One of the most challenging parts of growing mushrooms, especially at the beginning, is uncertainty. We hope to demystify the process (as much as we can... it's always a bit mysterious) with a unique strategy - highlighting potential problems and common mistakes first. Please don't let this scare you! Knowing what you're up against is essential to bring in year after year of delicious harvests.
We only offer information about easy, common sense grow techniques that do not require the purchase of specialty mushroom tools or disposables. There are many other good ways to grow mushrooms, but our vision is different. We believe the nutritional benefits of mushrooms and pure joy of growing should be for everyone! New England is full of loggers, mills, tree service companies, firewood sellers, neighbors with downed limbs, or even free roadside piles where wood can be sourced. Mushrooms could be a staple in any garden, especially when for many of us shade is easier to come by than sunshine.
Everyone that succeeds in growing mushrooms with our handcrafted New Hampshire spawn becomes a fighter for native biodiversity and accessible, healthy backyard food. That's why we are so invested in your success. We hope our years of trial and error can help lead to better prepared home growers who know what to look for and what to expect.
Growing mushrooms requires patience and observation. A large log can take many months to incubate. A flush of oysters from that log, or the freshest wine caps, can go from perfect to past prime almost overnight. Several pounds of mushrooms may grow at once from just a few beds or logs, that will need to be refrigerated and prepared within a few days.
Being patient, knowing when to closely watch the strain you're growing, and having a plan for your harvest, is key. We think the rewards are very worth it!
Many of our fellow creatures also benefit from eating mushrooms. Slugs, flies, and even mammals may be attracted to your harvest. In outdoor mushroom beds, worms and other predators may feed on mycelium even before mushrooms emerge.
Although common methods used in gardens to repel pests can help, we think picking mushrooms in the morning before insect activity is high helps the most! Gathering at early stages of maturity can also increase shelf life.
Mushrooms need protection from sun and wind to avoid drying out. Mushroom logs and beds should be watered when not receiving regular rainfall, unless in a naturally humid environment. Mushrooms are especially susceptible to drying out when first beginning to pin (aka baby mushrooms.)
The microclimate mushrooms need can be created (or may already exist) in your backyard, garden, or even an apartment balcony. More on habitat below...
Paying attention to humidity throughout the grow cycle is important!
A common reason that home mushroom grow projects go awry is competing fungi.
To avoid competing fungi, source freshly cut wood with intact bark & no visible rot.
Protect mushroom totems and beds from contact with ground fungi using a biodegradable barrier like scrap softwood, cardboard, or brown paper bags.
Despite our best efforts, competitors may sometimes win. For this reason it is absolutely vital to know how to identify the mushroom you are intending to grow!
Improperly stored, overly damp or previously opened mushroom spawn can become susceptible to contamination.
Common contaminants include mold and bacteria. Although most are harmless, certain kinds can be dangerous and all should be handled with the same care. Any spawn product or culinary mushroom with mold, off colors or smells should be discarded, as with any food.
Improperly dehydrated or stored culinary mushrooms are also prone to mold. Follow food safety storage guidelines.
Mycelium, the fuzzy white colonies that make up mushroom spawn, are more similar to animals than plants. They take in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide just like we do.
Spawn sealed in a plastic bag or container without ventilation can suffocate. If mushrooms grow without enough air, they can be elongated, tough, and unhealthy looking.
While their oxygen needs are not great (they can breathe inside a dead tree) spawn and fresh mushrooms should never be sealed completely in plastic or glass, even after harvest.
If you want to grow apples, you need to grow trees. If you want to grow mushrooms, you need to grow fungal mycelium. Mushrooms are the fruiting body of mycelium just like apples are the fruit of a tree. Just like any other crop or livestock (everything really), the mycelium's needs must be met for it to produce fruit. Fungi are more like animals than plants - they inhale oxygen and exhale CO2 just like we do.
In mycology, a substrate is any target material prepared for growing mushrooms. Substrates we use commonly include grain, sawdust and logs, but different species of mushrooms prefer different substrates. Oyster mushrooms especially are adept and colonizing a wide range of substrates, and have even been trained to consume cigarette butts and motor oil.
Mushroom spawn is a substrate, like sawdust or grain, colonized with mycelium. It is used to transfer mycelium to a new substrate such as logs or straw. Spawn is basically equivalent to a pack of starter plants. Although much more carefree than most plants, mushroom spawn is alive and needs specific conditions.
Spores are the fungal equivalent of seeds, but are much more challenging to work with. Most mushroom spawn is created via tissue cloning.
This word conjures up a variety of images, but in the fungal world it just means to intentionally transfer mycelium to a new substrate. Our inoculation methods are simple and do not require drilling holes, buying pegs and specialty tools, or using hot wax.
The time during which mycelium is colonizing a substrate is called incubation. Different mushrooms like to colonize in slightly different temperatures. Even outdoor beds are incubating until they are full of mycelium.
Because mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungal mycelium, they are frequently referred to as fruits. The time period when a substrate is actively growing mushrooms is called fruiting. A fully colonized or grow kit may be called "Ready to fruit".
It really IS better to know before you grow. Learn about next steps in our grow guides below!
Growing's not for you? That's perfectly OK too. We invite you to spread some love and spores anyway by telling a mushroom loving friend about us ♥
A suitable habitat for mushrooms can be anywhere from the forest to the backyard to the kitchen counter. To avoid the common mistakes above, any mushroom habitat needs a few things, wherever it may be:
Our GYO Guides below detail our methods for successfully growing eco-friendly mushrooms at home using ordinary materials and tools
Click on a GYO Guide below to get growing, or explore more in depth sources using our resource short list:
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