My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

A couple of months ago, I started a thread on growing winecap mushrooms. I was having an issue finding wood chips in my area to put the final layer on. Lucky me, I stumbled across a tree service that dumps their chips in their yard with a sign out front that says, "Free Mulch." Lucky for me! Unlucky for me; it's 25 miles away. Lucky for me; it's a half mile from one of my routes, so I swing in once a week with my 4 empty bins and fill them. Unlucky for me; it took several weeks, as I had no idea how far these chips DON'T go! I also had to find hardwood and get it quick, as in just a few days, it will start turning to ash inside the pile. Mushrooms need fresh wood to break down themselves.

Well, both beds are now finished! One is octagonal around a maple tree, and the other is left in a natural setting in front of the house. Hey Mary, look close and you can see my bedroom window IS open, LOL.

Here's the octagon. Once the wood dries, I will stain it with Minwax red mahogany; same color I will use on my raised beds. Should be pretty.


This is the natural one underneath dogwood and redbud. LOTS of full shade for this one. It should do better than the octagon, but then again, this is all an experiment to see what works!

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

That is a fantastic area to start your shrooms..

Awesome build.....lets eat some mold.

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

I've always wanted to grow srooms. I thought they needed near total darkness. .... But I see the type you are putting in doesn't .... I'll look at doing this again. I do have an area that is well shaded.

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Looks great! Looking forward to seeing your results!

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

I'm looking forward to tasting them, LOL! :08:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Some types do; others need to be grown indoors in sterile environments. The winecap is the best mushroom for beginners, hence my choice. It prefers cooler temps though, so here in the South you get a spring flush, followed by dormancy during the summer, then a second flush in the fall. I watched a ton of YouTube videos on preparing beds before I bought the spawn, but when I did, I went with the best: North Spore out of Maine. They have some vids up too.

Once they get established, I'll leave some mushrooms to die off and reseed the areas, along with pulling some of the mycelium out and spreading it. I have a few other areas I can get going as well. Additionally, it looks like I can grow Morels here, and that's a cash crop. $50 a pound fresh, and up to $350 a pound dried. :woohoonaner:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Grow some Amanita muscaria (fly agaric - real pretty 'shrooms'), or Stropharia cubensis (psilocybin) and see how it goes. :08:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Hey, Doug!

I know it took a lot of time & effort to accomplish this! So congrats :birthdaynana: on finishing your mushroom beds! They both look great! Good job! Here’s hoping you get a ton of mushrooms! :woohoonaner: Yes as a matter of a fact I did notice the open window! Very funny :ha::ha:! Good luck & fingers crossed! :goteam:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

I will look into them, thanks. This is my first go at this, so I picked an easy one that sounds delicious on top of it! Researching the Morels for next year...

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Thanks, Mary. You know, you're going to have to try one! :birthdaynana:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

So I peeled the new chips back and got into the straw underneath and :woohoonaner:

It may not show up in this pic, but it looks like snow in there! :goteam:

It's definitely eating the straw first, but it is spreading through all of the layers as well. I should have an awesome flush in the spring! I really think that the fact I was able to spread the spawn like grass seed definitely helped a lot. It left an even layer; not the clumps you typically get.

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

I’m so happy for you, Doug! It’s going really well so far! Keep up the good work! :0517:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Good deal.. you will have shrooms in no time!

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

Probably March, but if the winter is wet and mild, possibly as early as February if we get a warm rain. :08:

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

I saw kits at the big box today.....

Re: My mushroom beds are complete, yay!
 

For these? Like the song from Grease, "Tell me more!"

I've heard of mushroom kits, but I honestly don't know anything about them. What do they come with, etc.? Inquiring minds want to know! Well, just my mind...