Mushroom fruiting chamber project

wireme · Dec 4, 2016

Ive been growing edible mushrooms in a tarped mist house structure as a side business for a couple years now. It's time to build a better structure to be more climate controlled, bug free and year round.

This is the beginning. Perimeter footings and back retaining walls poured. Dug into the hill by hand. Sand and gravel collected from an abandoned pit. Mixed in a wheelbarrow and packed up the hill in buckets. Tarped and heated now, -20c forecast in a couple nights, hope I can keep'er warm enough to cure! Due to finances the project has to be built with almost no cost. It's possible for me. Dirtbag low cost building is just way more time and work than building with money that's all. I've got a little bandsaw mill so redneck logging and milling of 2x6's is next.
This was probably the hardest part. Close to a cubic yard, heavy work.

wireme · Dec 4, 2016

This was the building site mostly dug prior to putting up the formwork for the concrete. This section of hill is a big jumble of rock, excellent drainage so frost heaving of the footings during winters shouldn't be a problem. Spent half a day heating the rocks with a tiger torch before the pour.

This is the contraption that I will use to produce all the lumber I need. It's a bit of a pain in cold weather too, gotta keep the blade lubricated, lines freeze, ice builds up on everything...Frozen wood cuts nice though.

Eric Group · Dec 4, 2016

I used to know a guy in college who grew "edible muschrooms"- he sho wasn't bragging about in on a website though.. you got balls man.

wireme · Dec 4, 2016

Eric Group said:
I used to know a guy in college who grew "edible muschrooms"- he sho wasn't bragging about in on a website though.. you got balls man.

Oysters

Shitake

Bunch of other varieties. Nuthin Psilly going on here.

Djtommy · Dec 4, 2016

Do those shiitake grow in same style as those oysters?
I have not seen like that, normally always some space between each one, they look like they stick together

wireme · Dec 4, 2016

It varies a bit. Sometimes I'll get less fruits on a block, usually larger and harvest weight winds up being much the same. They don't stick together but harvesting a hundred small ones is more work. Log grown Shitake usually are spaced apart much more, these are sawdust blocks.

Djtommy · Dec 4, 2016

Looks nice, shitake is one of my favorite mushrooms.
Is that shimeji i see in the back?

wireme · Dec 4, 2016

Djtommy said:
Looks nice, shitake is one of my favorite mushrooms.
Is that shimeji i see in the back?

No, never grown those. I've bought them a couple times and they were so bitter I couldn't even eat them is that normal? It's king oyster you're looking at there.
I have grown a closely related species that grows here a few times and they are pretty good.
I really like Shitake too, it took a while, the flavour was strong at first but it grew on me and they are a favourite now. Lions mane is another favourite of mine, ever eat those?
I have had a hard time with lions mane in the outdoor misthouse. When water drips directly onto them they bruise and fungus gnats get into them and they turn brown and stinky, gross. This new structure will be sealed tight with air filters and humidifiers rather than misters to combat those problems. It will open the door to some of the more sensitive species I hope.

Djtommy · Dec 4, 2016

i never really thought shimeji's taste as bitter, in fact i think they dont have a lot of flavour at all.
never ate lions mane, interesting looking thing.
drunk some shaga tea the other day, supposed to be good for health. not sure if where you live there are silverbirches. if you have you should keep an eye out on those as well.

JoeR · Dec 4, 2016

We grow shiitake, dont do anything fancy like you though. Bought some logs inocculated with them a year or two ago. Threw them in the woods... They still pop up in good numbers after rain. Have to dry them theres so many.

Cool project, LOT of work

wireme · Dec 5, 2016

Djtommy said:
i never really thought shimeji's taste as bitter, in fact i think they dont have a lot of flavour at all.
never ate lions mane, interesting looking thing.
drunk some shaga tea the other day, supposed to be good for health. not sure if where you live there are silverbirches. if you have you should keep an eye out on those as well.

We have some birch hearabouts, chaga is uncommon here though. I found my first one last month after 2 years of watching for it.

wireme · Dec 5, 2016

JoeR said:
We grow shiitake, dont do anything fancy like you though. Bought some logs inocculated with them a year or two ago. Threw them in the woods... They still pop up in good numbers after rain. Have to dry them theres so many.

Cool project, LOT of work

Toss some logs in the woods and wait for rain eh? That's great that they grow well for you. I made some colonized dowel plugs last spring and knocked up a few logs. We don't know yet if Shitake can overwinter here and in our climate it might take two or three years for a log to colonize and start fruiting. If they work I will make lots more.
I'll update the thread as I progress with the project. Not sure how fast I'll be to get this up. It was a rush to get the concrete done while possible. Now I have something to build on top of whenever life allows, we'll see what happens.

JoeR · Dec 5, 2016

wireme said:
Toss some logs in the woods and wait for rain eh? That's great that they grow well for you. I made some colonized dowel plugs last spring and knocked up a few logs. We don't know yet if Shitake can overwinter here and in our climate it might take two or three years for a log to colonize and start fruiting. If they work I will make lots more.
I'll update the thread as I progress with the project. Not sure how fast I'll be to get this up. It was a rush to get the concrete done while possible. Now I have something to build on top of whenever life allows, we'll see what happens.

Well... Technically we threw them in the woods and covered them with hay for the first year... But, we dont do anything now, and half the time we dont even remember to check them and they go to waste

I'll post a pic if there are any this week.

Hopefully you wont have to wait three years for yours; ours took less time than "the guy" (we bought them on craigslist

) told us they would.

Also, what do you do to preserve all those shrooms? We just dry ours in the sun; do you do something similar?

Solange · Dec 5, 2016

Love growing oysters and shitake! I use both bags and logs myself. Since he said he was doing it as a side business I am guessing he is selling them to local restaurants or farmers markets etc. Know a couple people doing that. I dry what I don't eat too Joe

Solange · Dec 5, 2016

wireme, if you are hooked up to restaurants etc. I am betting you already know this but lion's mane is where the money is because of how quickly it turns to black goo!!

wireme · Dec 6, 2016

Solange said:
wireme, if you are hooked up to restaurants etc. I am betting you already know this but lion's mane is where the money is because of how quickly it turns to black goo!!

You've got them mixed up there, shaggy mane is the one that turns to goo! Heat up the frypan before you even pick those.

But that is what makes it possible to compete against the big boys on a small local scale with mushrooms. Many gourmet mushrooms are fragile for packing and have a very short shelf life so it's hard to grow large scale and ship distances. That's why the button mushrooms are so common they can be shipped and stored for a long time.
It's still a logistical pain for small local growers though dealing with fragile and short shelf life produce. Shiitake are really good storage wise. Pink oysters start to look bad within a few days of picking.
We sell to a couple local restaurants a weekly farmers market and a local produce store. It's difficult to consistently produce just the right amount that we can sell while they are still nice and fresh looking.

wireme · Dec 6, 2016

JoeR said:
Well... Technically we threw them in the woods and covered them with hay for the first year... But, we dont do anything now, and half the time we dont even remember to check them and they go to waste I'll post a pic if there are any this week.

Hopefully you wont have to wait three years for yours; ours took less time than "the guy" (we bought them on craigslist) told us they would.

Also, what do you do to preserve all those shrooms? We just dry ours in the sun; do you do something similar?

We try to sell them all fresh but we do put quite a few out in the sun to dry, seems like the best way to make it rain.
We try to have a good stash of dried and frozen shrooms for ourselves for winter, lots have just wound up going to waste.

Solange · Dec 6, 2016

wireme said:
You've got them mixed up there, shaggy mane is the one that turns to goo! Heat up the frypan before you even pick those.

But that is what makes it possible to compete against the big boys on a small local scale with mushrooms. Many gourmet mushrooms are fragile for packing and have a very short shelf life so it's hard to grow large scale and ship distances. That's why the button mushrooms are so common they can be shipped and stored for a long time.
It's still a logistical pain for small local growers though dealing with fragile and short shelf life produce. Shiitake are really good storage wise. Pink oysters start to look bad within a few days of picking.
We sell to a couple local restaurants a weekly farmers market and a local produce store. It's difficult to consistently produce just the right amount that we can sell while they are still nice and fresh looking.

good catch! haha thanks for the correction. I know something of the business of the local thing because I've worked in a lot of restaurants. I appreciate the hustle - it definitely fills a void

wireme · Jan 8, 2017

Coming along, sort of. Bit by bit when's there's time. Unfortunately used up all the 2x6 and the mill is not cooperating. Spent half the day arguing with it yesterday to no avail. Might have to pull the engine off and bring it to a shop.
Looks like I managed to keep the concrete foundation warm enough to cure though, it was touch and go given the temps.

CWTurner · Jan 19, 2017

Hey @wireme,

I've never seen mushrooms growing like you had posted, but last week I was in the Reading Terminal Market downtown in Philly and saw this guy.

My daughter and her BF, who are chefs, got quite excited when they saw this.
CW

Mushroom fruiting chamber project

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