How to Grow Mushrooms with Household Stuff

Preparations

• 1

  Sterilize the jars by placing them right side up in the rack of a boiling-water canner or pressure cooker. Add 3 cups of water and process according to the manufacturer's directions; this takes about ten minutes. Remove the jars with tongs and place them on a clean cloth to cool.

• 2

  Fill the sterile jars halfway using crumbled wild birdseed cakes.

• 3

  Affix the lids onto the jars. Jab four holes into each lid, using the nail. The holes need to be about 3/8 inch in diameter.

• 4

  Sterilize the spore syringe or turkey baster by swabbing with a cotton ball that has been dipped in alcohol. Pick up 100 cc of spore culture with the baster. Inject the spores through the holes into the birdseed, making sure to re-sterilize after each injection.

• 5

  Push a small bit of polyfill into each hole with the nail to ensure that the substrate does not get contaminated.

• 6

  Set the jars upright in the rack of the pressure cooker. Secure the lid according to the manufacturer's directions. Sterilize by processing for approximately 30 to 45 minutes at 15 lbs. of pressure.

Growing and Harvesting

• 7

  Store the jars in a dry, dark space, making sure that the temperature stays between 70 and 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Monitor them daily.

• 8

  Allow the mycelium to completely cover the birdseed. Mycelium is the thin, white, cottony-looking web that begins to appear in the jar.

• 9

  Remove the lids from the jars that have grown mycelium. Approximately seven to ten days later, small pinhead-shaped mushrooms will begin to emerge.

• 10

  Harvest your mushrooms when they reach the size you desire. Typically, mushrooms are harvested at three different stages: buttons, cups or flats.

• 11

  Harvest the mushrooms by twisting upward, breaking them off at the surface. Brush off the wild birdseed after picking with a soft brush.