MYCOLOGY IN THE GARDEN

Thank you for participating in our mushroom block giveaway and helping cycle organic waste into healthy soil! If you haven’t signed-up you can do so here.

On this page you will find several videos on how to recycle the blocks in the garden. Scroll down further for the address on where to pick-up them up in Austin or San Marcos.

If you can, please make a donations or become a member of the society and support our mission of mycology education and this initiative of reducing organic waste. Suggested donation is $5 a block. Be sure to tag us on social media once you get your mushrooms established and growing in your garden! You can also help spread the spores by telling your friends, neighbors, and family to sign up!

ABOUT THE MUSHROOM BLOCK GIVEAWAY

Many times mushroom farms have used sawdust blocks that have grown mushrooms once, and then end up getting tossed in the waste stream. In Austin, we are collaborating with a local mushroom farms to help keep used mushroom blocks out of the waste and get them into gardens around Austin and building healthy soil!

If you don’t live in Austin contact your local mushroom farm to see if you can take mushroom blocks to compost. Visit our map of Texas Mushroom Companies.

HOW-TO GROW MUSHROOMS IN THE GARDEN

In this Mycology in the Garden video series in collaboration with the Austin Organic Gardeners, we will show you five low-cost and low-tech ways to grow edible mushrooms outdoors in shady areas where plants may not thrive. You can also grow them alongside your vegetables, perennials, or in the shade of trees. These basic techniques require no special equipment or electricity, and can all be done outdoors using organic materials found such as straw, leaves, wood chips and logs which all make for great mushroom substrate.

Late fall into spring is the ideal time for growing mushrooms outdoors as mushrooms like Oysters, Lion’s Mane, and Wood Blewits flush in the wild.

Don’t have a garden

That’s okay, you can still regrow mushroom in the existing grow bag. Once they start to fruit, spritz them several times a day. Be sure to harvest before the caps start to curl upwards.

Below are links to detailed blog posts with the steps.

Part 1: How Fungi Benefits the Soil

Part 2: Grow Mushrooms on Wood Chips in The Garden

Part 3: Grow Mushrooms in a Straw Bale

Part 4: Grow Mushrooms in Containers

Part 5: Grow Mushrooms on Logs

Part 6: Grow Mushrooms using Trench Composting Method (most popular method)

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES

One benefit of growing mushrooms outdoors is that they have a huge amount more vitamin D than those grown indoors or without UV light. Check out this study.

A recent study examined if recycling spent oyster mushroom compost could help farmers/gardeners manage plant-parasitic nematodes in the field.

This study examines using Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) as fertilizer on beans, beets, garlic, greens, peas, peppers, radishes, and tomatoes. The conclusion: across all of the experiments the research has shown that SMS is a viable alternative to other fertilizers and soil conditioners and should be looked at as valuable product and not simply a waste material. It is a cost effective way for farmers and gardeners to build soil health while operating in a sustainable fashion and the benefits seem to get better with time and persist long after initial application.

ABOUT THE MUSHROOMS

There are several varieties of mushrooms that are available for pickup. Blue Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), Yellow Oyster (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) King Trumpet (Pleurotus eryngii), and Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus).

PICK UP LOCATIONS

Please note that it is first come, first serve but we try to keep the locations stocked as best as possible. There should be plenty if everyone takes up to 5 BLOCKS. If you are a farm, community garden or school garden and would like more blocks please let us know!