The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: Rumpleteazer on January 30, 2009, 02:36:23 pm
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Has anyone had any success cultivating mushrooms? I have bought one of those kits in the past, but it was a complete failure! I have read something (somewhere) about cultivating mushrooms in logs, but I can't remember where I read (which is really useful!). What's the best way of doing this? Where can I buy the necessary stuff? etc.......
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hi there we tried the box method last year drew a blank hope you have better luck :hshoe:
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think commercial growers use horse muck ::)
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I am about to have a go at growing mushrooms and it does say to use horse muck. When I was young ( many years ago ) I did my training at a riding school who had their muck heap taken away once a month by mushrooms growers. As there was over 60 horses and ponies this was a lot of manure. As far as I know you need a hot bed using plenty of manure with straw to get them started. You can also use a big round bale of straw that has been soaked with water then cover to get it to heat up. I plan to try both methods. :)
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been browsing thro dobies of devon catalogue re mushrooms, supply them as wooden plugs they say use freshly cut logs not pine drill holes in them and push in plug which is full of spores. cropping commences after 4-5 months and continues 3-5 times a year for up to 5 yrs one interesting variety is lions mane mushrooms can grow to 16" diameter when cooked have delicious flavour of lobster! anyone tried these?.........neil ::)
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hey
i have looked at groing mushrooms before i used to do it in bags i got from a local mushroom farm then we just had to add the spors
as far as i know u need to pastureise the horse muck and it has to be heated up to a certain tmepiture to break down somthin in it the the spors as added one its put into a tray put in to the dark then kept at a certain temp to achive production if i remember 1 tonne of mushroom compost yields i think it was doubble so 2 tonnes
or sumert i cant find the website link but ill have a look
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The stuff with horse much sounds a bit complicated for me just at the moment, but might look into more for the future. Maybe a project for next year?!
Anyone know where I can buy the plugs you push into logs? I looked at the Dobies of Devon website and I can't find them there, so maybe they are only in the catalogue.
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Just wanted to add a small but maybe useful addition to the post. there was a wonderful film in the early eighties made in wales for channel four called "coming up roses" tghe story of a local cinema that had to close because of progress and the locals attempt to keep it open. The one attribute the cinema had was its heating system and the darkness- They decide in the film to grow mushroooms in buckets on indiviual seats .The results : the cinema raises alotof money - if you have a local cinema in dire straits it could be a mutual blessing ;D
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Have a look at Ardnamushrooms website. They do organic kits for folk wanting to try mushroom growing.
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good luck with the mushroom growing - let us know how you get on - Thanksfor that website rosemary i will have a look at that too. Thanks
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hey Rumplteazer,
try this link http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=90155
hope it helps
Martin
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Thanks for all the great info and links all - lots of things to think about. I am considering trying the log method. The stuff with horse muck seems way too complicated for me just now!
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I have used the plug method on green freshly cut logs. I've only had one single shiitake mushroom so far. My neighbor has logs and harvests shiitake mushrooms regularly. Visit http://www.redbayfarm.com/Shiitake.html to see how I did the log plugging.
Recently I have been combining mushroom inoculation with firewood cutting. I ordered canola oil infused with oyster mushroom spores. As per directions I diluted this oil with another 2.5 gallons of canola oil.
As you know a chain saw chain requires lubrication. The canola oil with the oyster mushroom spores is spread during the cutting of the firewood. Firewood which is stacked to dry does not retain enough moisture to allow the growth of the mushrooms.
However, stumps continue to absorb moisture through the root system which does provide moisture necessary for the mushrooms to grow. I am combining coppicing and oyster mushroom growing...oyster mushrooms only live on dead wood whereas other mushrooms attack live trees. So, I hope to add a bit of food production to my forest operations. Additionally, the oyster mushrooms should help to more quickly decompose brush piles left in the woods. In a few months I should be able to harvest some oyster mushrooms for dinner.
I also ordered some sawdust medium with shiitake mushroom spawn growing in it. For this I simply spread the sawdust on the upright ends of large pieces of less desireable firewood (knotty or less desireable for burning). On top of this I placed another piece of the same sort of log stacked end to end. I grouped several of these together for shade and moisture retention. I put the groups of shiitake stacks in areas shaded by holly, red bay, wax myrtle and pine trees.
So the clock is ticking. Maybe next year I will have another source of shiitakes.
By the way now is the time to inoculate your logs by whatever method you think will work best for you. But remember, if you want speed in your garden...plant radishes. Mushrooms are more of a marathon garden culture...but once they get started they produce for years. ;)