One of the coolest projects I’ve ever done. Oyster mushrooms are extremely easy to grow and a great mushroom for beginners. But getting hold of spawn is the trickiest bit. Spawn is what you use to grow mushrooms - think of it like mushroom seed. When combined with a substrate - like straw, woodchips or even coffee grounds the spawn spreads mycelium through the organic matter breaking it down and drawing energy from it, (mushrooms don’t photosynthesise like plants do so need to get energy from the substrate) once it’s fully colonised/ spread through the substrate the fungi will then fruit - which is what a mushroom is. I got a mushroom growing kit online then used the stems I had leftover to grow more spawn, but this is possible even with supermarket oyster mushroom stems. Cardboard is often used to grow more spawn but isn’t a great substrate to grow lots of mushrooms on, it’s low in nitrogen and will produce quite weak mushrooms. To grow an abundance of mushrooms you can use the spawn grown on the card and combine it with straw, coffee grounds or woodchip. (Check out my previous video for a straw bucket set up - you’d just replace the spawn with your homegrown one) Be sure to use cardboard that is clean and untreated only. When growing mushrooms you need to keep everything very clean. Sanitise the container, I used an alcohol wipe, pasteurise the card by boiling it in hot water - boil vigorously for at least 10 minutes and allow to cool before using . Wash your hand and tools throughly. If other mould spores get in to your set up they have the perfect conditions to grow if this happens you need to chuck it and start again. Oysters are a very vigorous mushroom so easy to grow at home requiring pasteurisation rather than fully sterilised conditions which many other mushrooms need. Anyway - even as just a cool thing to watch grow, this was incredible. #mushrooms #oystermushrooms #gardeningproject #oystermushroomspawn #growmushrooms - @marfskitchengarden