King Oyster mushroom bed

I finally read Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World in its entirety this year. It was always a subject that interested me, especially after seeing this book on my brother-in-law's shelf and reading the intro chapter.

The book is part academic, part practical. The first sections discuss the various types of mycelium, most of which reproduce by surfacing mushrooms and releasing spores. The second part is a field guide with instructions and statistics for using mycelium to achieve various goals in nature, from reforesting to growing your own edible mushrooms. I chose the latter as my starting point.

I ordered some King Oyster spawn from Glückspilze (scientific name Pleurotus eryngii). I already love cooking with them, and oysters are known for their forgiving nature which is good for beginners. Glückspilze offers free PDF guides for putting their products to use, plus I referenced Mycelium Running (pp 188-192) to prepare my mushroom bed. Mine ended up being a three-layer "lasagna" as Stamets describes in the aforementioned pages.

I live in an apartment with no access to the ground, but my in-laws live near a field containing several groups of trees and bushes. So I laid the mushroom bed in the bushes at their place:

A patch of soil covered in grass and vines with bushes nearby. Exposed soil and rocks, with all grass and vines having been scraped away. Cardboard and wood chips covering the exposed soil. A plastic bag containing visibly white Oyster mushroom spawn. The same plastic bag with visibly brown spawn, having been kneaded since the previous photo was taken. A close-up of the spawn, with both fresh wood chips and the mycelium-covered wood chips visible. The cardboard and wood chips are now covered with wet cardboard. The hole in the ground is totally covered with fresh wood chips, such that nothing else is visible except for the very corners of cardboard.

The bed was finished on June 28, a bit late in the year to get an autumn harvest, but that should give it plenty of time over winter to grow and flush the first round of King Oysters. I can't wait!

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