Solving the Morel Mysteries 🕵️‍♂️

Ah, the ever-elusive morels. When I thought I was getting a hang of them, they threw me a curveball. Here's the latest on our morel saga:

The Trichoderma Trauma: One of my morel bulk substrate blocks lost the battle against an unwanted guest: trichoderma. This notorious green fungus is a party crasher in the mushroom cultivation world. Acting swiftly, I disposed of the contaminated block to protect the rest of my bulk substrate.

The Silent Block: Our remaining morel block has been... quiet. While it's been free from contamination, there hasn't been much action on the colonization or sclerotia development. At this point, I'll take this block and spread it near some deciduous trees with excellent loamy soil, hoping that the mycelium will take hold and eventually fruit in the future. I'll be looking for these types of trees: Elm, Apple, Ash, Sycamore, Cottonwood, Red Oak, White Oak, and Tulip Poplar.

The Shiitake Showdown 🍄

Having been as long as it has since my last update, much has happened with these blocks since. With the weather cooling, I put both blocks into my garage for a cold shock, where I promptly forgot about them. Three days later, my wife came downstairs and said, "Do you know you have mushrooms growing in the garage?" I head to the garage to find both blocks with well-formed fruits. 

I decided to experiment with these blocks. I took them out of their bags, placed them on a piece of cardboard on a table, and left them to fruit in the garage. I wanted to see how well they could do in the garage by only going out to spray them once or twice a day. After five days spent in the garage with my sporadic misting, I was happy with the results. I was able to get a pound of mushrooms off each block.

While this certainly wasn't the optimal method for fruiting my blocks, and I would have gotten more had I put them into my fruiting chamber, it was still fun to see how they would do at a time when I had a lot going on between family and work.

Oysterpalooza: Lessons Learned 📉

Incoming unpopular opinion: I do not enjoy growing oysters. I have not experienced the same enjoyment from growing oysters as cultivating all the other varieties I've tried.

That being said, I have achieved quite a bit of success. Since my last update, I've harvested 1+ pound fruits from Italian oysters (Pleurotus pulmonarius) and Golden oysters (Pleurotus citrinopileatus). I gave these fruits to friends since oysters aren't my favourite.

Unfortunately, my King oysters (Pleurotus eryngii) and Blue oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus) became contaminated with bacterial blotch. I learned a valuable lesson about maintaining a clean fruiting chamber and ensuring proper cleaning of the humidifier and exhaust fan internals.

Grainspawn & Liquid Culture 🧪

The jar of Antler Reishi (Ganoderma lingzhi) was eventually transferred to bulk substrate, but that substrate was never fully colonized. I suspect some contamination in the grain spawn that I couldn't see or identify. I plan to try Reishi again and hope to have more success this time.

My Hiatus 🍄✨

The absence since September's close wasn't intentional but a result of life's whirlwind. Juggling family, work, and mycological pursuits proved challenging. Amid the quiet, however, there was reflection, refinement, and an eagerness to share the evolving fungal narrative.

Your patience and understanding mean the world. As we resume our mycological expedition, I'm excited to unveil new chapters, discoveries, and the joy of growing together.

Happy Cultivating! 🌿🍄

Scott

Hope you're all doing well. As someone who's always juggling tech, family, and a never-ending curiosity for fungi, I've got a lot to share this week. So, let's dive right in, shall we?

Wine Cap Woes 🍷

First up, let's talk about my wine cap blocks. They're oozing yellow metabolites like they're trying to communicate with me. Seriously, it's like they're sweating out their own version of Gatorade. They're about 90% colonized, but I'm not sure if they're just being finicky or if I messed up the shake-and-bake method. Wine caps are known to be a bit rebellious when it comes to sterile substrates, so who knows? I might just use them to inoculate some straw in my garden.

Morel Mysteries 🕵️‍♂️

My morels are doing their thing, but it's like they're playing hide-and-seek with their mycelium. They're producing sclerotia, which is a good sign, but it's hard to tell if they're fully colonized. It's like trying to find Waldo in a crowd of candy canes.

Shiitake Showdown 🍄

I've got two shiitake blocks at different stages. One's turning brown like it's trying to get a tan, while the other one's still pale as a ghost. I'm waiting for the first one to hit that sweet 75-80% brown mark before moving it to the fruiting chamber.

Oysterpalooza 🌊

My Italian oyster is at about 40% growth, while the king oyster is at 25%. The blue oyster is almost ready for the big leagues, and the golden oyster is... well, let's just say it's taking its sweet time.

Grainspawn & Liquid Culture 🧪

I've got a jar of antler reishi that's acting like a teenager—started off strong, then got lazy after a shake. I'm keeping an eye on it because, you know, ADHD brain here needs to know why things slow down. On the liquid culture front, I've been experimenting with Karo (corn syrup), and let me tell you, it's like HD clarity. I can see everything that's happening in there, and it's beautiful.

Action Items 📝

• Keep an eye on those wine caps and maybe give them a new home in the garden.

• Do some detective work on the morels and shiitakes.

• Research the peculiar behaviors of king blue oyster and antler reishi.

• Consider making Karo my go-to for liquid cultures.

• Evict the pink oyster blocks from the fruiting chamber before they throw a contamination party.

Questions for the Hive Mind 🤔

• What's up with the yellow metabolites in wine caps?

• Any tips on assessing morel colonization?

• Got any golden oyster success stories?

That's it for this week, folks! As always, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts, questions, or random mushroom memes. Keep growing and stay curious!

Scott

It's been a few weeks since my last post, and I'm working towards being more consistent with my updates on my journey. Your continued support and enthusiasm fuel this venture, and I'm excited to share the new discoveries and insights I've gathered.

The Mushroom-Fruiting Forecast

I've covered a lot of ground since my last post. A close friend, a data scientist, and a fellow outdoor enthusiast became interested in creating a model to predict mushroom-fruiting conditions and locations. While researching and working on the model's first concept and looking for data sources, we stumbled upon the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, or GBIF. The sheer amount of data they have available covering every major taxonomic group caused us to shift our perspective completely.

While our focus will remain on mushrooms, we're now approaching the creation of this model from the perspective of applying it to any species in any kingdom and demonstrating the interconnectedness of all species and their dependency on one another. Let's get started on building the proof of concept!

Getting Into Grain

I've spent most of my time learning and preparing to create grain spawn to inoculate and colonize. I plan on using my grain spawn to inoculate bulk substrate bags containing a mixture of sawdust and wheat bran to supplement.

The most time-consuming part of the entire process was gathering all the materials needed before I started. Looking back, I could have saved a lot of time by trusting myself and accepting that I would have some failures. Here's a list of the materials I gathered before starting:

• Liquid Culture: six different species that I ordered from Etsy.

  • Chestnut (Pholiota adiposa)

  • Lion's Mane (Hieracium erinaceus)

  • Black Morel (Morchella elata)

  • Pink Oyster (Pleurotus djamor)

  • Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

  • Red Winecap (Stropharia rugosoannulata)

• Red Hard Wheat Berries: I didn't worry about finding Rye Berries.

• Mason Jars: 500ml regular mouth mason jars from Walmart.

• Specialized Lids: I made my own, but you can order from Etsy.

• Pressure Cooker: I used my Instant Pot that was lying around.

• Strainer: used to drain the water from the grain after boiling.

• Still Air Box: I made mine by drilling holes in a tote I already had.

Learning and experimenting with something new can be intimidating. This time was no different; there were some false starts before I could finally sit down and trust that I had learned what I could and convince myself I just needed to get started. Ultimately, the steps I took were:

• Source and order liquid culture to inoculate the grains.

• Purchase grain from my local bulk foods store.

• Rinse and clean the grain, then soak in water for 24 hours.

• Boil grains for 10 minutes, starting the timer once rolling.

• Drain and allow grains to cool while drying any excess moisture.

• Fill mason jars with hydrated grains, leaving some space.

• Sterilize the jars with a pressure cooker for 90 minutes at 15 PSI.

• Let the sterilized jars cool to room temperature.

• Inoculate the jars using a clean environment like a still air box.

When all was said and done, preparing, sterilizing, and inoculating my grain spawn took two days. The result was 12 mason jars of inoculated grain spawn using 6 gourmet mushroom species.

Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter and keep an on my Twitter. I'll be providing updates along the way as each jar colonizes. It's been about one week since I inoculated the grain spawn, and I have yet to identify any contamination.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Here's to another week filled with growth, exploration, and mycological marvels!

Cultivating curiosity,

Scott

Hello, fellow mushroom enthusiasts,

Seeing so many of you joining me on this journey has been incredibly motivating. It's hard to believe a week has passed since we embarked on this exciting venture together. I'm eager to share an update on my progress and some of the ideas I've been considering.

This week, I found myself diving headfirst into the complex world of fungi, exploring their biology and crucial ecological roles. Each nugget of information I've uncovered has felt like striking gold - a tiny treasure adding to the puzzle of understanding fungi.

One such idea that has captivated my thoughts is a mushroom-fruiting forecasting model. Imagine predicting the prime times and locations for foraging your favorite gourmet mushroom based on weather patterns, tree species, mycorrhizal associations, and more. The availability and potential of big data in today's age make this concept even more captivating.

However, this journey isn't about reaching the destination, much like the mycelium that works in secret, colonizing a substrate before exploding into a bounty of mushrooms. It's about appreciating the growth, the discoveries, and the joy of exploring the fascinating world of fungi at our own pace. I've often dived full throttle into projects, only to risk burnout or lose interest. I'm learning to slow down, step back, and truly immerse myself in the journey rather than fixating solely on the destination.

I invite you to share your thoughts, questions, and personal experiences. Have you stumbled upon any mycological wonders recently? Do you have any insights or novel ideas about the mushroom fruiting forecasting model? Would you be interested in contributing?

Thank you for joining me on this journey. Here's to another week filled with growth, exploration, and mycological marvels!

Cultivating curiosity,

Scott

Hello, and welcome to Wildspore!

My name is Scott, and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey. I am fairly new to the world of mushrooms, and Wildspore is a platform for me to share my exploration and discoveries with all of you. I invite you to learn alongside me about the complexities and wonders of mushrooms - from their cultivation and foraging to their uses in cooking, health, permaculture, and homesteading.

Why Mushrooms?

Mushrooms have always intrigued me. They hold a mysterious allure with their myriad forms, their roles in our ecosystems, and their uses in various cultures around the world. Plus, the fact that they have the potential to enhance our health and help us live sustainably makes them an even more captivating subject to explore.

What Should You Expect?

As I unravel the secrets of mushrooms, I'll be sharing my insights and the knowledge I gain with you on a weekly basis. Here's what you can look forward to:

• My trials and successes with mushroom cultivation and foraging, complete with guides based on my successes and failures.

• Culinary adventures with mushrooms, including a mix of tried-and-tested and experimental recipes.

• Exploring the health benefits of different mushroom varieties, based on current research and traditional wisdom.

• Discovering how mushrooms can be integrated into permaculture practices and homesteading, as I implement these practices myself.

Your feedback, suggestions, and questions are highly encouraged. I hope that Wildspore can become a community of learners and enthusiasts where we all can share our mushroom-related experiences and grow together.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I am excited to embark on this mushroom exploration, and I can't wait to share my first learning experience with you in our upcoming edition. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or ideas, or even just to share your own experiences and thoughts on mushrooms. Here's to our shared journey into the wonderful world of mushrooms!

Cheers,

Scott