Mushrooms Workshops: Winter 2011

[Kirsten]

Hello everyone! Here's a place to talk about the short workshops with Will Borowski on 25 & 26 June 2011. If you're attending one of these, feel free to introduce yourself and ask any questions you have...

[cathy x.]

Hello my fellow mushroom growers! Does anyone remember where Will said he sources his super cheap wheat grain from? I've got my dowels all hammered in and the log is sitting in a nice, clean bathtub while I source the remaining ingredients and turn the unused water pit under the driveway into a super secret mushroom growing hideout.

[Amy30]

Hi,

Just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the Mushroom workshop today , I definitely got a lot out of it. Thankyou Will for today and for your generosity with the freebies! hopefully I can get the bits and pieces together this week and get started growing.

Have hung our shitake log in the shed - how often should I give it a spray with water?

Cathy: not sure but maybe produce stores or flour mills?
Enfeild produce sell 25kg bags of wheat for $19 but you'd need to pick up as postage is $25!

[Lonni]

Just wanted to say thanks to all who put such effort into organising the course. I found it really valuable and inspiring. Thanks Will for sharing your knowledge and being so generous with the supplies and freebies.

Cathy - I must admit I'm slightly envious of your secret mushroom lair

Good luck everyone with your experimentation!

Lonni

[MaggieW]

I would like to add my thanks as well! Will certainly has heaps of information in his head and his generosity with info and resources was spectacular! My current diliema's ...
-- i need to find a source in the Blue Mountains for bees wax so i can get these dowls hammered, sealed and out in the backyard!
-- because we have a little bit of space, and i can put the mushies outside and use the ground, i'm really temped to go down the pasturasation route vs sterilizing .... anyone else having those thoughts?????

[Amy30]

Hi Maggie,

Where abouts are you? I'm Glenbrook and as far as I know you can get the beeswax candles from most healthfood stores up here.
Moontree in Leura would surely have some, and I can recommend a company called New Directions it's located in Sydney if you want to order - they sell base products for cosmetics wholesale to the public.

The Unrefined Beeswax Block would be the one to buy

http://shop.newdirections.com.au/epages ... /179/2371/

[Alexander & Melanie]

Hi Guys

Loved the workshop on Saturday, and many thanks to Will for his time, expertise, enthusiasm, and freebies. We got our logs 'seeded' and they are sitting in the garage while we find a more suitable spot.

Beeswax is usually available for hardware stores (believe it or not!), as it's great for polishing furniture. Be sure to ask for beeswax, not beeswax furniture polish (the polish has additives). There is a brand where the beeswax has been 'whipped', and so is soft and won't need to be melted to put over the holes.

For anyone living in the Blue Mountains, organic wheatgrain is $2.60 per kilo at the Food Co-op in Katoomba(members price, so slightly more for non-members). It's sold unpackaged, so you can buy the amount you want. They have other grains as well.

Melanie

[MaggieW]

Hi Amy,

We're in faulconbridge. i hadn't thought of the health food store .... i'll hit the one in springwood. managed to find some at the art supply store in springwood .... but really exe .... but got it so i could get this log outside. am leaning more and more towards the pasturizing method .... just get it going, boil the hay and mix together and bury .... at least that's what i understood .... we have three kids 8 and under .... so i can't imagine leaving them around to fruit .... i think the garden will be the way to go! also good biodiversity too!

maggs

[Amy30]

Hi Maggie,

Glad you found some, did you do the Sat or Sun workshop? I didn't get to talk to a lot of people on the day too absorbed in the learning process, I did the Sun.

When you say pasteurization vs sterilization what do you mean? I thought there was a pasteurization step for the straw (bulk substrate) simply cause it was too big for the pressure cooker. I don't have a pressure cooker, pretty sure mother in law has one and I'm going to long term borrow it!

I have a three year old so yes can understand that, but I'll be either hanging the bags from rafters in shed or putting on shelves.
I got the impression they tended to be more productive in the bags?

Let me know if you find a good Agar source up here, not sure where to buy it from?

Melanie - Thanks for that Katoomba is a little far for me, I'm considering looking into using chicken food as a starter grain.?? any thoughts. There's a brand called Heritage Feeds and its certified organic around $30-40 for 20 kilo bag of the course layer mix - Sun Valley produce keeps it. So would work out cheaper than the co-op stuff.

[MaggieW]

Hey Amy,

was at the saturday workshop.

Yeah .... you got it on the pastuerisation (sp?). i was also thinking about when he had us outside talking about how you put it in a bag and then PC that .... or ... you past. the straw, mix the myc. in with that and put in in the ground and cover ..... THAT is something i would be interested in! BIG TIME.

I'm in Faulco .... but go up to katoomba about once a month as i do my coop shop at the coop .... for my breads and grains, etc. so i'll have to think about using that.... ask the guys at sun valley .... they're really great (i get all my chook food from them) and they'll point you right for sure. i would imagine that you can also get agar at a health food store or coop. also at an asian grocer. i hit the asian markets fairly often .... both in penrith (off high street) and in blacktown .... can't be that hard to find!

maggs