They’re popping up everywhere there’s grass and mulch
They’re popping up everywhere there’s grass and mulch
They do! My winecaps all popped up overnight. I check meticulously for them now.
It’s still early here. Shiitakes on oak logs outside are starting to pop; but meanwhile I’ve harvested a small crop from some logs that I moved into the garage to warm up. A week ago, I also inoculated some sugar maple logs with Lion’s Mane. But it’ll be a year before those produce.
A quicker crop comes from growing in sawdust. Right now I’m working on Lion’s Mane and King Oyster, both of which I’ve grown successfully before. Here’re pictures of the King Oyster in progress: (1) a fully inoculated bag of rye berries, and two days later (2) a plastic bin of recently inoculated sawdust, using that batch of rye.
I am trying to grow mushrooms for the first time this year. I am trying wine caps in a woodchip bed. I hope to get to try logs with shittake in the future as well.
I was wondering if the growing medium can be used as compost of significant benefit? Are there plants that would specifically benefit from mushrooms breaking down woodchips/logs?
Twice a year (May & Sept) I get Dryad’s Saddle from a broken down Sugar Maple struggling to survive nearby. It’s tasty, if picked while still young. I picked these today. Probably there’ll be more over the coming week.
Also, a few years ago I spread LOTS of wood chips as mulch under an orchard of fruit trees. These chips became a home for WInecap, which fruits abundantly. As in the past two years, I’ve been picking a ton, and expect to pick more all summer after rains.
I wish I could get hardwood here. it’s all pine, every form you can get wood, it’s all pine.
We have the same issue. Pine or cypress. Was a real pain finding mulch that wasn’t a conifer. I had to settled on Melaleuca mulch, but if I want a log, I’d probably have to cut my own oaks.
There are a couple mushrooms that grow on pine.
winecap seem to come up fine in it, and the Italian oysters. anything else isn’t going to last here.
What is hardwood then
like what type of tree would be considered it?
deciduous trees! maple, fruit trees, locust, etc
coniferous trees are like pine, evergreens- juniper, cedar I think.
where I live most trees are ponderosa pine, they’re the most commonly removed. but oak, maple are loved if they are growing, they’re not cut as often. we do also have elm and the city grows too much Bradford pear but everyone is looking for hardwood!
I looked for a solid year for oak here and found none- called arborists, chip drop guys, mulch people and all. not a bit of oak.
I’ve gotten cherry, a little maple and some elm in my chip drops but most wood chip, bark, compost, mulch is all pine here.
FWIW, I used pellets sold as fireplace fuel. With a little care, you can get decent quality hardwood. When you wet the pellets, they disintegrate into the sawdust from which they are made.
So you don’t need straight-from-the saw sawdust.
I’m so envious! I have never even seen a morel!
Come by next spring ![]()
ay that’s a really good idea. thanks
If it’s ok to ask, where approximately in WA are you? Is it far from Seattle? I unexpectedly embarked on a mushroom-growing adventure a few months ago and now I am looking for logs to expand .
Ideally something that will be liked by Chicken of the Wood, Hen of the Wood, or Nameko. My wife also really wants me to grow Shimeji but I couldn’t find it for sale yet.
Speaking of the mushrooms, I figured this would be the best place to ask - has anyone tried growing on apple tree logs? I originally arrived to this topic when I was cutting down an old apple tree on my property and was debating what to do with the logs. Someone suggested I stick oysters into them so I got the kit from Field & Forest but their website doesn’t list Apple + Oyster compatibility. I guess I’ll find out 6-12 months from now but I am curious if anyone else already tried.
There is apperently a strain of oyster mushrooms for Out-Grow that they use as their spawn that started on an apple tree. So I imagine that they will be perfectly as a host log.
North Spore has a 20% discount code for their plug and sawdust spawn as well as some other things if anyone is interested in that.











