How we grow Oyster Mushrooms on our suburban homestead

We start off by preparing our substrate, which in this case is straw purchased from Lowes

The mycelium will colonize the straw much better if you cut it into pieces no larger than 4 inches...I use a weed whacker to do this, but you may find a better way

The prepared straw must now be pasteurized. We use the hot water method. A pillow case, will help keep the straw together for ease of handling.

Pasteurization gives our oyster mushroom spawn a chance to colonize our straw substrate before any bad fungus can. We use a propane burner and a 60 quart pot to reach 160-180 degrees F for at least an hour ( no more as sterilization is NOT our goal ).
A few bricks also help hold down the straw.

A clean work surface is needed to work with our pasteurized straw and spawn. We want to avoid contamination. We use a spray bottle and alcohol to spray down our hands and surfaces.

Allow your straw to cool down. Smoking hot straw will kill your spawn.

For this grow, we used an 18 gal tote...which is not the most efficient...Drill a few holes around 3/4" for mushrooms to sprout. Cover them with tape until container is fully colonized and ready to begin fruiting stage ( which will be at least ten days ). Make sure your tote is clean and has been sprayed down with some alcohol.

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We purchased this spawn from http://www.fieldforest.net/
In the future we will also show how me make our own...

Next, with clean hands , layer in a mix of spawn and straw

Once fully mixed, we cover the tote and sit in a dark area ( its already a black tote so...) for about ten days at 70 degrees F for it to completely colonize. We check on this type of set up once a day or so to "burp" the container ( opening the lid for a second or two to allow some air exchange ).

This picture is at 7 days and is about 70% colonized. The smell of healthy mycelium is almost sweet and very earthy . It is the best indication that everything is going well. Beware of anything green or "off" smells.

After the tote is fully colonized, we remove the tape covering the holes and place the tote in our fruit chamber, exposing it to light, humidity and a temperature between 55-65 degrees F.

Our fruit chamber is essentially a plastic tent in our garage with a heater and cheap humidifier...

From anywhere between 7-14 days, you should begin to see pins...

Keep the humidity and conditions consistent and you will see a nice flush

Thanks for reading! Let me know what methods you use