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Growing delicious mushrooms at home can be as easy as adding water to a mail-order kit or as advanced as isolating your own mushroom spores. David Falkowski from Open Minded Organics Farm in Long Island explains the differences. Mushroom kits are usually used to grow shitake mushrooms. Purchased ready-to-grow by mail order, the kits consist of blocks made from a "substrate" or growing medium of sawdust and a mixture of grains. Each supplier has a different strain of mushrooms with different preferences for the makeup of the substrate. A crop of mushrooms from the block is called a "flush"; each block should deliver three flushes, providing a total of 1 ½ to 2 ½ lbs of mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms require a more labor intensive method involving pasteurized straw in a sealed bag. The internet is a great place to find a source for the mushroom spawn (or mycelium). Spawn will take three weeks to colonize the straw at temperature of 65 degrees after which the mushrooms will start fruiting or "pinning". One week later they will be ready for harvest. Materials:Mushroom kit Tools:Mister Directions (kit method):1. Soak block from kit overnight in bowl of water. 2. Place block on plate in an area of diffused light and normal household temperatures. Spray 4-5 times daily as fruiting takes place (2-5 days). Small mushrooms will start to appear. 3. Harvest first flush of mushrooms one week later. Repeat process to harvest 2 more flushes. 4. Block will become brittle and light after the fungi have decomposed it. At this point it can be added to compost heap or directly to garden soil. Directions (straw method): 2. Cool straw to lukewarm on surface sterilized with alcohol. 3. Take bag of mushroom spawn or (available from the internet). 4. Place straw into large plastic turkey bag. Mix in mushroom spawn (called "metering") per package instructions. Use twist-tie to close bag tightly. Label bag with type of mushroom and date. 5. Mist contents of bag several times daily. Mushrooms will start to fruit (or "pin") in about three weeks. One week later, harvest mushrooms. Special Thanks:
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