Most gardeners think of growing vegetables and maybe some fruits. We tend to forget about options like mushroom cultivation. Growing mushrooms is different, but not that difficult. So if you’re considering expanding your growing options, learning how to grow oyster mushrooms on logs is a good place to start.

Whether you want to grow mushrooms for profit… or just for your consumption, we cover how to grow oyster mushrooms on logs and more.

Mushrooms are becoming wildly popular and have a wide range of types and uses. From exquisite culinary cuisine to pizza toppings… herbal supplements and powders to coffee, mushrooms products are sprouting up everywhere.

So here’s a primer as we embark on learning more about how to grow mushrooms for fun, food… and maybe for profit!

Growing Exotic Oyster Mushrooms

While oyster mushrooms are one of the easier mushrooms go grow, they’re also one of the most profitable. If you’re new to mushroom growing, whether for profit or just home harvesting, the Oyster Mushroom could be the place you’ll want to start.

Most oyster mushrooms are grown in a variety of mediums, such as straw, wood chips, seasoned logs, or even coffee grounds. The coffee grounds method is explained in this 3 part video series, followed by comments from a member of the GardensAll Facebook community from her experience of growing oyster mushrooms in several different mediums.

Which Oyster Mushroom Growing Medium Works Best?

Comparing Coffee Ground Compost Vs. Seasoned Hardwood Logs

Contributing writer, Kathie Folsom shared this from her experience of growing oyster mushrooms.

This is our 2nd year growing them. We’ve tried 2 mediums. One in a compost of coffee grounds and other fillers. Another we used aged hardwood logs which we plugged with spores and sealed with beeswax. Here is what I’ve learned so far.

The compost method sprouts faster but doesn’t propagate any spores.

What you plant is all you get. However, the hardwood method requires virtually zero care and produces a much bigger fungi and the spores spread and continue to grow and sprout throughout the logs.

The aged hardwood log method produced bigger mushrooms with no work.

Kathie goes on to say:
I also noticed a taste difference between the two. They were almost as big as the palm of my hand and the taste was incredibly delicious.

The aged hardwood will be my preferred growing method from here on.

RELATED: Find out more about how to grow mushrooms on coffee grounds here, and you’ll find interesting info on using coffee grounds for plants, here, including facts vs. myths!

See Kathie’s homesteading journey here.

Growing Mushrooms on Logs

Contributed by Kathie Folsom

Do NOT Use Green Wood

I can’t stress enough though how important it is that the wood must be seasoned.

We used a green tree the first year and it killed all our spores. Second year the same logs were fine. Some enzyme in the green wood will kill the spores. In my picture, you can see 3 different sections. Each one is a different mushroom. One oyster, one Lion’s Mane and one Shiitake. Each section had 100 spore plugs of each variety inserted and sealed.

And as you can see by Kathie’s last photo above, the mushrooms are lovely, large and delicious!

So there’s another voice of experience weighing in on the best medium for growing oyster mushrooms, and why.

What Kind of Wood Logs Are Best for Growing Oyster Mushrooms?

Fungi prefer hardwood like oak, maple, cherry, walnut etc. Absolutely no pine.

How Big do the Holes Need to Be for the Mushroom Spores?

Just an average size drill bit, about a 1/4 inch and only about an inch deep.

If you have experience in growing oyster mushrooms, we’d love to hear from your experience as well.

Growing Mushrooms from the Ground Up

Here’s another short video on growing mushrooms from the University of Wyoming Extension Service.

While their focus is on growing mushrooms in Wyoming, this information could be applied in most locations, and if in doubt, you can check with your own local extension service. That’s what they’re there for!

Growing Mushrooms in Your Area

For more on growing mushrooms, search online using the term ‘growing mushrooms’ and ‘your state’ for local ag extension resources. They may be able to provide a list of mushroom growers, and some can give you growing tips and suggestions. Meanwhile, here’s a good link for national ag extension info how to grow mushrooms.^[1]https://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/mushrooms

If you decide you don’t want to grow big yet and just want to try out growing a little bit of mushrooms, there are a number of handy mushroom growing kits available on Amazon.

Growing Mushrooms – Indoors or Outside?

Our take on mushroom growing: it’s definitely worth looking into especially for those who live in climates with a short growing season.

If you have a basement area, you can start there. To turn it into a mushroom farm may require more space, and certainly more specialized ventilation. For this reason, many prefer to grow mushrooms outdoors, naturally, on logs like Kathie is doing.

Growing oyster mushrooms on logs outdoors has advantages, such as more natural environment, better tasting mushrooms and no need to set up special rooms, sterilization and equipment. The main disadvantage is that you can’t grow them year round plus it’s hard to scale outdoor mushroom growing into a commercial venture, should that be your aim. However, it’s a great way to get started.

Mushrooms are very popular and growing in use. People buy mushroom extracts for health and mushroom coffee is becoming increasingly popular amongst the alternative leading edge fitness and nutrition crowd. So now is a good time to get into mushroom growing, for your own enjoyment… and maybe more!

Mushroom Farming for Profit

Our Planting for Retirement community member, Sarah Brackney, shared her mushroom farming journey, with a step-by-step how to get started growing oyster mushrooms.

You can read Sarah’s journey as a mushroom farmer here.

Speaking of which, one member in the Planting for Retirement group, Colleen Nichols, shared some awesome info we didn’t know about mushrooms that we share in the next section.

Interesting in growing for profit? Check out this article on a highly profitable micro farm and market gardener.

Mushrooms – Great for Bees too!

Surprise… mushrooms are good for bees!!

Mushrooms and bees…? Wait… don’t bees just go for flowers and nectar? Think again! Check out this article on GoodNewsNetwork.org. (Great site name, right?!?^[2]https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/beehives-made-of-mushrooms-could-save-colonies-from-collapse/

AND… we love a good TED Talk, so here’s Paul Stamets onstage at TED, talking about mushrooms and bees.

Let’s get sporing!