At one time pine mushrooms sold for $200 a pound here. This year they went for $2 a pound.
I have been thinking about the sustainability of mushrooms as a food source and have decided to cultivate the ones that don't grow here.
Maitake, blue oyster, yellow oyster, reishi and shitake mushrooms can be grown on hardwood logs in a shady, moist spot. Each one has slightly different needs and growing season, click on the name for links to instructions. Maitake can form a 100 pound mushroom cluster, but it takes a couple of years to make any at all. The oysters are so prolific you can grow them in coffee grounds.
My husband cut me some fresh hardwood logs and I drilled holes in them for the spawn plugs. I cut up a pop bottle and used it to label the logs. As the spawn develops, it spreads the unseen mycelium through the log, saturating it until it produces mushrooms which spread spores to a new log to repeat the process. This makes them everbearing like perennial plants.
The general instructions for growing mushrooms on logs can be found here.
Another woman who is trying this, who also has an awesome food blog is agwh at
Grow Your Own , stop by for a visit she has an excellent blog.
I was reading along, totally jealous of the great pile of logs you had available to inoculate and thinking how great it was that you were going to Really Grow A Lot of Mushrooms, when I got to the end of the post. You are so sweet!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great links and for being such an inspiration for all of us who are working on growing and putting by more of our own food.
-Amy
What a fascinating post, this is something my wife has wanted to try for a long time but we have yet to do so. I am really looking forward to hearing more about how yours do. I love that they are everbearing making them an even more valuable food source.
ReplyDeleteWOW Great Information!! We are so wanting to get started. Just recently we were watching on some channel a place that cultivates mushrooms for the commercial market. It was insane. We have the perfect spot to grow mushrooms. I will be following closely to see how your mushroowms develop.
ReplyDeleteI bought my plugs on e-bay 50 for $12. They said you can start them anytime, but other places say to start them in the spring. I watched some you tube videos too. I am hoping to sell them fresh off season to the wilds. I will keep you posted.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea, and one that we hope to incorporate ourselves someday. Keep us updated. Have you ever tried Wood-Ears? we found a good bunch of these wonderful and tasty mushrooms today.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I've wondered about mushroom growing and seen those $30 kits. But this is so superior! I'll be watching all of you to see how your projects go.
ReplyDeleteI have dreamed of growing mushrooms since I saw them in a kit as a kid. The $30 kits kept me from trying, I hope this investment will pan out. Peace
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to grow mushrooms too! This is so awesome! I should try this next year!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping the same best effort from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing skills has inspired me.
ReplyDeleteMagic Mushrooms Dispensary