was out doing some weeding and came across these in one of the front gardens. :)
formatting link
several years ago my brother gave us a few morels that he'd picked and told us when we rinsed them off to take the water and throw it in the yard where we wanted them to grow.
to do this one better i took the water and threw it in several locations.
as of yet, two have had morels pop up, but with all the other wood chips and mulches we've had delivered the spores could have also easily come in that ways.
I planted a morel bed a few weeks ago, using a kit I got from Amazon. I tried planting one several years ago but nothing ever came up. Hopefully, this one will grow.
I also inoculated some oak logs with mushroom spawn plugs. Those are on a shelf in the basement and I water them every morning.
The problem with mushroom gardening is that they grow underground or inside wood, so you don't know if there's really anything growing there or not. Potatoes grow underground, but at least they send up leaves to let you know they're still alive.
that is why i used the scatter approach and put the rinse water in a half dozen locations. never know what really takes, and because of the variety of places we get stuff from it could be coming in from those too and not the rinse water.
did you start with green wood? that is the recommendation i most often come across when it comes down to growing mushrooms in wood from known spawn.
:) patience... it may take several years for the spores to decide they have the right conditions for fruiting...
as of my recent readings it sounds like a mix of sand, and some fireplace ashes topped by partially decayed wood chips is good.
tried planting one several years ago but nothing ever came up. Hopefully, this one will grow.
a shelf in the basement and I water them every morning.
Yes, we cut down six or seven trees every winter for firewood, so I save a few logs for the mushroom garden. I read that you should let them settle ou t for 30 days after cutting before putting in the plugs so that the natural fungicides in the wood are depleted.
side wood, so you don't know if there's really anything growing there or no t. Potatoes grow underground, but at least they send up leaves to let you k now they're still alive.
I mixed sand into the soil in the morel bed and put in some wood chips from a big pile out back.
tried planting one several years ago but nothing ever came up. Hopefully, this one will grow.
a shelf in the basement and I water them every morning.
side wood, so you don't know if there's really anything growing there or no t. Potatoes grow underground, but at least they send up leaves to let you k now they're still alive.
I've grown the commercial "pizza" types from kits but you only get a couple of flushes from the kit. I should try getting another kit and using it to inoculate some sheep manure from out in the barn to get more than just the little kit's output. It should be economically more reasonable if I could m ultiply the output.
I'm currently growing shiitake and piopinni mushrooms in the basement. Or m aybe I should say that I inoculated logs with those varieties; I hope there 's something growing in there.
I'm a Texan, we don't raise, milk, or eat sheep. Goat is a different story. I miss our milk goats from years ago. Had a ten acre farm with hogs, chickens, ducks, goats, and a milk cow. Plowed with a mule, a good mule is much better than a tractor and didn't cost as much as a tractor.
Of course, I was fifty years younger now, Nowadays I run a single Rat Terrier who keeps the grasshoppers out of the garden, vicious little critter.
I tried planting one several years ago but nothing ever came up. Hopefully , this one will grow.
on a shelf in the basement and I water them every morning.
inside wood, so you don't know if there's really anything growing there or not. Potatoes grow underground, but at least they send up leaves to let you know they're still alive.
uple of flushes from the kit. I should try getting another kit and using it to inoculate some sheep manure from out in the barn to get more than just the little kit's output. It should be economically more reasonable if I cou ld multiply the output.
Or maybe I should say that I inoculated logs with those varieties; I hope t here's something growing in there.
Maryland is a big sheep state. The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, held i n early May, is a big event, drawing people from miles away. We started rai sing sheep some years ago because my wife likes to spin and knit; having a small flock (around 20) gives her all the wool she needs. I used to shear t hem myself 10-15 years ago, but got too old and fat to do that anymore.
My wife of 56 years is from Southern Maryland, St. Mary's County. She grew up on 19 acres, her Dad worked at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, I was stationed there for two years, '58 - '59, we married there in 1960 and I hauled her off to Texas. A whole different world that she learned to love. She still has four siblings there, two of whom are coming to visit in September.
Wife does the heavy work here nowadays, I've had to many strokes and heart attacks to do more than keep the books, preserve the food, cook, and run errands. Of course I point out the mistakes she makes in the garden. We get along pretty good as long as we're in separate rooms.
about the only thing different that strikes me in what you write is that you say you keep them in the basement, while most people have them outdoors (some mention putting them halfway in the dirt so the fungi can draw moisture and nutrients from the soil). i hope that won't make much of a difference for the fungi you are trying to grow.
as for how long the colony lasts some references have said depending upon type of wood, size of log and mushroom three to ten years.
we found another morel out back so that makes it three places. the last place was on the berm which is a sand heap covered by black plastic or landscaping fabric (i wasn't here when it was done so i dunno) which gets cedar tree and white pine needles down in between large rocks.
e a few logs for the mushroom garden. I read that you should let them settl e out for 30 days after cutting before putting in the plugs so that the nat ural fungicides in the wood are depleted.
I keep them in the basement so that they'll grow during the winter. I water them every morning so they stay moist. I've had good luck with this method ; a couple of shiitake logs produced mushrooms for several years.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.