Happy New Year to all of my fungal friends! It was a great year for mushrooms, and I am looking forward to another great year ahead. Here are some of the pictures from last year!
Stayed tuned for exciting things to come thi year!
Tag Archives: Cornstalks
Happy New Year cont.
Happy New Year to all of my fungal friends! It was a great year for mushrooms, and I am looking forward to another great year ahead.
Along with wild mushrooms, last year was a great year for growing mushrooms!
The oyster mushrooms proved to be aggressive and versatile again this year. We grew, harvested and consumed oyster mushrooms growing on cornstalks, coffee grounds, wood chips and garden waste. I even had oysters growing out of the bottom of my compost bin. They flushed at different times and were a treat each time!
New projects last year were interesting,
The garden giant outdoor kit was planted in the spring. The fungus consumed half of the wood chips and spread all over, but they did not flush before fall. I know they will flush next spring.
I ordered reishi and shiitake plugs early in the year. The summer slipped away and the plugs didn’t get plugged until late fall. I look forward to spring to see if they grow.
A close friend of mine received a shiitake growing kit in late fall and so far has had 1 small flush. We are hopeful for the next flush. The kit will be put to good use this spring after it is done producing.
My mom planted her morel mushroom patch. It is in a good spot so it should produce. We have seen this one work in Oregon, so we are excited to see it work closer to home!
All in all, it was a productive year for a budding mushroom farmer!
Oysters on Cornstalks Update
I was checking on my mushroom beds and thought I should check on my cornstalk project. This project (check former posts on cultivation) was an experiment to see if oyster mushrooms could be grown on cornstalks cheaply with minimal work. The project started out in a tub in my garage and got booted outside because of fungus gnats. It had already fruited proving that it is feasible. The project was outside in the cold and snow when the tub, cornstalks and all , was tipped over in a snow bank. After the snow left, the tub was removed and the project was left to the elements. It did not look very good, but was left to see what it would do. The weather has cooled a little, and the wild oysters are flushing, so it is a good time to check on oyster projects.
As you can see, it is hard to get a good mushroom down! These were a little past prime, but they survived, and the pile will be used to start some other projects. Notice that it looks like something else found them before I did. Those sure look like bite marks on the close up!
Oyster Cultivation Update
Checked on the “Oysters growing on cornstalks” project and was excited to see life! The project had survived being outside during this cold weather.The last time I posted pictures, the oysters were starting to grow(see other posts on oyster cultivation). Then in a couple weeks the fungus gnats found the fungus and it had to go outside. At the time the weather was pretty good and I wasn’t worried too much. Well the weather turned so it lived under the deck covered with a couple small blankets. Even though I wanted to check on it, I knew it could kill or at least slow the project. This weekend it was finally warm enough I felt safe in checking on it, and took some shots of progress.
As you can see the mushrooms are coming along fine and will be producing food when the weather warms a little. Since the last shots of this project it has been below zero a few nights and has been too cold for most mushrooms. I think since the tub was covered and the fungus provided some heat of its own, it survived. Oysters are amazing!
As you can see they are itching to get outside.We will keep close track of this project all the way to the pan!