How to Grow Mushrooms: In this blog post I will begin to explain how to grow mushrooms. I will start by telling you how I prepare spawn jars with WBS grain. I use three types of grain and each are prepared differently. I will start off by reminding everyone, there are many techniques in mushroom…
Benefits of Composted Horse Manure Readily available in many rural areas, yet hard to come by in the city, learn the benefits of composted horse manure as a good source of nutrients and a popular addition to many home gardens. It is a prime source of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. It can give new…
What are Local Food Systems? (And why do we love them?) More and more people (aka Locavores) join the local foods movement. What exactly does local food mean and what are the advantages of “supporting your local farmer”? Everyone eats. Therefore, everyone needs food. (Duh!) If you don’t happen to be a self-sufficient farmer, living off…
How do Mushrooms reproduce? As I have mentioned in an earlier post (see The Mushroom Life Cycle), when trying to cultivate mushrooms, it is important to know about their life stages and how mushrooms reproduce. You can use this knowledge not only to provide the best conditions to grow your mushrooms, but also to improve and…
Mushrooms and Manure Manure is organic matter, which can be used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. It is mostly derived from animal feces and has been used for centuries as it provides many benefits. Adding organic matter to soil improves soil structure, increases the water-holding capacity, improves drainage, provides a source of micronutrients, reduces wind…
The Blue Oyster Mushroom As a biology teacher, I have an interest in all things natural, and have recently come to really appreciate the mighty mushroom with its many facets. As I’ve been researching on mushrooms and their beneficial values as gourmet and medicinal foods, I found myself wanting to share my findings with whoever…
Why pasteurize mushroom substrate? Why should you pasteurize bulk substrate for mushroom cultivation? Pasteurization is a process that has been used for hundreds of years to destroy harmful germs in food. It is commonly known for its role in milk and juice production and was invented by the French chemist and microbiologist Louis Pasteur in…
Bulk Substrate is a mildly nutritious material of greater volume that is used for mass mushroom cultivation. Bulk substrates are pasteurized and then usually mixed with a pre-colonized spawn which is made with whole grains such as rye berries or wild bird seed. The spawn then inoculates the bulk substrate. Examples Common bulk substrates (all of…
