Project Idea

[urbpan]

I'll be doing this once I have space to do it, but I'm writing it down so I'll remember, and so you all can try it too: Grow mushrooms on junk mail.

Oyster mushrooms are usually cultivated on sawdust or cereal grain, but apparently do well on office paper. The scientific study in that link determined that under the right conditions you can get a greater than 100% production of edible mushrooms from paper. Meaning (I think) from 10 kilos of paper you could grow, say, 14 pounds of oyster mushrooms. The secret ingredient is water. I'm not sure why more isn't being done to encourage growing food on waste products (though some marketing savvy would be needed to make that sound less gross to a public that wrinkles its nose at brown mushrooms and apples with spots).

I'm going to use junk mail because I hate it so much and there is so much of it in my life, and it would be nice to see it rotting and something good coming out of it. Giggling Wizard should try it on his farm, using soiled cardboard crates or old newspaper or something. Sustainably grown gourmet food!

I suspect the difficulty might be in growing the right kind of fungus--if the oyster spawn didn't take, you might end up with a big barrel (or bag) of dark gray slimy gunk. But that's a risk I'm willing to take, once I have room to keep the barrel away from the house.

Mushroom cultivation link!
Buy spawn here!
Or buy spawn here!

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

oysters are super aggressive. i've never had anything overtake oysters.

i once (accidentally) spawned P cyanescens on typing paper.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Seriously? How does that happen? (I have images of you opening up the office supplies closet and whoa! Oyster mushrooms)

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

*lol* it's a different species actually. but i was showing someone how to make a spore print, and forgot about it and left the cap under a glass on paper for a couple weeks :)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow! That's awesome! Now I totally want to try that...

[lookingaround17.livejournal.com]

My main concern would be toxic ink/paper colorant/etc. getting into them and causing toxic conditions or being carried by them--I haven't read the articles yet, so I don't know if that is discussed--but great idea!

[buboniclou.livejournal.com]

That's amazing!

I use Feline Pine kitty litter, and it turns into sawdust. Do you think that would be a reasonable use of it? Would there be any issues with parasites or toxoplasmosis and whatnot transferring to the mushrooms?

On the other hand, we have lots of junk mail so that's certainly an option.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting idea. Toxo organisms could conceivably make their way up to the mushrooms I suppose; I would be interested in what resulted anyway, if not to eat, just to see what grows in cat poop.

[buboniclou.livejournal.com]

Based on past laziness in cleaning it, I do know miscellaneous grey mold does, left to its own devices.

[peppergrass.livejournal.com]

Add this to my list of Things We Need to Do In Our House/Yard. ;)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The link on mushroom cultivation includes lots of talk about sterilization or pasteurization of the medium, which doesn't seem to go along with soiled cardboard crates or old newspapers. I'm all for the old newspapers, but if the process involves sterilization, I'd kind of lose interest (too much trouble, and I don't get it... wild mushrooms don't require a sterilized medium).

If you do try this, I hope you blog about it. I'll lurk and read, and if it seems easy enough for a lazy person such as myself to do, I'll try it.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Wild mushrooms don't "require" a sterilized medium, but sterilizing ensures that only the fungus you introduce will grow. Wild mushrooms have to either get there first, or outcompete the fungus that did get there first, or peacefully coexist with the fungus that got there first.

I won't bother with sterilizing my junk mail, just get it soaking wet and stuff some pre-spawned material in there. The competing fungi will have to grow from spores, while my oyster spawn will have a huge head start.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I won't bother with sterilizing my junk mail, just get it soaking wet and stuff some pre-spawned material in there.

Okay--that sounds like the level of effort I could commit to.