DIY Mushroom Cultivation: Growing Mushrooms at Home for Food, Medicine, and Soil

By Willoughby Arevalo

"Offering clear and comprehensive instructions for low-tech growing for a range of budgets, interests, and scales, this book offers practical inspiration and a sense that "hey, I can do this!"
–— DANIELLE STEVENSON, owner, DIY Fungi

DIY Mushroom Cultivation is full of proven, reliable, low-cost techniques for home-scale cultivation that eliminate the need for a clean-air lab space to grow various mushrooms and their mycelium.

Beautiful full-color photos and step-by-step instructions accompany a foundation of mushroom biology and ecology to support a holistic understanding of the practice. Growing techniques are applicable year-round, for any space from house to apartment, and for any climate, budget, or goal. Techniques include:

• Setting up a home growing space
• Inexpensive, simple DIY equipment
• Culture creation from mushroom tissue or spores
• Growing and using liquid cultures and grain spawn
• Growing mushrooms on waste streams Indoor fruiting
• Outdoor mushroom gardens and logs
• Harvesting, processing, tinctures, and cooking.

Whether you hunt mushrooms or dream about growing and working with them but feel constrained by a small living space, DIY Mushroom Cultivation is the ideal guide for getting started in the fascinating and delicious world of fungiculture.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781771422840

Book preview

Praise for DIY Mushroom Cultivation

DIY Mushroom Cultivation is a valuable resource for anyone wanting to begin or advance their mushroom cultivation practice. Offering clear and comprehensive instructions for low-tech growing for a range of budgets, interests and scales, this book offers practical inspiration and a sense that: hey, I can do this! Willoughby has a refreshingly warm way of communicating about the art and science of mushroom cultivation, which welcomes the reader into a community of delight and appreciation of the fungi and the many ways we can work with them to support human and ecological health and well-being.

DANIELLE STEVENSON owner, DIY Fungi

With hands of an artist, eyes of an ecologist, and the heart of a deeply connected human, Willoughby brings the practical and joyful together through the science and wonder of mycology. This volume on mushroom cultivation is an invitation to read and share in community to grow not only mushrooms, but our true earthly relationships.

NANCE KLEHM Director of Social Ecologies, and author, The Ground Rules and The Soil Keepers: Conversations with Practitioners on the Ground Beneath Our Feet

Willoughby’s unique combination of talent, passion, and experience growing and cooking mushrooms has produced this beautiful and informative contribution. Well done, Mycology Maestro!

ROBERT ROGERS author, The Fungal Pharmacy

It is simply a fact that as the horrors of climate change descend upon us, ecosystem regeneration will become our overarching drive. Then, finally, we will seek advice and assistance from our beloved ancestors, the forest fungi. Ever forgiving, they will supply our indoor protein, nurture our new forests, financially support our drawdown effort, and mend our damaged world. This delightful book gets all that started in clear language and beautiful illustrations, at home scale and low budget, one new mushroom grower at a time.

ALBERT BATES owner, Mushroom People, North America’s oldest mushroom tools supply company, and author, The Biochar Solution.

DIY Mushroom Cultivation by Willoughby Arevalo is a great book for those looking to dig deeper into the powerful world of mushroom cultivation and appreciation. Willoughby’s knowledge, passion, and sincere love for fungi makes this book a wonderful, accessible, and informative read. The book provides a solid foundation for inspiring and empowering individuals and communities to grow mushrooms for food, healing, and remediation.

LEILA DARWISH author, Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide to Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes

Fun to read and easy to digest, this guide is both practical and inspirational. There are few people in our modern society that have the kind of deep connection with the fungal realm as Willoughby Arevalo—the mushrooms actually speak through him. Both experienced and novice mushroom growers will enjoy the adventure and grow their skills.

MAYA ELSON mycologist and Santa Cruz Program Director, Wild Child Free School

Copyright © 2019 by Willoughby Arevalo.

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Cover image: Nameko Mushrooms © Anne Murphy

Back cover images: Upper and Lower Left © Ja Schindler; Right © Willoughby Arevalo.

Interior design by Setareh Ashrafologhalai

Illustrations by Carmen Elisabeth Olson

Printed in Canada. First printing June 2019.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: DIY mushroom cultivation : growing mushrooms at home for food, medicine, and soil / Willoughby Arevalo.

Other titles: Do it yourself mushroom cultivation

Names: Arevalo, Willoughby, 1983- author. | Olson, Carmen

Elisabeth, illustrator.

Description: Illustrations by Carmen Elisabeth Olson. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190092696 | Canadiana (ebook) 2019009270X | ISBN 9780865718951 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550926880 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771422840 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: Mushroom culture—Handbooks, manuals, etc. | LCSH: Edible mushrooms—Handbooks, manuals, etc. | LCGFT: Handbooks and manuals.

Classification: LCC SB353.A74 2019 | DDC 635/.8—dc23

This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of this book.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of DIY Mushroom Cultivation should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

[phone]

New Society Publishers’ mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

DANIELLE STEVENSON

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

Mushrooms and Humans: Past, Present, and Future

A Bit about Me and My Approach to Mushroom Cultivation

1MUSHROOM BASICS

What Are Mushrooms?

Mushrooms in Ecosystems

What Mushrooms Need to Survive and Thrive

2OVERVIEW OF THE CULTIVATION PROCESS

Cultivation Flow

Preparation

3WORKSPACES, TOOLS, AND EQUIPMENT

Lab Infrastructure and Aseptic Transfer Spaces: Flow Hoods, Still Air Boxes, and More

The Lab Environment and Tools

Where to Inoculate Bulk Substrates

Where to Incubate Growing Mycelium

Fruiting Space: Factors to Consider

Options for Home-Scale Fruiting Chambers

Environmental Control in Fruiting Spaces

Other Spaces

4SANITATION AND TECHNIQUES TO AVOID CONTAMINATION

Vectors of Contamination and Management Strategies

Common Contaminants: Recognition and Management

5STARTING AND MAINTAINING CULTURES

Get Cultured

Liquid Culture

Agar Culture

Long-Term Culture Storage Methods

6MAKING AND USING GRAIN SPAWN

Making Grain Spawn

Using Grain Spawn

7FRUITING SUBSTRATE FORMULATION AND PREPARATION

Containers for Mycelial Growth and Fruiting

The Substrates

Substrate Treatments

Sterilization

Pasteurization and Alternatives

8OUTDOOR GROWING AND MUSHROOM GARDENING

Growing Mushrooms on Logs and Stumps

Mushroom Beds

Next-Level Applications

9HARVEST, PROCESSING, AND USE

When and How to Harvest

Basic Cooking Techniques

Preservation Methods

Mushrooms and Mycelium for Medicine

IN CONCLUSION: SUBSTRATE FOR THOUGHT—TOWARD FURTHER APPLICATIONS

Mycopermaculture

Mycoremediation on a Home Scale

Mycoarts and Fungi as Functional Materials

Community-Based Cultivation Efforts

APPENDIX 1: SPECIES PROFILES

Agrocybe aegerita—Pioppino

Coprinus comatus—Shaggy Mane

Cordyceps militaris—Caterpillar Fungus

Flammulina velutipes and allies—Enoki

Ganoderma lucidum and allies—Reishi

Hericium species—Lion’s Mane and allies

Hypsizygus tessulatus—Shimeji and H. ulmarius—Elm Oysters

Lentinula edodes—Shiitake

Pholiota nameko and allies—Nameko

Pleurotus species—Oyster Mushrooms

Stropharia rugoso-annulata—Wine Cap

Trametes versicolor—Turkey Tail

APPENDIX 2: RESOURCES

General

Annual Mycology Gatherings

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

A NOTE ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Homegrown nameko mushrooms. WILLOUGHBY AREVALO

WITH LOVE AND gratitude I recognize the network of heart-forward and hopeful mushroom people who have helped me on my journey and been such good friends, collaborators, and colleagues, including but not limited to: Max Kirchgasser for your companionship and generous help with cultivation projects through my writing process; Mike Egan and Mycality Mushrooms; Max Brotman and Claire Brown; Danielle Stevenson and DIY Fungi; Leila Darwish; Olga Tzogas, Rebar, and The Mycelium Underground/Smugtown Mushrooms; Nance Klehm and The Ground Rules; Maya Elson, Mia Maltz and CoRenewal, Lexie Gropper and Amisacho; Robert Rogers; Ja Schindler, Val Nguyen, and Fungi for the People; Michael Hathaway and the Matsutake Worlds Research Group; Kaitlin Bryson; Nina O’Malley, Charlie Aller, and Mush Luv; Mara Penfil and Female and Fungi; Peter McCoy and Radical Mycology; Jason Leane and All the Mushrooms; Ava Arvest, Raskal Turbeville, and Myco-Uprrhizal; the Mushroom Man Scott Henderson; Octavio Perez Ortiz and Senguihongo; Dallas Lawlor and Northside Fungi Farm; Ray and Patty Lanier and Mushroom Maestros; Willie Crosby and Fungi Ally; Geoffroy Grignon and Champignons Maison/Mycélium Remédium; Philip Zoghibi; Mycollectif; Xiaojing Yan; Ionatan Waisgluss and Vegetation Station; Theo Rosenfeld and Wildwood Ecology Labs; Nadine Simpson; the online mushroom community; all my cultivation students and teacher’s assistants; Paul Kroeger and all my friends and colleagues in the Vancouver Mycological Society; the Humboldt Bay Mycological Society; and my teacher Dr. Terry Henkel and early mentor Dr. David Largent.

To my beloved family for the love and support: Isabelle, Uma, Mom, Dad, Julie, Sylvan and Dillon, Chantal and Michel, Lorenza and family, Aunt Jenny, and the Arévalo, Alden, Van Acker, Seck, Kirouac, and Lemay families.

To Carmen Elisabeth for the enduring friendship and amazing illustrations; Paul Healey and Hannah Brook Farm crew; New Moon Organics family; Carmen Rosen, Bea Edelstein, and Still Moon Arts Society; Forest Stearns; Jah Chupa and Dread Lion Radio; Costanza, Roberto, Benedetta, and the Italian Cultural Centre of Vancouver; Rick Havlak and Homestead Junction; Alicia Maraván and Guapamacátaro Art and Ecology Center; Nancy Cottingham Powell and North Van Arts; Lucas King and the Art and Fungi students at Mountainside Secondary School; my supportive editors Rob West, Linda Glass, and everyone at New Society Publishers; and the communities of Humboldt County, Vancouver, the East Bay, Lasqueti Island, and Powell River.

To the Coast Salish Peoples—the səĺilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and xwməθkwəy’ əm (Musqueam) Nations—on whose unceded traditional territories I live, and to the Wiyot and Yurok Peoples, on whose traditional territories I grew up, for their long history and continued stewardship of the soil, waters, air, and ecosystems.

Gathering mushrooms is an age-old practice. JA SCHINDLER

INTRODUCTION

MUSHROOMS AND HUMANS: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Mushrooms as we know them today evolved at least 120 million years ago—well before the time of the dinosaurs—and they have been part of our lives for as long as humans have existed. One of our closest living relatives, the mountain gorilla, is a passionate mushroom eater. The earliest record of humans eating mushrooms comes from a burial site in Europe from about 18,700 years ago, and the oldest record of mushroom cultivation by humans dates from about 600 CE in China. In Europe, button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) were first propagated in quarries and caves in France around 1650, on composted horse manure. The practice of fungiculture has developed rapidly since pure culture laboratory techniques were developed around the turn of the 20th century; these lab techniques require a high level of sanitary measures that are not easily achieved at home on a low budget. But things have changed, and it is now easier than ever to grow your own mushrooms. The proliferation of information-sharing via online forums has decomposed many of the barriers to DIY mushroom cultivation. Widely dispersed communities of home-scale cultivators have developed simple technologies (aka teks) to facilitate growing mushrooms at home.

Certainly, people grow mushrooms for many different reasons. They are well loved as food, and most cultivated mushrooms are grown for this purpose. Practically all species of edible mushrooms have medicinal properties, as do many species that are inedible due to their texture or flavor. People are becoming increasingly aware of the health benefits that can be gained by consuming mushrooms regularly, including immune support, cancer prevention and treatment, and more. Incorporating mushroom cultivation with other forms of agriculture provides opportunities to build soil, cycle waste products, increase biodiversity, and boost ecological resiliency. And the application of cultivated mushroom mycelium into polluted land has been increasingly studied and implemented in bioremediation—the practice of engaging living agents to break down or remove toxins from soil, air, and water. Fungi produce unique enzymes capable of degrading some of the most toxic chemicals that humans have created into benign molecules. Fungi invented these enzymes about 299 million years ago to break down lignin, the rigid, durable component of wood that had recently (in an evolutionary time frame) been invented by plants, the buildup of which was choking out their ecosystems. Many DIY mycologists envision a near future in which fungi, with the help of humans, invent enzymes for decomposing the vast accumulation of plastics that we have created. And, of course, mushrooms are a pleasure to the senses. They offer us forms, textures, aromas, and flavors that remind us of other beauties while being uniquely their own.

A BIT ABOUT ME AND MY APPROACH TO MUSHROOM CULTIVATION

My love for fungi came long before I began growing them. I grew up in the humid coastal redwood ecosystem in Northern California, where mushrooms are abundant and diverse. I was fascinated by age four. I read as many mushroom books as I could get my hands on, and often brought specimens home to study. By age 13, my supportive—but not mycologically savvy—parents trusted my skills enough to let me cook and eat the edible mushrooms I was able to confidently identify. At Humboldt State University, I was finally able to study mycology formally, though I majored in art, and it was then that foraged mushrooms became a significant part of my diet.

Uma Echo Kirouac Arevalo enjoys the aroma of her harvest of pink oysters. WILLOUGHBY AREVALO

After reading Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets, I realized that my relationship with mushrooms was not very reciprocal. I studied mushrooms. I hunted mushrooms. I ate mushrooms. And in doing so, I objectified mushrooms. So, I made a conscious effort to give back to the fungi that I loved so much—by learning how to grow them and teaching my peers about them. I began by teaching a mycology workshop at a skillshare at a punk house in my town, and I soon began leading educational forays in the woods.

I approached Mike Egan, the mushroom grower at my farmer’s market and asked him for a job doing inoculations. Three days later I arrived at Mycality Mushrooms, freshly showered and ready to work in the lab. Through my training with Mike, I learned the ins and outs of commercial gourmet mushroom production. Amazingly, despite my lack of cultivation experience, Mike trusted me to perform the most sensitive and technical part of the cultivation process. With my enthusiasm and his support, we expanded the number of species his farm was producing from four to over a dozen. While my main task at the farm was inoculating the fruiting substrates with grain spawn, I got the chance to try my hand at just about every step of the cultivation process.

During my two-year stint working at Mycality, I began touring the West Coast to teach workshops, and I had the opportunity to present at the 2012 Radical Mycology Convergence in Port Townsend, Washington. I had never experienced anything like this gathering of mushroom nerds, activists, cultivators, and visionaries. I found myself instantly enmeshed in a dynamic community of sharing and mutual support—reflective of the interspecies communities of symbiotic fungi. It was through this network that I began to learn about home-scale mushroom cultivation practices.

Less than a year later, I followed the love of my life to Vancouver, Canada, where we moved into a tiny cabin in a wild garden behind a chaotic but charming clown house. I found myself starting over in mushroom cultivation, with 100 square feet of shared living space, no mushroom cultures, no lab, no job, and very little equipment. I slowly adapted to my new constraints and built up a simple but effective cultivation setup that allows me to grow a modest amount of mushrooms for my family to enjoy.

I practice and teach contemporary, low-tech methods of mushroom cultivation. These were developed in part by the online mushroom community and introduced to me by Radical Mycology author Peter McCoy and others I met at the Convergence. These methods make it easier than ever for people to grow mushrooms at home with less dedicated space, less specialized equipment, and less infrastructure cost.

Me at age 14 with my mom, Lauraine Alden, our friend Marco Gruber, and the day’s pick of chanterelles. ELSA EVANS

My personal tendency is toward a fairly loose cultivation