Jul 10
9
Mushroom Spawn Transfer
For everyone who missed the original mushroom spawn transfer, here are some photos. Elmer prepared a fresh batch of rye berries. He then transferred one jar from the original batch into those jars. The first batch was 100% successful – no mold! We'll see if round two is just as successful. A small amount of prepared mushroom spawn is transferred into another set of jars. Here is a photo of inoculated jars using leftover dowels from mushroom plugging.
We also experimented with the straw and basket method. First, we chopped up 3 baskets of straw into 1-3 inch pieces using a garbage pail and a weed whacker. The straw was then soaked for 2 hours in 2 coolers in140 degree water and anti-bacterial soap to sterilize it. We strained as much water as possible, added some lime to start the decomposition process, added more hot water (140-160 degrees) and let soak a little longer. At this point we strained the straw and let it cool a bit. Each basket was layered with straw and mushroom spawn inoculated rye berries (oyster mushrooms). There's going to be a lot of mushrooms for the November meal!
