I was walking around in Montreal last month, when I came across a mushroom store called Mycoboutique. For those who don't know: I love mushrooms. And somehow I found myself in a mushroom store, in the presence of mushroom people, talking about mushrooms and surrounded by mushrooms. Does life GET any better?It's basically a block of damp straw, infused with mushroom spores and wrapped in clear plastic. You cut slits in the plastic (so the mushrooms can grow out), place indoors in indirect sunlight, and maintain humidity. The humidity part was a bit
tricky, since Toronto winters are so dry. I set it up so that the mushroom block sits on top (but not touching) a basin of water, and enclose it inside a clear plastic garbage bag which is tied at the top to make it a "closed system". About once a day I spray water into the bag to make it extra humidi-tastic.At first, it looked like only mould was growing. There seemed to be fuzzy white mould everywhere. My heart sank into my shoes.
But then this morning, I noticed that the "mould" was forming creepy alien-looking structures, about 1/2" long and poking out of the plastic bag. Could this be the beginning of mushroom colonies?
To be continued....
P.S. I'm not sure how sustainable this growing method is... probably just for sh-ts and giggles. For future mushroom adventures, I might join a foray group: the Mycological Society of Toronto
3 comments:
An old friend of mine grew (grows?) mushrooms using a system that involved a cheap dollar-store fabric zip-up wardrobe, which I think was his method of retaining moisture.
I'm all about mushrooms, although I personally was more interested in learning how to identify, cultivate and nosh on edible wild ones without killing myself accidentally.
HA! I hear that! There's probably a mushroom hunting group that would welcome new members close to where you live. Though I believe most are super-secretive about their hunting grounds....
I never knew such mushroom nerdlery existed... I want in!
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