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How to Make Outdoor Mushroom Beds
Growing edible mushrooms outside can be incredibly easy and inexpensive - sometimes easier than growing vegetables! You don’t need a green thumb or any special equipment to incorporate this nutrient-dense food into your backyard or garden.
The mushroom bed method is perfect for people wanting to grow mushrooms outdoors, who don't want to make a big investment and are looking for a fast return on their work. The benefits of growing outside are almost innumerable. Not only does it provide a cost-effect supply of healthy and delicious food, but you’ll also be able to access species not commercially available while improving the quality of your soil - a big bonus for gardeners!
Unlike intensive indoor cultivation or growing on logs, making mushroom beds is easy and doesn't require any special equipment or technology. Often, you can expect to harvest in the same season! All you need is sawdust spawn or grain spawn, straw or wood chips, and a consistent supply of water to keep your bed moist.
A note on spawn
Both sawdust and grain spawn can be used to make outdoor beds, but we recommend using sawdust spawn in most cases. While grain spawn may be more nutritious, it is more expensive and susceptible to contamination and predation than sawdust.
Wine Cap mushroom beds
Perhaps the easiest mushroom to grow outside is the Wine Cap, Stropharia rugoso-annulata. This is a tasty mushroom you’re not likely to find at the grocery store. You may hear it called King Stropharia or Garden Giant, as sometimes the caps can grow as big as plates. It’s an incredibly robust mushroom, growing quickly on all sorts of woody debris and resilient to a range of environmental conditions. If inoculated in the spring, it can produce mushrooms in as little as 2 months and keep fruiting for several years!
Site Selection: Wine Caps grow best in partial shade but can tolerate some direct sun. Ideal locations may be at the edge of fields and woods, around the base of trees, in perennial gardens, or as part of the mulch in and around vegetable gardens where plant foliage may provide some shade. One bag of 5lb spawn can inoculate a 4’ x 4’ space or roughly 16 square feet.
Sourcing Materials: These decomposer fungi thrive on straw and hardwood chips. Straw bales or bagged chopped straw can often be found at garden centers, agricultural supply stores, or even nearby farms. Chopping the straw into 1 - 3 inch pieces gives the mycelium the ideal particle size to spread across. Larger pieces will work too, but should be tamped down some to reduce air pockets.
Sourcing Materials: These decomposer fungi thrive on straw and hardwood chips. Straw bales or bagged chopped straw can often be found at garden centers, agricultural supply stores, or even nearby farms. Chopping the straw into 1-3” pieces gives the mycelium the ideal particle side to spread across. Larger pieces will work, too, but should be tamped down some to reduce air pockets.
For denser materials, Wine cap especially love soft hardwoods, like poplars and aspens. Although softwoods aren’t generally recommended for mushroom cultivation, Wine Cap can tolerate some in your mix. Shoot for no more than 25%. You can even combine wood chips and sawdust. Wine Cap seems to do better if the beds have a variety of particle sizes. Avoid branches or other very large pieces of wood as these take longer to colonize and can create too much air space in the bed.
If you can, look for freshly cut chips. It’ll give the Wine Cap a leg up on any microbial competition. These tough fungi can grow well on more mature materials, too, as long as there’s no other obvious fungal activity. Many folks have success with the chip mixes coming from roadside crews pruning under power lines - and it's a free resource!
For denser materials, Wine Caps especially love soft hardwoods, like poplars and aspens. Although conifers aren’t generally recommended for mushroom cultivation, Wine Caps can tolerate some in your mix. Shoot for no more than 50%. You can even combine wood chips and sawdust. Wine Caps seem to do better if the beds have a variety of particle sizes. Avoid branches or other very large pieces of wood as these take longer to colonize and can create too much air space in the bed.
If you can, look for freshly cut chips. It’ll give your mushrooms a leg up on any microbial competition. These tough fungi can grow well on more mature materials, too, as long as there’s no other obvious fungal activity. Many folks have success with the chip mixes coming from roadside crews pruning under power lines, and it's a free resource!
Site Prep: Before you inoculate, you probably want to prepare your space. Clear out any plants or debris until you get to bare ground, wine cap likes to be in contact with the soil. Some folks dig down a couple of inches so that when the bed is finished, it’s level with the surrounding space. You can also create a raised bed specifically for your mushrooms! We made a raised bed this summer using logs inoculated last year with shiitake spawn. If there’s grass or stubborn weeds growing on your site, you can help to smother them by laying down some brown cardboard first. Feel free to get creative with your bed shape!
Build Your Bed: If you’ve gardened before, you may be familiar with the lasagna method for sheet mulching. This process is pretty similar - stacking layers of mushroom spawn and substrate - the material for it to grow on. Some folks put down a cardboard layer first. This is optional, but can help in weed suppression. You can also choose to soak your substrate ahead of time if you’ve got a tub or other container.
1. Break up your Wine Cap sawdust spawn.
2. Spread your material of choice over the soil, about 1 inch deep.
3. Sprinkle the spawn on top, crumbling any big chunks up as you go.
4. Add a second layer of material about 2 inches thick.
5. Repeat until you’ve run out of spawn or reached your desired bed height.
6. A layer of the substrate should be on top to protect the spawn from exposure to the elements.
7. Thoroughly water the bed and keep it moist while the mycelium colonizes.
Maintenance: Don’t let your mushroom bed dry out! This is critical in the first few weeks, while the mycelium spreads through your bed. Fungi need a pretty moist environment to grow - but not soaking wet, there’s a balance to strive for. If your bed is too water-logged, it’ll create an anaerobic environment where bacteria will flourish. Water your bed as much as you’d water a vegetable garden. You can also cover your wood chips with straw to act as a mulch layer for moisture retention. Alternatively, a tarp or other plastic sheeting can be used to prevent the bed from drying out. This is useful for straw beds or in especially hot or dry climates.
Once established, Wine Cap beds require little maintenance outside of occasional watering during droughts. You can check on your bed every week or so to monitor moisture levels and how well the mycelium is growing. Once the mycelium has completely grown through the chips, you may notice tiny mushrooms (called "pins"), forming. If you’ve covered your bed with a tarp or plastic, that’s a cue to remove it so mushrooms can form. This process can take anywhere between 4 weeks to a few months after inoculation, depending on your climate, substrate, and how heavily you spawned it.
Fresh woody material can be added each year to maintain the health of the bed and give it some extra food to eat. Some inoculated material from one bed can be used as spawn to inoculate new beds on your property, or you can pass it along to a friend. The gift that keeps on growing!
Maintenance: Don’t let your mushroom bed dry out! This is critical in the first few weeks, while the mycelium spreads through your bed. Fungi need a pretty moist environment to grow. But not soaking wet, there’s a balance to strive for. If your bed is too water-logged, it’ll create an anaerobic environment where bacteria will flourish. Water your bed as much as you’d water a vegetable garden.
You can also cover your wood chips with straw to act as a mulch layer for moisture retention. Or, a tarp or other plastic sheeting can be used to prevent the bed from drying out. This is useful for straw beds or in especially hot or dry climates.
Once established, Wine Cap beds require little maintenance outside of occasional watering during droughts. You can check on your bed every week or so to monitor moisture levels and how well the mycelium is growing. Once the mycelium has completely grown through the chips, you may notice tiny mushrooms, or pins, forming. If you’ve covered your bed with a tarp or plastic, that’s a cue to remove it so mushrooms can form. This process can take anywhere between 4 weeks to a few months after inoculation, depending on your climate, substrate, and how heavily you spawned it.
Fresh woody material can be added each year to maintain the health of the bed, and give it some extra food to eat.
Some inoculated material from one bed can be used as spawn to inoculate new beds on your property, or you can pass it along to a friend. The gift that keeps on growing!
Oyster mushroom beds
Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.), are the most vigorous mushrooms that we cultivate, readily outgrowing competitors and potential contaminants. Oyster mushrooms are pretty adaptable both in temperature and substrate preference. They’ll grow on an array of materials, including agricultural byproducts, coffee grounds, and even invasive species like knotweed or autumn olive. Meaty in texture and flavor, they’re truly a culinary delight. For these reasons, Oyster mushrooms are well suited for beginners looking to get their feet wet in outdoor mushroom growing.
The same low-tech method described for growing Wine Cap in beds can be applied to outdoor oyster mushroom cultivation. While Oysters will grow on hardwood wood chips, they absolutely love straw and prefer that to denser woody substrates. It’s important to use straw instead of hay because hay contains seed heads, nutrient-dense clusters ripe for contamination, and will sprout into weeds in your bed. Sometimes the best material is the one easiest to find! You can soak your straw beforehand if you want, spray between layers, or water it all in one go at the end. All the Oyster varieties can be grown with this method including: Blue, Pink, Golden, Italian, and Snow. Try some different ones out! Heat-loving species like Pink Oysters may not overwinter depending on your grow zone. We recommend making beds when outdoor temperatures average above 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
The same low-tech method described above can be applied to outdoor Oyster mushroom cultivation. Unlike Wine Cap, Oysters prefer straw to denser woody substrates. It’s important to use straw instead of hay because hay contains seed heads, nutrient-dense clusters ripe for contamination, and will sprout into weeds in your bed. You can soak your straw beforehand if you want, spray between layers, or water it all in one go at the end. Feel free to use other agricultural byproducts here in place of straw - sometimes the best material is the one easiest to find!
Almond Agaricus mushroom beds
Almond Agaricus is a warm weather loving mushroom that grows quickly and can fruit on a similar timeline as Wine Cap. This mushroom pairs perfectly with garden beds, container gardens, or landscape pots as it loves regular watering. We had success companion-planting ours in a small greenhouse next to bell peppers, summer squash, and tomatoes. Almond grows well in nutritious garden soil in association with plants that also benefit from the same conditions. A casing layer such as coco coir, peat moss or even straw can help retain moisture and boost yield. We recommend making Almond Agaricus beds when day time temperatures average around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grain spawn or sawdust spawn will work well here since Oyster mushrooms grow so quickly. All the Oyster varieties can be grown with this method including: blue, pink, golden, italian, black king, king trumpet, and snow. Try some different ones out!
- Find a semi-shady location for your bed, clear away plants and debris
- Break up your bag of Oyster spawn - grain or sawdust will do just fine.
- Put down a solid layer of straw as the base of your bed.
- Sprinkle spawn evenly over the straw, crumbling any big chunks you find.
- Repeat as many times as you want!
- A layer of straw should be on top to protect the spawn from direct exposure to the elements.
- Thoroughly water your bed & keep moist while the fungi grow.
Harvest
Before you pick any mushrooms, it’s extremely important that you properly identify them. It’s possible for other native fungi to sprout from your bed, so best to be sure of what you’re eating. Luckily, Wine Cap and Oyster mushrooms are pretty easy to identify. Spore prints can go a long way in helping you differentiate one species from another. There are some great ID books available here, here, and here and forums on social media to help you confirm your find. This is also a great resource for learning how to observe mushrooms, with links to dichotomous keys.
If you’re 100% positive of the ID, great! Harvest your mushrooms a little before their caps flatten out. That’s usually before they release their spores, which can affect the mushroom’s flavor. Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut them, or reaching under the cap, twist the mushroom to free it from its mycelial anchor.
Enjoy the bounty of your mushroom beds! Share with us what you’ve grown!
Blewit mushroom beds
Blewit is less commonly cultivated than many other species in part because their yield can be unpredictable. Often found in garden paths and in neglected compost piles, they are activated by cold weather, typically fruiting in fall after the first frost. Similar to Almond Agaricus, Blewit likes a complex material to grow on. Consider making a blend of semi-composted manure, spent mushroom blocks, hardwood leaves, sawdust, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, twigs, tree bark, cereal straws, and bean hulls, corn stalks. Use material that is abundant and accessible in your area and avoid anything that is chemically treated.
Integrating your garden
Mushroom beds are a great way to utilize shadier parts of your land or garden. You can even turn your garden paths into mushroom production powerhouses or choose to integrate the beds into permaculture and companion planting plans. Simply inoculate your mulch with Wine Cap, Nameko, or Oyster mushroom spawn, keep it moist, and watch them grow!
Harvesting
Before you pick any mushrooms, it’s extremely important that you properly identify them. It’s possible for other native fungi to sprout from your bed, so best to be sure of what you’re eating. Luckily, Wine Cap and Oyster mushrooms are pretty easy to identify. Spore prints can go a long way in helping you differentiate one species from another. There are some great ID books available and forums on social media to help you confirm your find. MushroomExpert.com is a great resources for learning how to observe mushrooms, with links to dichotomous keys.
If you’re 100% positive of the ID, great! Harvest your mushrooms a little before their caps flatten out. That’s usually before they release their spores, which can affect the mushroom’s flavor. Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut them, or reaching under the cap, twist the mushroom to free it from its mycelial anchor.
Final thoughts
Making mushroom beds is one of the easiest ways to incorporate edible and medicinal fungi into your life. It’s not a huge investment or a lot of work, and doesn’t require any special equipment, just your favorite mushroom sawdust spawn, easy to find substrate like straw or wood chips, and a consistent supply of water to keep your bed moist. With a variety of species like Wine Cap and Oyster varieties, the benefits of growing mushrooms in a garden bed are numerous, providing a low-cost supply of healthy and delicious food while also improving the quality of your soil. As always, we encourage experimentation with species and substrate combinations and welcome any questions and photos of your grow!
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