Mushrooms in the Garden
I’ve got a shady woodland backyard. I just moved to Philadelphia and I am planning the set up a new garden. To do that I am going to have to figure out some good plants for shade, maximize the sunlight I do have, and build soil. Mushrooms are one way to do just that! I’ve been reading a fun book recently called “How to Grow Mushrooms from Scratch: A Practical Guide to Cultivating Portobellos, Shiitakes, Truffles, and Other Edible Mushrooms” by Magdalena and Herbert Wurth. It is full of fun, creative and inspiring ideas of how to grow mushrooms and also how to beautifully weave them into the landscape. Imagine gourmet, edible mushrooms intentionally growing out of flower pots of nasturtiums, raised beds full of tomatoes and herbs, or an decorative "fence" of hanging shiitake logs. This book also seems to imply that creating a mini mushroom lab in one’s house is not that hard… I shall document my journey if my basement does indeed transform into a mini mushroom lab.
One method they describe is inoculating logs. Some species of mushrooms want logs in contact with the soil to properly establish (oyster mushrooms, enoki, sheathed woodtuft, nameko) while others prefer logs with no soil contact (shiitake). The Wurths recommend a method of putting clumps of moss (they staple the moss in place) on the tops of the logs to maintain moisture. Not only does this add a bit of charm to the garden, but it can give you a signal that the mushroom log may be drying out when the moss looks dehydrated. Mushrooms are full of health benefits, an excellent protein and source of vitamin D. We could all benefit from more mushrooms in our diets and cultivating them (especially in a shady yard) can be done by anyone. Now what could it look like in my backyard...
And late winter or early spring is a perfect time to start imagining what mushrooms in the garden could look like as well as looking for fresh logs.
Mushrooms and their wood preferences:
Shiitake: beech, hornbeam, oak and birch
Golden, Blue, Late and Italian Oyster Mushrooms: beech, hornbeam, birch, oak, maple
Pink Oyster or Elm Oyster: elm, beech
Sheathed Woodtuft: birch, beech, oak, maple, willow, alder
Nameko: birch, beech, oak
Enoki: willow
Lion’s Mane: beech, birch, maple, oak
Wood Ear: elder, poplar, willow
Reishi: beech, hornbeam
All the oysters can also be grown on straw bales, too, along with the impressive straw-and-wood-chip-loving mushroom called King Stropharia. Oyster mushrooms also love wood chips, coffee grounds, tea, toilet paper rolls, old books, cardboard... you get the idea.... they love carbon sources!
When looking for wood for mushrooms, try to get good quality wood that has come from fairly recently felled or fallen trees so other wild fungi haven’t had a chance to compete. It’s ideal if bark is intact - it helps hold in moisture and protect the mushrooms from competing organisms. Early spring is an amazing time to collect wood as the sap/sugar content is high. Wait a few weeks after obtaining the wood to inoculate with mushroom spawn as many trees have protective compounds within them that protects them from fungal growth (apparently especially true with oak!).
Mushroom spawn - the stuff used to colonize logs or straw or other growing medium with a specific mushroom - can be purchased online or produced yourself. If you are just starting it’s a great idea to purchase some from a local mushroom producer (Fungi Perfecti, Field and Forest Products, Gourmet Mushrooms, North Spore, Mycoterra, and MycoSupply are a couple good ones that ship) to increase your chance of success. Spawn is often sold as sawdust spawn, grain spawn or wood pellet/plug spawn. As you can imagine, the type of spawn is named for the material that is used to hold the inoculate. I like to use grain spawn as the grain has some good nutrition stored inside the kernals for the mushrooms as they get established. Plus grain spawn is fairly easy to work with!
For those of you who want to grow mushrooms immediately right now (who wouldn't? it's so much fun!), there are lots of kits available for both indoor or outdoor growing. Shiitake, oyster, and lion's mane are all easy to grow inside and don't take up much space. Perhaps you might even consider them as a centerpiece on your dining room table like we do for this shiitake mushroom kit below! A mushroom kit is the easiest way to get to get started growing your own on your way to building up the skills to make a backyard gourmet mushroom garden or forest!
oyster mushrooms growing out from coffee grounds from a local cafe under our side table. Grown from grain spawn.
Cool oyster mushrooms from a a mushroom kit. Notice the fat stalks and smaller brown caps.
A beautiful lion's mane mushroom. Tasty, really good for you. It is wonderous roasted with butter and sliced thinly to eat as an appetizer.