Gaia Grows: Sustainable Shrooms

By Kathleen Miller
Gaia’s Farm and Gardens

Sustainable living, gardening and farming is based on an understanding of ecosystems, and the study of relationships between organisms and their environment. It has been defined as an integrated system of plant and animal production practices that will last over time. Having a harmonious relationship with Gaia (Mother Earth) provides food for people enhances the natural environment upon which the community depends, makes efficient use of resources and integrates natural cycles that sustain economic viability as well as enhances the quality of life for the community as a whole.

When growing mushrooms biological diversity and sustainable agricultural practices create environments through the interdependence of natural ecosystems and recycling of by-products from farming and forest activities, species diversity and biological succession. 

Fungi transform wood and other carbon material into amazing soil. In sustainable mushroom farming gourmet and medicinal mushrooms are involved as key organisms in the recycling of agricultural and forest by-products, creating an environment that produces intensive levels of productivity. 

Mushrooms are a protein-rich food source and the by-products of mushroom cultivation provide nutrients for other members of the ecological community in the ecosystem. Recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem boosts the soil and makes mushroom farming very sustainable for plants, animals, insects and soil microorganisms that consume the recycled nutrients. 

Fungi facilitate the transmission of nutrition from the soil to a plant’s roots and also from plant to plant. There are 10,000 known species of mushrooms but only about 100 are cultivated commercially.

The choice of deciding which mushrooms to grow is probably the hardest part of the process. When starting out in mushroom farming it is best to start with one species and expand from there. 

You will have to consider what available space you have access to and also consider if you are going to grow indoors or outdoors. Indoor cultivation provides a more controlled environment, but set up costs can be quite high.

Commercial mushrooms are usually grown in sterile, climate-controlled laboratory-like settings. Growing mushrooms outside is more simple due to it’s low set up costs. Outdoor cultivation also allows for more location choices as well as more growing space.

I recommend that beginners start out with a small kit to learn the art of mushroom cultivation before investing in a commercial mushroom operation. Many kits for gourmet and medicinal mushrooms are available from a variety of online shroom suppliers.

Many mushroom species that can be incorporated into the sustainable farm or garden. The addition of mushrooms in a sustainable farm or garden will take you to another level because when fungi is incorporated into sustainable farms or gardens the ecological health of the whole ecosystem benefits immensely.  

Shiitakes are the easiest to grow with the highest rate of success. They grow on fresh-cut hardwood logs that you inoculate with spores. These logs can be partially buried or lined up in fence-like rows.

Once the logs have stopped producing, the softened wood can be broken up, sterilized, and re-inoculated. Indoors, these mushrooms can be grown on sterilized substrates or on logs.

Oyster Mushrooms can be grown indoors on pasteurized corn stalks, wheat and a wide range of other materials including paper and pulp by-products. Oyster mushrooms can also be grown on hardwood stumps and logs. The waste substrate from Oyster production is useful as fodder for cows, chickens, & pigs. 

The waste straw can be mulched into soils to provide structure and nutrition. Oyster mushrooms are available in several colors, including blue, white, pink and bright yellow. Under ideal conditions, fruiting can occur as quickly as three weeks.

King Stropharia mushrooms are an ideal element in the recycling of complex wood debris and garden wastes, and thrives in complex environments. Vigorously attacking wood (sawdust, chips, twigs, branches), the King Stropharia also grows in wood-free substrates, particularly soils supplemented with chopped straw.

Acclimated to northern latitudes, this mushroom fruits when air temperatures range between 60-90° F which usually translates to ground temperatures of 55-65° F.  King Stropharia is an excellent edible mushroom when young, but edibility quickly declines as the mushrooms mature.

Reishi mushrooms are also an excellent choice for the sustainable mushroom farmer. Logs and stumps can be inoculated which provides opportunities for stump culture in regions where hardwoods predominate.

Shaggy Mane mushrooms grow in rich manured soils, disturbed habitats, in and around compost piles, and in grassy and gravel areas. Shaggy Manes are extremely adaptive and tend to wander. Shaggy Mane patches travel great distances from their original site of inoculation in their search for fruiting niches. Morels grow in a variety of habitats, from abandoned apple orchards and diseased elms to gravelly roads and stream beds.  

The complex habitat of a compost pile also supports Morel growth. When planting cottonwood trees, you can introduce spawn around the root zones in hopes of creating a perennial Morel patch. Growers should note that Morels are fickle and elusive by nature compared to more predictable species like King Stropharia, Oyster and Shiitake mushrooms.

Mycorrhizal species can be introduced via several techniques. The age-old, proven method of satellite planting is probably the simplest. By planting young seedlings around the bases of trees naturally producing Chanterelles, Truffles or other desirable species, you may establish satellite colonies by replanting the young trees after several years of association.

Sustainable mushroom farming doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.  By using spores from reliable sources and following the basic steps, shrooming can be a fun and easy way to make your farm or garden more sustainable.