snow these last few days, and when it cleared I went searching for signs of mycelium in my yard (doing my best to be gentle!). I flipped over the first log laying under a juniper bush and found some growing right on the top soil/log interface. That look right? Pic 1

Then I found this old dried, decomposing mushroom, any idea how old it could be?

This was underneath what used to be a densely shaded area between an overgrown juniper and insanely overgrown barberry bush. I cleared the area with the goal of making a wildflower/grass meadow.

This morning, I noticed a difference in the soil surrounding the barberry bush. It was raised, kind of fluffy and the bushes had been naturally mulching the soil with dead under brush for who knows how long. I just bought the property, an old couple lived here and had a gorgeous garden years ago but its been long overgrown- rumor has it the block I live on used to be an orchard! The soil was awesome between the two bushes and you could practically stick your whole hand right in it. Then i noticed that the top inch or so of top soil was sliding right off and underneath was a sprawling, seemingly 2D mat of mycelium. And underneath that was slightly less decomposed mulch than the top soil. That sound right?  last pic

I noticed that this new growth wild rose looks like it actually  has mycelium popping up out of the soil? The base was covered in years of juniper needles and got virtually zero sunlight. Or could that be some kind of sickness?

So it seems like there’s lots of fungal activity already going on in my yard which has me super excited! Adding winecap spawn will only accelerate this, right? It won’t compete against/damage the current fungi in my biome?

Is there a reason not to introduce this “playground bully” for fungi-diversity sake, or my soil’s unique biome or something? I’m most excited about the effects of fungal dominated soil, and would sacrifice fruiting edible mushrooms for more mushroom power in the garden, if necessary.

With all that fungal activity surrounding the barberry, I should keep it right? Even though I’d prefer something edible? The birds sure do love it!

I gotta say, it sure is awesome to be learning about all this for the first time one day, then go out the next day and watch all the processes taking place naturally in my yard thats obviously been "doing it's own thing" for years now. I'm grateful to have you all to learn from!

Hey Ya’ll, I’m brand new to permaculture and even gardening. I just put down a huge layer of woodchips in preparation for a backyard food forest in suburban Salt Lake City, UT and have questions about composting with mushrooms!

I’m fine letting the chips sit and decompose for a year before planting, but have been looking into ways to accelerate this process and came across mushroom composting, which sounds awesome! This has quickly become my top choice because I love mushrooms/mycelium in general, the improved bacteria/fungal ratio sounds cool, and maybe I can even use an edible, or mix of edible mushrooms, to do the trick!

Now, if the wood chips were all hardwood I’d just start with wine caps. But I definitely have about 1/3 to maybe even 1/2 conifer in the pile I put down. So, is there a mix of mushrooms that would work good in this case? Something like Phoenix Mushroom? Should I just use a stronger concentration of only wine caps and hope they grow on patches that aren’t conifer? Should I consider going the wild mushroom route and not eat em? The actual mushroom bloom is just a secondary perk to the decomposition of the chips.

I have a minimal idea of what inoculating wood chips like this actually looks like, I’ve read a few threads on Permies, watched a couple videos, but any helpful links would be appreciated!

Lastly, I’m ok with this not working out, it’d still be cool and worth my time to learn about mushrooms, inoculation, mycelium and all that, even if they don’t produce in abundance. But am I out of my depths even trying something like this as a total noobie?

Hey Tracy,

You’re chip beds look incredible! You said you plant legumes right away, are you planting directly into the chips or using something like the solo cup method mentioned above?

Thanks!

Jackson