Mushroom Cultivation

My mushroom foraging adventure inspired me to consider growing the fungus at home. Cameron Meeks, a mycologist from Ashland, Oregon, was visiting GaiaWise, a nearby farm, and offered a course called Mycology 101.

I discovered more about mushrooms, in four short hours, than I had learned in the past four decades. Granted it's not something I had actively pursued. I have a new-found respect for all the wonderful organisms that decompose other plants, creating rich healthy soil.

I also had the chance to pack rye grain into a large bag of sterilized straw. The grain was inoculated with oyster mushroom spawn and the straw was the substrate required to feed it.

I know it doesn't look like much right now, but I'm told that the mycelium will take hold and eventually everything in the bag will be infused with mushroom spawn. At that point, I'll be covering it with a humidity tent, misting it daily, and patiently waiting for it to fruit.