Winter Fun: Easy Oyster Mushroom Blocks

Preface

For those of us homesteading in cooler environments winter can certainty drag on and make one a bit stir-crazy. Throughout the spring, summer and fall nearly every waking hour is spent outdoors with endless homestead tasks.  We have the pleasure of watching our gardens and natural landscape at each growth stage.  

While over the years I've come to deeply enjoy the stillness of winter, in addition to tending the wood stove, it definitely gets ... long.   That's why i'm making a few short "Winter Fun" posts on things I do in winter to pass the time.  Also good any time of year for any apartment dweller with homesteading spirit as well!

Intro

On our homestead for most the year I prefer the slow-boat method of growing mushrooms outdoors on hardwood logs.  During winter the quick-gratification from pre-inoculated mushroom blocks is immensely satisfying!  It's an enjoyable and delicious way to pass the time.  In addition, for anyone with kids it's fun for them to watch the mushroom development process in their own room.   

We order our blocks from "Field and Forest" (links below - not affiliated in any way). For true mushroom cultivation I recommend supporting the most local mushroom supplier available for supplies. However, for these easy prefabbed mushroom blocks Field and Forest can't be beat!

While all the different mushroom species they offer are an enjoyable experience the oysters are unrivaled for speed, reliability and yield.    

Growing

This part couldn't be easier.  After receiving the mushroom cut a few X's on the surrounding plastic and place the block near a low-medium light window. We have a little mist bottle we spray around the block 1x day because it gets dry inside during the winter, especially with the wood stove going. 

The particular window we keep them near is fairly low light so i use a small directional white-light grow bulb pointed at the not window-facing side for most of the day.

In 1-2 weeks the mushrooms are already ready for harvest!  Cut at the base.   A second and often a third flush is normal.  We easily get 2+ lbs of harvestable mushrooms from each block.

We buy the mushroom blocks for enjoyment over cost-effectiveness. However compared to store bought oyster mushrooms, dried or the fresh ones in the little bags it is still cost effective, especially when ordering Field and Forest "set of 8" blocks. (8 blocks x 2 lbs = 16 lbs of mushrooms!)  If one has refrigerator space available, 1-2 blocks can be grown at a time while the others remain in the fridge.  The blocks won't start fruiting until removed from the fridge and can be kept in for months without losing vigor.  

Any of the oyster blocks F&F offer are equally good: the "oyster" the "grey dove oyster", "black pearl oyster", or "king oyster". 

Link to Field and Forest indoor mushroom blocks

https://www.fieldforest.net/category/indoor-grow-kits

Enjoying

Most of this is repeat from a previous blog post on outdoor oyster mushroom cultivation. All the same applies to block-grown.  I personally believe that nutrition and medicinal aspects of the mushrooms will always be better on wild-simulated log grown mushrooms.  For culinary use, however, any method is good! 

Nutritionally all oysters, have good protein and fiber content in addition to being rich in antioxidants and vitamins (in particular B vitamins).  Medicinally the list gets quick long. It's harder to find with they aren't beneficial for. Anti-cancer, anti-bacterial, anti-cholesterol, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and the list goes on. I highly recommend checking out books like "The Fungal Pharmacy" or even doing a web search of "Pleurotus study".

Culinary we use oysters heavily in heavenly omelettes, stir fries and soups.

Different species of mushroom blocks that Field and Forest offer are awesome too.  We had great yields from the chestnut mushroom blocks.  We also had much success with lion's mane , reishi, pioppinni, and shittake:  except those either took a longer and/or less yield when compared to oysters.  But having some diversity keeps things exciting.

Here are a few pictures i took while trying different blocks.