Mushroom, At Last

You know how people say that when you're not looking for a relationship, that's when you find one? Well, apparently the same can be said for oyster mushrooms.

I had just got back from a Mushroom Cultivation Workshop on Sunday (more details on that later), where I learned that oyster mushrooms are very aggressive and can outcompete other fungi due to its quick-growing character and because it is native to Ontario. Yeeeeah right... not more aggressive than the alien tree mushroom that invaded my grow-kit.

The next day, I went out to the balcony and pulled out the bag of straw I kept from the discarded grow-kit. I figured at least I could use the straw for mulch, if I dried it out and got rid of the mycelium (mushroomy pre-growth). It had been pulled apart and drying in the sun for a few weeks now.

Then... lo and behold, I discovered oyster mushrooms growing inside the bag. Thick, juicy oyster mushrooms, quietly living in secret. Apparently, ripping apart the straw and placing it in an unfriendly environment gave the sleeping oyster mushrooms enough of a reason to start blooming and spreading spores.

I felt quite happy and satisfied at this unexpected discovery, but it was probably not quite the same satisfaction I would have felt if I grew the mushrooms from scratch. But I'm not complaining... same end result. I love mushrooms again.

Mushroom, Remixed

I don't want to turn this into a mushroom website, really. But I find this grow kit pretty fascinating. And frustrating.

We ate the first failed harvest of mushrooms by rehydrating them (after they dried out sitting on the counter) and cooking them in a sauce. Not bad. But what I'm really looking forward to is a steamy mouthful of those meaty, fleshy oyster mushrooms that we all know and love. Problem is, I don't have any of THOSE.

This is what the kit looks like now: a freak show.

This isn't cute anymore. Where are my mushrooms, man?!

Mushroom, The Saga Continues

More photo updates of my mushroom grow-kit, from the mushroom nerd (that's me). For the first few days, the stalks grew noticably longer and thicker, up to 12" in length. But two weeks later, the caps still haven't deployed yet. We heard that stressing the mushrooms increases yield, so my partner sliced off the larger shrooms and smashed the kit with a cardboard tube. I don't know about the mushrooms, but it made me stressed.

Here's a few neat-o facts about oyster mushrooms:

• one of the few carnivorous mushrooms: it eats nematodes
  
• considered medicinal for its cholesterol-lowering properties
• no poisonous look-alikes in North America
• it comes in white, yellow and pink colours

To be continued (again) ....

Mycophilia in Montreal

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?

Exaggeration aside: the store was just about to close, so there was no time to look around. But I did leave the shop with my very own oyster mushroom indoor grow-kit.

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

offers them in the spring and fall.