Mushroom Workshop
Fancy Growing Mushrooms on your Plot?
I've always had a fascination with mushrooms (see note) and was very pleased to be introduced to Rhyze Mushrooms; Edinburgh’s Community Mushroom Farm. They produce mushrooms in a shipping container from urban waste that would otherwise end up in landfill, examples are sawdust, coffee grounds and straw. Rhyze also run workshops to show how mushrooms can be grown at home and in community spaces.
An outdoor workshop was arranged at Inverleith in April which attracted a keen audience of around a dozen from sites in the city, someone even came from Glasgow. We were introduced to the wonders of mycelium that spreads and grows in a suitable substrate until it is ready to produce mushrooms. Corrugated cardboard is a good way to start, soak a piece about A4 size in water and fold it to make a 'burrito' with some mushroom spawn in the centre and seal in a sandwich bag. Leave in a dark place for a few weeks and it will turn white as the mycelium spreads. Apparently you can use supermarket mushrooms to do this. Once you've a good growth of mycelium it can be introduced in small pieces to a larger area to start over again and hopefully produce some mushrooms.
I've always had a fascination with mushrooms (see note) and was very pleased to be introduced to Rhyze Mushrooms; Edinburgh’s Community Mushroom Farm. They produce mushrooms in a shipping container from urban waste that would otherwise end up in landfill, examples are sawdust, coffee grounds and straw. Rhyze also run workshops to show how mushrooms can be grown at home and in community spaces.
An outdoor workshop was arranged at Inverleith in April which attracted a keen audience of around a dozen from sites in the city, someone even came from Glasgow. We were introduced to the wonders of mycelium that spreads and grows in a suitable substrate until it is ready to produce mushrooms. Corrugated cardboard is a good way to start, soak a piece about A4 size in water and fold it to make a 'burrito' with some mushroom spawn in the centre and seal in a sandwich bag. Leave in a dark place for a few weeks and it will turn white as the mycelium spreads. Apparently you can use supermarket mushrooms to do this. Once you've a good growth of mycelium it can be introduced in small pieces to a larger area to start over again and hopefully produce some mushrooms.
Sawdust and straw is set up
We did just that. I'd cleared a space about a metre by a half metre on my plot onto which we put wood chippings, straw and the leftover mycelium from an already fruited oyster mushroom bag. Watered and tucked in with black plastic, it was left to colonise it's new home.
Occasional checks showed it was getting whiter as the mycelium spread and after three months the black plastic was replaced with some protective fleece, slugs are keen on mushrooms too. Things then happened quickly, a week later there were clumps of oyster mushrooms growing quite vigorously. Harvest time!
About a kilo of mushrooms were picked and shared, the heap was given a good watering and fingers crossed for a second crop.
Contact Rhyze Mushrooms at rhyzemushrooms.org to arrange your own workshop.
Note - As a small lad I tried to grow mushrooms in our cellar. Mushroom spawn was mixed with horse droppings, plentiful then. Nothing happened for months. Imagine my joy at discovering a tiny button mushroom sitting on top of the heap. Short lived unfortuntely, Mother had put it there 'as encouragement'. If only she could see this!
Occasional checks showed it was getting whiter as the mycelium spread and after three months the black plastic was replaced with some protective fleece, slugs are keen on mushrooms too. Things then happened quickly, a week later there were clumps of oyster mushrooms growing quite vigorously. Harvest time!
About a kilo of mushrooms were picked and shared, the heap was given a good watering and fingers crossed for a second crop.
Contact Rhyze Mushrooms at rhyzemushrooms.org to arrange your own workshop.
Note - As a small lad I tried to grow mushrooms in our cellar. Mushroom spawn was mixed with horse droppings, plentiful then. Nothing happened for months. Imagine my joy at discovering a tiny button mushroom sitting on top of the heap. Short lived unfortuntely, Mother had put it there 'as encouragement'. If only she could see this!
Oyster mushrooms fruiting
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Close up
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Ready for the pot with butter and garlic
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