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Hi I'm Tricia a California organic gardener if you've ever tasted a freshly harvested
mushroom
you know how flavorful that is and what a great companion for your garden vegetables
there are a variety of ways to go mushrooms. Outdoors in a garden bed or
outdoors on a log
or indoors in a box
which is what we're going to do today, it's the easiest method
when you get your kits check the date on the flap wait until this date to start the kits
but don't wait more than forty five days after the date
the oyster mushroom kit is a little bit easier when you open the box you'll see
a big plastic bag
this black plastic bag contains everything to grow the mushrooms
you can stand it on its side
like this and you'll have mushrooms that grow out in a shelf formation if you leave it
down they'll grow up like flowers
don't open the bag because the mushrooms will grow out of these little holes
the optimum temperature for these oyster mushrooms to grow is between
sixty five and sixty eight degrees which is a common household temperature
however
anywhere between fifty five and seventy five degrees you are going to get mushrooms
when you open up your kit your going to find detailed instructions - how to start it
a bag of peat moss which is the casing for your mushroom kit and
the compost which is where the mycellium live
this frosty white stuff is the mycellium if you don't see any yet
that just means the kit is newly inoculated
if its newly inoculated you can leave it alone for about seven days
or if its ready but you aren't you can store it for a couple of weeks at about fifty
degrees and then start it
you want to rough up the surface of the compost about a half an inch
this will give the mushrooms a good surface to grow in
I'm going to skim off about a cup
of this compost and mix it with the peat moss
if you want fewer but larger mushrooms
just skim off about a half a cup
now were going to add five cups of room temperature water to the casing mix
and were going to let it sit for fifteen minutes this is an important step
once the casing mix has absorbed all the water make sure it's mixed well
spread the peat moss casing evenly over the top of the kit make sure that it is
not densely packed
spread and fluff up the casing so that the mushrooms have a nice rough surface
to grow
the optimum temperature for Portabella mushroom to grow is between sixty
three degrees and sixty eight degrees however
you'll still get mushrooms as long as the temperatures stay
between sixty and seventy four degrees
while both kits should be kept out of direct sunlight
the oyster mushrooms need a little bit of light but the Potabellas don't really
care
make sure that the flaps are open on the box and that the plastic stays open
to prevent the kits from drying out make sure that they're placed away from any
direct heat source
and you could have some spore release
so it's a good idea to put down some newspaper to protect furniture and walls
of course harvesting on time will minimize for release
keep your kits moist
the portabellas like a misting about every other day
the oyster mushrooms need a little bit more water you want to spray these everyday and then
about two to three times a day when you start to see mushrooms
don't give them too much water because they don't have any place to drain
and in about two weeks you should start seeing some mushrooms
sometimes your kits will attract fungus gnats
if so just put out some of these yellow sticky traps
it's time to harvest are portabella mushrooms
you don't want to cut the mushrooms what you want to do is twist the cap
and pull
you know your portabellas are ready for harvest when you see that the veil has
torn away from the cap of the mushroom exposing the gills and
if the veil hasn't torn off that's o.k. harvest the mushroom as a cremini
mushroom
you don't want to wait to harvest your mushrooms
to the point where the mushroom cap starts to flip up
if you wait that long
your mushroom may release some spores
for oyster mushrooms pick them when they reach a mature size or when they stop
growing
only eat fresh looking mushrooms and be sure and cook them all before eating
oyster mushrooms will sometimes set too much fruit
and abort some of the crop
don't eat these pick them and discard them when you harvest
the first and second harvest will be the best and the kit will stay productive for
about twelve weeks
after that you can take the soil from the kit and put it in the vegetable
garden as a top dressing or put it in the compost pile, so
always cook your mushrooms
and grow organic for life!