Setting Up Your Mushroom Farm

by grow your own magic mushrooms kit

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Posted on 19-08-2021 11:51 AM

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Maintaining Your Mushroom Bed

Here are a few suggestions on cultivation, which might be useful to folks interested in growing their own mushrooms. Like other sorts of gardening, this can be a really easy and/or inexpensive effort – if you buy a pre-inoculated log kit or if you inoculate mushrooms in a ground bed. On the other hand you can put more work and/or money into it by inoculating logs yourself and maintaining more logs or beds. If you end up too busy this season to do anything else, you can always buy from local mushroom growers and foragers.

Like other sorts of gardening, this can be a really easy and/or inexpensive effort – if you buy a pre-inoculated log kit or if you inoculate mushrooms in a ground bed. On the other hand you can put more work and/or money into it by inoculating logs yourself and maintaining more logs or beds. If you end up too busy this season to do anything else, you can always buy from local mushroom growers and foragers. I have put together some information here about in-ground mushroom cultivation, log cultivation, and general information about workshops, log kits, legal issues, my facebook page, and cultivation resources.

Harvesting Your Mushrooms

If you have (or plan to have) multiple types of mushrooms, it is a good idea to label the logs with aluminum tags nailed into the log’s end. Make sure to put the type, variety, and date. It will help to track what does well, to make recommendations to others, and be sure you are harvesting the right fungi.

There are many, many types of edible mushrooms, from shiitake to porcini, and reishi to blue chanterelle. Do your research to find out which types you prefer to eat and what their growing habits are. You’ll also find many excellent reference books. One of my favorites is the mushroom cultivator: a practical guide to growing mushrooms at home , by paul stamets. This guide provides a comprehensive approach to cultivation, harvesting, and use, and it is available on amazon.

There is something inherently satisfying about walking into your garden and harvesting fresh gourmet mushrooms for your next meal. Growing mushrooms outdoors in garden beds is low maintenance, produces quality food and provides a unique and beautiful addition to your yard. Many different species can be grown outdoors, but i am going to highlight one of our favorites: the king oyster. King oyster mushrooms can be vastly different depending on growing conditions.

You Got Bad Spawn

In southern ontario, may is the ideal month for inoculation. Thus, the window of opportunity for cutting wood is from mid-november, at the earliest, until mid-april, at the latest. This allows ample time for the spawn to “run” through the sapwood and to establish itself during the summer and autumn before winter sets in. If inoculation is done too late in the season, the spawn run will be shortened by the onset of freezing temperatures which will negatively affect the colonization of the wood and the survival rate of the mycelium.

Q: If mushrooms can grow outdoors in beds like this, why do people worry so much about sterilization, etc?

A lot of people are skeptical about growing mushrooms indoors, even if there is no evidence that this could attract any problems. However, it is also understandable if you want to grow your mushrooms outdoors, and you can grow them on logs or in special mushroom beds. Mushrooms that grow outside often thrive on hardwood logs. Shiitake mushrooms are the best example of that. The first step for log mushroom growth is to determine the number of spawn plugs you need. For example, a log measuring 4 feet will require between 30 to 50 plugs for complete coverage.

Q: When does the shade cloth come off the mushroom bed?

A: good question! we only took our shade netting off when we saw mushrooms starting to come up. In late summer, we started to checked under the shade cloth a couple of times per week. We took it off and watered the bed regularly when we saw them starting to grow.

Mushrooms offer small-scale growers several advantages. Growing facilities range from logs stacked outdoors under a shade cloth to sophisticated production chambers with precisely controlled temperatures, humidity, and light. Specialty mushrooms are high-value crops, typically selling at wholesale prices of $3 to $6 per pound. Depending on the production system, you can grow large quantities in a small space. Mushrooms can be delicious and are rich in proteins, vitamins, and minerals while containing little fat. Demand for exotic culinary mushrooms has greatly increased in recent years and shows no sign of slowing.

The bedding area for logs that have been inoculated with mushroom spawn should be well shaded and protected from wind, which will dry the logs. To conserve moisture in your logs, stack them close together and close to the ground, with space for minimal air circulation underneath. Choice bedding areas include hemlock and spruce stands, under hardwood trees, or even under shade cloths. A criss-cross, box pattern works well, as does slope-stacking down a hill in a cribwork. Some growers prefer to string a strong wire between two trees and lean the logs against the wire from either side, creating an x pattern.

How To Set Up A Low Tech Mushroom Farm

Before the big bucks start to roll in from your mushroom sales, a bare-bones work area is needed! come late march/early april, michael has a set up of a super low-tech inoculation area outside the garage. It’s comprised of a few straw bales laying flat, a strong electric drill, a hammer, an old camping stove, and a nasty old fondue pot.

If you decide to engage in a small commercial operation you will have to find sales outlets for your mushrooms. This will depend on the particular situation in your locality. Some research will be necessary to devise a marketing plan. You will have to figure out who your target market is and what price you can ask. You may want to simply barter with neighbours or you may decide to “go retail” and attend a farmers market. Your desire to work, driving distance to customers, and availability of storage facilities will all enter into the equation.

How Do Mushrooms Grow? An in-Depth Explanation

Whichever kind of spawn you choose, your next step will be to drill holes all over your logs to insert the spawn. These holes should be at a particular density, width and depth depending on the kind of mushroom you are growing. If you are just doing a few logs, it can work to wrap tape around the appropriately sized drill bit at the correct depth. There are specialized bits with built-in stops if you plan to do lots of logs. Adapters are also available to enable you to use an angle grinder instead of a drill to make your holes.

How to Grow Mushrooms Outside with the Log Inoculation Process

Cut logs and gather materials. First step is to gather all materials you will need for growing mushrooms outside. Order sawdust or plug spawn here. If you are using sawdust spawn, you will also need to purchase a palm inoculation tool. If you are using plug spawn you will need a hammer. Cut the logs being used for cultivation between december and march.

Here’s the fun part. This process is known as inoculation. Grab your bag of mushroom spawn plugs and open them up. Sometimes they look fuzzy, which is the mycelium growing and colonizing the wooden dowels. These little guys are healthy and ready to start working on your logs, stumps, or whatever growing medium you choose for cultivation. Grab your mallet and a plug. Put the tip of the plug in one of the holes and gently tap it into place, making sure to get the entire plug in the log.

Gourmet mushrooms add flavor and nutrition to a meal, but they can be expensive to buy from retail stores. Because of the time it takes to process and ship mushrooms, store-bought varieties can also be past their peak time of flavor, which lasts only a few days. Growing fresh mushrooms outdoors at home requires minimal upkeep; if properly cared for, the mushrooms will continue to grow and sustain themselves for years without the need to plant, or inoculate, a new bed. Shiitake (lentinula edodes) and oyster mushrooms (pleurotus spp.

Step-by-step process: How to grow mushrooms outside with log cultivation

Mushroom cultivation is an intricate, but rewarding art. The fungal networks called mycelium need specific conditions to produce healthy mushrooms. If the conditions are off, the mycelium will be too busy fighting microbes to produce healthy fruiting mushrooms. For the beginner, i recommend a mushroom growing kit. These kits come with a pasteurized substrate, grain spawn, and a suitable container for cultivation. These kits provide novice growers the opportunity to go through the steps of growing mushrooms with little risk of contamination. The resourceful and bold can gather and pasteurize their own substrate, although i would recommend buying mushroom spawn for first timers.

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