There’s nothing like picking your own mushrooms to use in your morning omelette or evening gourmet meal.  The quality is unsurpassed as you can pick at the peak of freshness, and you can grow many varieties that are not commonly seen in the market. They are a good dietary source of protein and minerals and many mushrooms also have medicinal properties and may offer help against some cancers

Mushrooms are the flower of the fungi. They are fruiting bodies that form to disperse new spores.  The mushroom is only a small and temporary part of the fungi, with the majority of the organism present in the form of mycelium growing in the dead wood or other plant material.

Growing mushrooms at home has become much easier in the last few years with the availability of a wide variety of mushrooms kits.  Shitake, oyster, and many other varieties can now be purchased as a kit. Mushroom kits are basically a bag or block of sterilized plant material and nutrients that are inoculated with mushroom spawn. These bags can be shipped thru the mail successfully and the owner can have mushrooms, such as the white oyster growing within two weeks. Each variety of mushroom has it’s own cultivation procedures to follow. Some varieties are grown directly from the bag, such as oyster mushrooms, while other varieties such as Garden Giant, King Stropharia, can be used as an inoculant for a mushroom bed in the garden. I’ve successfully grown a variety of mushrooms at home using kits and I’ll share with you some of my experiences.

Growing Shitake Indoors

Shitake mushrooms kits are often made of a block of sawdust, wood chips and bran. This block of dead plant material has been autoclaved to sterilize it and then inoculated with some spawn. The fungi’s mycelium spread throughout the block in 3-4 weeks. It is during this stage of colonization that the block is shipped as a mushroom kit. If you are receiving a mushroom kit, it may need to sit for a while until the mycelium have completely colonized the block. Once the block is fully colonized the bag is removed while temperature (75F) and humidity are maintained, and the fruiting of mushrooms can begin. Once the mushrooms are all picked, let the block rest for a couple of weeks and then begin the cycle again by soaking the block in water for a couple of hours.

Growing Oyster Mushrooms Indoors

Oyster mushrooms are one of the easier mushrooms to grow, perhaps because it is an aggressive coloniser and able to compete with bacteria. The mushrooms kits are generally made with sterilized cereal straw that has been packed into a bag and inoculated with spawn. Keep the bag closed until the mycelium have fully colonised the straw, then cut a couple of X’s into each side to the bag, to allow for the fruiting of mushrooms. Unlike the shitake mushrooms, the bag remains on. If there are mushrooms developing under part of the bag, simply cut an X over the mushroom to allow it develop.

The biggest challenge when growing mushrooms indoors is controlling the humidity. Too much and the mushrooms will become soggy and rot, too little and they will not develop to their full potential. Many kits come with a large clear plastic bag that is to be used to make a tent over the mushroom bag to help control humidity. Make sure the tent is properly supported or it will flop down onto the mushroom bag and distort emerging mushrooms. I find a large tuperware tub with lid is easier to use than fumbling with the plastic bag. Alternatively, if find you are growing mushrooms all the time, you can purchase one of the many humidity controlled units available on the market.

Growing Shitake Mushrooms on Logs

Shitake mushrooms are commonly grown on hard wood like oak or alder logs that have been inoculated with mushroom spawn. Mushroom logs can be purchased and all that needs to be done is to ensure the logs are in shade and periodically watered. One log can produce mushrooms for several years.
You can also inoculate your own logs. Cut some hardwood like oak, into logs that are about 3 ft long. Six to eight inch diameter logs are best. Cut the wood in the early spring while the tree is still in it’s winter dormancy. Let the logs rest for a couple of weeks, keeping them clean and dry and out of the sun. Drill holes throughout the logs and hammer in wooden plugs that have been colonised with mycelium. It takes about a year before the logs will begin to produce mushrooms, but they will continue to produce for several years.
Make sure to keep your logs out of the sun. Direct sunlight will quickly heat up the log and kill the fungi. Shitake like it cool and moist, like you would find in a heavily treed forest by a stream.

Growing Garden Giants in the Backyard

King Stropharia, also known as Garden Giant, can be grown in a variety of ways. I`ve grown them in a bucket, as well as in a raised bed in the backyard. Both methods worked, but the bucket was the easiest. Growing them in the bucket was as simple as carefully placing the block of colonized mycelium into a 20 L bucket and covering it with a little peat moss. Once all the mushrooms were harvested, the bucket was left to rest for a couple of weeks, and then drenched with water, triggering another flush of mushrooms. I was able to get about four crops of mushrooms from the bucket over the course of the summer.
The raised bed was dug down and filled with wood chips and straw and the mycelium was carefully mixed into the woodchips and straw and then covered with a layer of peat moss, and then watered. This was a lot of work compared with the bucket, and in the end did not produce much more than the bucket.

Growing your own mushrooms in your home or backyard is now easier than ever. Your kitchen may have a block of oyster mushrooms under a plastic tent, and shitake logs may be resting under the hedge in the backyard. Mushrooms are a delicious addition to any garden, and can be grown throughout the year indoors and out. It’s time to add mushrooms to your food garden list and start discovering the many opportunities that exist in your own backyard.