Propagating oyster mushrooms
Some
of you may remember that I experimented with
propagating morels this spring. Paul Stamets made it
seem so simple --- snip off the mushroom's end, put it between layers
of wet cardboard, and wait a few months. Mushroom propagation
might be that easy in the Pacific Northwest, but even during a very wet
summer around here, our cardboard had plenty of time to dry out.
My stem butts shriveled and no spawn formed.
When we got our second
flush of oyster mushrooms, I resolved to try again. Oyster
mushrooms are supposed to be some of the easiest to propagate, and I've
learned a bit from my mistakes. This time, after soaking the
cardboard, I ripped off the flat layers on either side to leave just
the corrugated part behind. I sandwiched my stem butt sections
between layers of corrugated cardboard inside a flower pot, and stuck
it under the sink where I can check the moisture content
periodically. If all goes as planned, we might have spawn to
expand our oyster mushroom collection in the spring. Or maybe
I'll keep experimenting and learning.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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