Today I thought I would share a little of what I have learned about Oyster Mushrooms, which are the variety of mushrooms I am attempting to grow in my apartment.
Earlier this week I received an exciting package in the mail. I opened the box and I found my beginners mushroom growing kit from a small farm up Island near Sayward. Oyster Mushrooms are a fairly easy to handle variety and when they grow they are delicious to fry or bake and add to stir fries or pastas. I’m very much looking forward to incorporating these newly grown mushies into dinner!
Maintaining this kit is relatively simple. You just need to maintain conditions that are optimal for mushroom growth. Luckily, with the fall here, the conditions are naturally occurring! I’ve set my mushroom kit up on my apartment balcony. Conveniently for the mushrooms, but not for me or any of the other plants I have been growing, recent construction has completely eliminated the sun I used to get. The indirect light, relatively cool temperature, and constant humidity I apply are all essential to the growth of good mushrooms. One very interesting thing that I have learned regarding the condition’s mushrooms are grown in is about the air quality they need. If the air is stale then oyster mushrooms can end up with long stems and small caps giving a woody fibrous texture to them. With too much air exchange however, the humidity becomes hard to maintain and they can try out and not fruit.
Throughout my preparations I have been exploring what the parts of a mushroom are called and how to identify them. There are three major sections of every mushroom (with lots of variety and exceptions); the mycelium (like roots), the stem, and the cap. The mycelium are the real bulk of the organism and are a beautiful network of tendrils under the ground. It’s here that the magic of decomposition and soil enrichment takes place.
The mushroom itself is nothing more than the fruiting body of the mycelium. On top of the cap we’ll find the scales, and under it the gills of the mushroom. Of course all finds of fungi appear in all different ways. Some don’t have clear caps or stems like the Chicken of the Woods.
Others have a clear cap but it looks nothing like what we normally expect mushrooms to look like, like morels.
This coming weekend I will be going out and taking a count of all the mushrooms and funguses I can find. I may even harvest a few to investigate more thoroughly at home. Once I get out and about we’ll get some photos up here to really dive into the parts of a mushroom and what kinds of wild fungi are around southern Vancouver Island.