Mushroom magic

I've wanted to grow my own mushrooms for quite some time but never known how. There are mushroom growing kits for sale in nurseries but they have never appealed to me without knowing how they work, and they seem expensive. I recently went along to a mushroom growing workshop to learn more and it actually seems quite easy to grow your own.

Mushrooms can be grown in the ground or, as you will see demonstrated here, in logs.

You'll need to buy some 'dowel spawn' which is wooden dowel that has mushroom mycelium growing inside it, such as this one pictured below.
 

Dowel spawn

Acquire a hardwood log 10-15cm in diameter that has been recently cut and rested for 2-4 weeks. Freshly cut logs have anti-fungal properties that would inhibit the mushroom growing process, so the resting is important.

Log

Next drill holes about 10cm apart all over the log.

Drilled hole

Hammer the dowel into the drilled holes.

Hammering dowel into drilled hole

Seal over each plug with wax, in this case I've used paraffin wax. Also seal the ends of the logs.

Dowels sealed with paraffin wax

Leave the finished logs in a shaded location, raised off the ground.

Finished logs

Ok, so that was easy. Now the waiting part. All going well, after about 9 months the mushroom mycelium will have spread throughout the log. Then you can bring on fruiting by dunking the log in water for 12-24 hours. This can be repeated once a month per log for as long as 4 years.

I'll have an update in about 9 months.