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How To Grow Mushrooms In Your Garden
Incorporating mushrooms into your garden or backyard is incredibly simple and provides countless benefits for you and your environment. These four methods are sure to get you growing in no time.
Why grow mushrooms in your garden?
Mushrooms can do so much for your garden! They can inhabit spaces that might otherwise be overlooked or underused. Perhaps you’ve got a shady corner where your vegetables won’t grow, or you’re interested in getting the most out of your garden space. Maybe you don’t have a green thumb at all but still want to grow some delicious food for yourself, your community, or just for fun. By working with fungi, not only are we adding nutrient-dense food to our gardens, but we’re also supporting nutrient cycling and increasing soil health, giving our plants an extra boost to grow.
We took four common methods of growing mushrooms and adapted them for use in our research garden:
- making mushroom beds
- growing on logs
- growing on straw bales
- growing in containers
Why grow mushrooms in your garden?
Mushrooms can do so much for your garden! They can inhabit spaces that might otherwise be overlooked or underused. Perhaps you’ve got a shady corner where your vegetables won’t grow, or you’re interested in getting the most out of your garden space. Maybe you don’t have a green thumb at all but still want to grow some delicious food for yourself, your community, or just for fun. By working with fungi, not only are we adding nutrient-dense food to our gardens, but we’re also supporting nutrient cycling and increasing soil health, giving our plants an extra boost to grow.
This summer, we took four common methods of growing mushrooms and adapted them for use in our research garden:
-making mushroom beds
-growing on logs
-growing on straw bales
-growing in containers
These methods are some of the easiest, most reliable ways to grow mushrooms outside. Check out our video below to see how simple it is to incorporate mushrooms into your garden!
These methods are some of the easiest, most reliable ways to grow mushrooms outside. Check out our video guides below to see how simple it is to incorporate mushrooms into your garden!
Video guides
Growing mushrooms on mulched beds & paths
Why keep your plants and mushrooms separate when they naturally support one another? Using the same method as making a mushroom bed, you can grow mushrooms alongside your vegetables, perennials, or in the shade of trees. Inoculating mulched paths and beds is a great way to bring mushrooms into your garden.
Wine Cap (Stropharia rugosoannulata), also known as King Stropharia or Garden Giant, is especially adept at growing on wood chips in a backyard. It’s resilient, adapting to different environments quickly, and can tolerate sunnier and drier conditions more readily than other species.
Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.) on the other hand, are the best choice for growing on straw. They'll quickly colonize this material and easily outcompete other microbes.
While hardwood chips work well in paths and around perennials, we recommend using straw mulch in vegetable beds. As it decomposes, straw uses up fewer nutrients in the soil than woody debris, leaving more fertility in the shallow zones where vegetable roots dwell.
Growing Mushrooms on Mulched Beds & Paths
Why keep your plants and mushrooms separate when they naturally support one another? Using the same method as making a mushroom bed, you can grow mushrooms alongside your vegetables, perennials, or in the shade of trees. Inoculating mulched paths and beds is a great way to bring mushrooms into your garden.
Wine Cap, also known as Stropharia rugosoannulata, King Stropharia, and Garden Giant, is especially adept at growing on wood chips in a backyard. It’s resilient, adapting to different environments quickly, and can tolerate sunnier and drier conditions more readily than other species.
Oyster mushrooms, on the other hand, are the best choice for growing on straw. They’ll quickly myceliate this material, easily out-competing other microbes.
While hardwood chips work well in paths and around perennials, we recommend using straw mulch in vegetable beds. As it decomposes, straw uses up fewer nutrients in the soil than woody debris, leaving more fertility in the shallow zones where vegetable roots dwell.
Benefits of mycelial mulch
A major function of decomposer fungi like Wine Cap or Oyster mushrooms is cycling organic matter back into the soil. Through decomposition, they break down complex organic molecules into simpler forms that are easier to access by plants. This process helps create long-term storage of nutrients. More organic matter also means greater water holding capacity, porosity (important for clay-heavy soils), and soil structure or tilth. That’s a lot!
Mulching within your garden can also help with weed control. Less weed pressure means less need for tilling, thereby leaving the microbial soil communities intact, including mycorrhizal fungi that partner with plants. The microbiome of the soil is crucial for plant health. Research has linked healthy soils to healthy people. It makes sense - a robust microbiome in the soil, dense with nutrients, fortifies the fruits and vegetables we eat.
Wine Caps and Oysters may also act as biocontrol agents in your garden for certain pests, helping to mitigate root rot. They have the innate ability to trap, penetrate, and absorb nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus from nematodes. Check out the research here, here, and here! What's more, research has shown that Wine Cap mycelium can improve the ability of mulch to filter and remove E. coli bacteria.
Inoculation
Ready to make some mushroom mulch? Gather up all your materials: a bag or bags of your spawn of choice, enough mulch to make at least two layers in your path or bed, and a water source. One bag of sawdust spawn will inoculate a 4’x4’ space or around 16 square feet.
Ready to make some mushroom mulch? Gather up all your materials: a bag or bags of your spawn of choice, enough mulch to make at least two layers in your path or bed, and a water source. One bag of sawdust spawn will inoculate a 4’x4’ space or around 16 square feet.
If you’ve gardened for a while, you may have used the lasagna method for sheet mulching. We use the same process for growing mushrooms- alternating layers of mulch and spawn. Some folks put down a cardboard layer first to help with weed suppression. Mulched paths benefit from deep layering, roughly 3-5”, while mulched beds can be lighter to keep from burying your plants. Just remember to give it all a good soaking when you’re done. Fungi need a moist environment to grow.
As your garden grows, your plants will provide shade to your beds - mimicking the forest canopy of their natural environment. Broad-leaved plants like cucurbits (squash and cucumbers) would be great companions, along with soft fruits such as gooseberry and currants, and even corn.
For more detailed instructions on making mushroom beds, follow this link.
As your garden grows, your plants will provide shade to your beds - mimicking the forest canopy of their natural environment. Broad-leaved plants like cucurbits (squash and cucumbers) would be great companions.
For more detailed instructions on making mushroom beds, follow this link.
Logs for raised bed borders
If you’re building a raised bed, you may consider using logs as a border. You can double down on your food production by inoculating those logs with mushrooms. Not only are mushrooms a great source of protein, but they also contain ergosterol, a precursor to Vitamin D. When mushrooms are dried in UV light from sunlight or lamps, the amount of Vitamin D becomes significant. I like to save sundried mushrooms for broth in the winter when it’s harder to get outside and soak up some sun.
You’ve probably heard of growing shiitake mushrooms on logs. It’s one of the oldest cultivation techniques we know of, believed to originate in China around 1000 CE. The process is simple: Take a log (preferably oak, sugar maple, or beech) with intact bark and drill holes in a diamond pattern a few inches apart. Then, plug it with myceliated wooden dowels or sawdust and seal it with wax.
Let these logs incubate for a season as you would typically, keeping them in a shady area where they won’t dry out. Doing so gives the fungi time to grow through the wood and get established before living on or partially in the soil, where competitor fungi hang out. It’s a way to hedge your bets to avoid contamination and make sure the mushrooms will fruit.
Once your logs are ready, stack them on the sides of your bed. Bury them a little if you’d like in the style of hugelkultur or mushroom rafts. The thickness of the wood will also act as a buffer to the soil, helping to regulate soil temperatures. If you have some logs that have already fruited for a few seasons, this is a great way to repurpose them. The added moisture from the soil could encourage further fruitings, and as the wood decomposes, it’ll return organic matter and nutrients to the earth.
A full walkthrough of growing on logs can be found on our blog.
Totems
The totem method allows us to grow mushrooms vertically on a column or "totem" made of various materials including hardwood logs and is a common method for growing shiitake, lion's mane, and oyster mushrooms. The vertical growth allows for more efficient use of space, as multiple totems can be stacked on top of each other in a small area.
For totems, cut logs into smaller sections: lengths 6-18” are ideal, stacked once or twice with a smaller 2” cookie on top. To inoculate, sandwich spawn between each piece of wood. Make sure to work quickly so the spawn doesn’t dry out or get exposed to direct sunlight. Stacking totems on cardboard and covering them with a plastic or paper bag can help keep them moist and free of contaminants while growing through the wood.
Just like the logs, wait until the totems are established with a healthy amount of mycelium before installing them in a bed. It may take anywhere between 6 months and a year. Once the totems are ready, and there’s a good layer of white mycelium showing up on the sapwood, they can be partially buried as borders for a raised bed.
Whenever you water your plants, you’ll be giving your logs a drink too. Fungi need moisture and love humidity - even if we humans don’t.
Image credit: @DoctorGianni on Instagram
Totems
Once the totems are ready, and there’s a good layer of white mycelium showing up on the sapwood, they can be partially buried as borders for a raised bed.
Whenever you water your plants, you’ll be giving your logs a drink too. Fungi need moisture and love humidity - even if we humans don’t.
Straw bales
If you don’t have access to logs to create a border, straw bales can be a good option. They also provide an accessible way to grow in urban environments or areas with limited space! In traditional straw bale gardening, bales are “conditioned” by adding nitrogen-rich compost or manure to the bale to provide nutrients and initiate decomposition. You can use grain spawn in a similar way, and the fungi will facilitate the faster breakdown of the straw.
It’s worth emphasizing that you want to use straw, not hay, for these projects. Hay has the seed heads of the grain you’re using, which will sprout and become weeds in your garden. Those seed heads can also contribute to your bale overheating or potential contamination.
Before inoculation, the straw bale needs to be hydrated. It may take up to an hour to fully hydrate, soaking up water like a sponge. And it’s going to be very heavy, so keep that in mind when you plan to place it.
Inoculating in the spring and fall during cooler months is ideal for this method. If you live in a warmer climate or are inoculating into summer months, it’s important to consider heat. When temperatures exceed 80 degrees during incubation, the bale may get too hot for mycelial growth. Placing the bale in the shade, using shade cloth, or inoculating with sawdust spawn can keep your mushroom bale growing well as temperatures rise.
To inoculate, disperse spawn evenly on all sides of the bale, getting as close to the center as possible. It’s helpful to use a spade, hori hori, or garden fork to get deeper into the bale. We even used a pry bar to loosen it up.
While the mycelium spreads, be sure to keep the bale hydrated, watering every time you water your vegetables. Once your bale is full of mycelium, you can add soil to the center and plant into it as you would traditional straw bale gardening.
If you don’t have access to logs to create a border, straw bales can be a good option. They also provide an accessible way to grow in urban environments or areas with limited space! In traditional straw bale gardening, bales are “conditioned” by adding nitrogen-rich compost or manure to the bale to provide nutrients and initiate decomposition. You can use grain spawn in a similar way, and the fungi will facilitate the faster breakdown of the straw.
Inoculating in the spring and fall during cooler months is ideal for this method. If you live in a warmer climate or are inoculating into summer months, it’s important to consider heat. When temperatures exceed 80 degrees during incubation, the bale may get too hot for mycelial growth. Placing the bale in the shade, using shade cloth, or inoculating with sawdust spawn can keep your mushroom bale growing well as temperatures rise.
To inoculate, disperse spawn evenly on all sides of the bale, getting as close to the center as possible. It’s helpful to use a spade, hori hori, or garden fork to get deeper into the bale. We even used a pry bar to loosen it up.
While the mycelium spreads, be sure to keep the bale hydrated, watering every time you water your vegetables. Once your bale is full of mycelium, you can add soil to the center and plant into it as you would traditional straw bale gardening.
Bales can even be used for season extension like a cold frame! Simply position them around a bed and place a window over the top to get some extra warmth to your plants. The bales may even heat up a bit through decomposition. When it’s fully broken down, add the bale to your compost pile or use it as a mulch around your plants.
Container gardening
Oysters love agricultural waste- straw is often easily accessible in our region and is what we used in the research garden. However, feel free to use whatever resources are at your disposal. We found a bag of pre-chopped straw at our local garden center. The smaller particle size is ideal for mushroom growth. If you can’t find a material like this, there are lots of DIY options for chopping straw. It’s also totally okay to skip this step. Just make sure to compress the straw a bit more to get the pieces tighter together.
The containers you inoculate in should have some airflow. If you’re using a plastic bucket, drill some holes into it. Most folks create a diamond pattern every few inches, ¼” diameter works well. Remember to put a few in the bottom, too, so excess moisture can drain out. We tried out using laundry hampers and plastic growing pots with great success. A friend even grew mushrooms out of a birdcage! For a deeper dive into growing mushrooms in buckets and containers, click here.
Just like with wood chips, straw needs to be hydrated. We let ours soak in a bucket for an hour with a brick on top, then let it drain until the straw only drips a drop or two when squeezed. Measuring hydration like this is referred to as checking “field capacity” and can apply to other substrates as well. If your substrate is too wet, it can create anaerobic conditions, leading to contamination. Too dry, and the mycelium won’t be able to grow. Finding the balance is simple with a squeeze test.
Once properly hydrated, we packed our straw into some containers, sprinkling spawn between each layer. The top layer should just be straw. Alternatively, you can mix your straw and spawn on a tarp and pack them all into the bucket at once. Cap it, and let it grow!
It’s easy to place these containers throughout your garden, maximizing how much you can grow in your space. Not only that, but mushrooms growing alongside your plants create a mutually beneficial gas exchange. Plants photosynthesize, so they take in CO2 and release O2, while mushrooms respirate like us, taking in O2 and releasing CO2. We’re curious about the fungi/plant gas exchange and how it could be especially useful in a greenhouse!
Once properly hydrated, we packed our straw into some containers, sprinkling spawn between each layer. The top layer should just be straw. Alternatively, you can mix your straw and spawn on a tarp and pack them all into the bucket at once. Cap it, and let it grow!
It’s easy to place these containers throughout your garden, maximizing how much you can grow in your space. Not only that, but mushrooms growing alongside your plants creates a mutually beneficial gas exchange. Plants photosynthesize, so they take in CO2 and release O2, while mushrooms respirate like us, taking in O2 and releasing CO2. We’re curious about the fungi/plant gas exchange and how it could be especially useful in a greenhouse!
Next steps
Make sure to keep your mushroom projects moist, especially in arid climates or in a drought. With any luck, a heavy rain will initiate fruiting. The timeline from inoculation to mushrooms fruiting will depend on the species, spawn rate, and the density of its substrate.
Thanks for sticking with us! Feel free to experiment with any of these techniques. Mycology is a relatively young science: there’s still so much to learn!
Harvesting
How do you know when your mushrooms are ready to harvest? Once you can clearly see mushrooms emerging from your installations and are confident of their ID, you can harvest them! Mushrooms can grow very quickly, sometimes doubling in size each day. The optimal time to harvest is when the caps are still slightly curled under, just before they flatten out. At this stage, the mushrooms are nearly at the peak of their growth and will stay fresh in a refrigerator longer than any mushroom harvested past this point.
There’s a debate in mycology communities about cutting versus plucking mushrooms. Harvesting a mushroom is akin to picking an apple from an apple tree. The fungi are not harmed either by cutting or plucking. So it’s a matter of personal preference. We do recommend cleaning any dirt or debris off your mushrooms before storing them.
Though raw button mushrooms sometimes appear in salad bars, it’s important to thoroughly cook your mushrooms before eating them. Mushrooms contain the compound chitin, which also makes arthropod shells hard. Heat breaks down the chitin, making mushrooms easier to digest and much tastier! Whenever trying a new food, including mushrooms, it’s a good idea to start small. Cook and eat a little bit, wait 24 hours, and see how your body feels before consuming more.
Pests
Lots of creatures love mushrooms as much as we do. Deer have been known to chomp on wine caps and slugs fancy shiitakes. Sometimes, small bugs called thrips will live between the gills of your mushrooms. As we harvest, we’ll use a brush to scoot off any bugs on our mushrooms, and often harvest on the younger side - to get to the mushrooms first. Some of us have had success using diatomaceous earth around mushroom installs, cups of beer, or even coffee grounds for keeping slugs at bay.
Identification
Before eating any mushroom, it’s critical to be 100% sure of its ID. Never eat a mushroom you’re unsure of. Positive identification involves observing all of the features of a mushroom, not just a few characteristics. Folks who are just starting out can benefit from using an ID book or two, looking to ID forums on social media or consulting experts. Feel free to share photos with us if you’re ever in doubt. We ask that you include the following information when asking for help with ID: location, habitat, time of year, clear images of the cap, pore surface, and stem if present.
Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus spp.)
All varieties of oyster mushrooms have decurrent gills or gills that are attached to and extend down the stem, and a white spore print that is sometimes visible on adjacent caps within a cluster or on the mushroom’s substrate. Their smooth caps are often fan-shaped or shelf-like, and their flesh is tender or meaty, not brittle or tough. Oysters tend to form clusters but occasionally may appear singly, especially in bed-style cultivation. Blue Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) has a sweet and faintly licorice-like aroma, while Golden Oysters (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) sometimes smell more floral or like watermelon. Others in this group smell meaty. The many varieties of oysters include an array of colors, and the king oyster and black king oyster will have smaller caps and thicker stems than the other oysters in the group.
Shiitake Mushrooms (Lentinula edodes)
Shiitakes have medium brown caps, tan sometimes scruffy stems, and white, mildly serrated gills. When young, a thin webby veil covers the gills, detaching with maturity. Remnants of the veil are sometimes present on the margin of the cap. Flesh is white and meaty, while stems tend to be tough and fibrous, especially with age.
Wine Cap Mushrooms (Stropharia rugosoannulata)
Wine caps have tan to burgundy colored caps, depending on exposure to sunlight and maturity. Their stems are light tan, and gills are dark violet brown, with a dark violet brown spore print. When young, a veil or annulata covers the gills, detaching with maturity with remnants sometimes present on the stem or margin of the cap. Flesh is white to light tan and firm. Wine caps have rhizomorphic mycelium resembling plant roots and may appear like thick white strands attached to the stem’s base.