wild mushrooms

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Originally Posted by Muskyhunter

I have asked Santa for some oyster spore plugs and I am going to try and grow my own this year..

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Good luck with the spawn.
I've had decent success with Shiitakes on Red Maple logs.
Also had a decent harvest of Wine Cap Stropharia grown on a mix of downed twigs/branches/fall leaves and sunflower shell remnants. Spawned a patch in the shade of a lilac bush in the backyard last spring and we were harvesting by mid August.

Did a lot of Oysters on logs and stumps but nothing produced yet. Maybe they take a full year to produce , same as shiitakes.

Next year I'm sacrificing a single oak from the farm and trying Maitake on some larger cut blocks. I'll leave a tall stump for Chicken of the Woods. The rest of the branches will go through the wood chipper for another bed of Wine Cap Stropharia.

Johny it sounds like you are an old Pro at this mushroom cultivating. I know a suspicious package arrived in the mail the other day for Ms Santa. I asked her for the dowels and from what I have read they usually take a good year to take hold.

Have you used wood dowels for your oysters?

You sound like you had great success with Wine Cap Stropharia. What form do the spores come in?

Started with shiitakes 4 years ago.
Sawdust spawn from Dominion (WHPerron) Seeds. It was poor quality spawn
Red maple logs about 4feet long and 5-6 inch diameter.
Monthly I would throw them into a cattle water tank that collects rain water under the roof of the barn.
Just an 8 hour soak, monthly.
In spite of poor quality spawn and insects eating the saw dust I got a decent amount of shiitake mushrooms spring and fall for a few years.


That inspired me to expand the mushroom plantation.

Wood dowel spawn is superior to sawdust spawn. Ants and other bugs can’t eat it.

Be sure to spend a short bit of time to wax over the spawn plugs. It prevents drying and prevent invasion by other undesirable species.

My first year for oyster mushrooms was spring 2016.. Noting produced yet but I’m hoping for a harvest next year.
I drilled maple and aspen logs with Italian, White and Blue Oyster mushrooms.
Several aspen tipped over in high winds last summer--- same as every year.
I cut them off to a two foot stump and drilled them with left over Oyster mushroom spawn.
Most sources say stumps take longer to produce but last twice as long as logs. So I hope for 6-8 years on all the stumps I drilled.

The Wine Cap Stropharia are the fastest and easiest to produce.
I Rototilled a 6x6 foot patch of ground in the shade of a cluster of lilacs.
Raked out the dirt and spread it to the side. Hole was 6x6feet and 3 inches deep.
Early April I filled it.
Spawn was a 5 pound bag of sawdust impregnated spawn.
This was in my back yard at home.
I have Wallenstein BXMC32S chipper/shredder. All yard waste shreds beautifully through it.
Fallen branches of oak, willow, maple, lilac, apple, basswood, poplar, fall leaves, sunflower shells under bird feeders was what I shredded for the WineCaps.
Spread an inch of chips into the hole. Sprinkler over a layer of Stropharia spawn. Another inch of chips—more spawn. Repeat….
We had enough rain last summer that artificial watering was not necessary.
I was impressed by the quantity of harvest on such small patch.
We could not eat them fast enough.
I cut multi-pounds of them small and fried them into a Duxelle rendition. This stored well in the freezer and was a wonderful addition to scrambled eggs.
Attachment 34081
That is a six inch blade.

Attachment 34082
Wine cap Risotto

Johny,

I noticed when they talk about waxing your plug holes they talk about using beeswax. That stuff is pretty expensive and hard to find. Have you used paraffin wax?

Dam those wine caps look great. I have a small area behind my garage under a Manitoba maple that might just fit the bill in the spring for a mushroom garden. Who did you buy your sawdust spores from?

Thanks,

Field and Forest Products.
They are based in Wisconsin.
They sell wax-- one type is a brick that you need to melt and daub the liquid wax with a special dauber they also sell.
Other type is an oil thinned paraffin. Carry close your body to keep warm and it spreads easily with a finger or tip of a dinner knife.

They also sell a sweet drill bit with a collar. It lets you drill the perfect depth every time.

So far all my shiitake and oysters have been plugged into cut logs.
But every year, high winds cause several big aspens snap in half at the farm.
If I find a new tree fallen over, I cut the lower portion to keep a 3 foot high stump.
I'll return with my Dewalt drill, spawn plugs, hammer and the oil/wax. 20-30 minutes and the stump is fully spawned. I just started this last year but am hoping it'll result in years of sustained harvest.

I'm ordering some Maitake spawn from F&F, soon.
More complicated that spawn plugs. You innoculate oak blocks in sterilized bags. Let the spawn run happen indoors. Bury the log/blocks late spring. 1-2 years later Maitakes show up.

Thanks Johny. I placed my order this morning with F&F. Bought the sawdust wine cap spores, wax and a couple of small house kits (miataki and oysters) as gifts. Going to be fun. I bet I will take a hit on the exchange rate. Oh well - you got to have fun in life and can't take it with you.

Santa bought me the oyster plugs already (unofficially) but I will wait to buy the special drill till I see if I like growing my own. From the F&F website looks I shouldn't use dying trees. I need to use freshly cut trees.

Thanks for the great advice and Merry Christmas.

Your location says Northern Ontario.
When are planning on "spawning"?
For me that would be late April-Middle May for plug spawn of logs. Same for Sawdust Spawn into ground like Wine Caps

The Maitake I am doing start mid winter because they need several months to incubate before burying.

I am North Bay so kind of North - lol,

I was eyeballing a few poplar trees on the property to cut yesterday while out bow hunting. I will cut them early April as the snow melts and the sap content is higher.