ChrisK, the method I use for pasteurizing is to simply simmer the strawfor about 20-30 minutes, spread it out to remove excess water, bag with a layer of straw and then seed, repeat till bag is full. The spawn bags dimensions are, 22 1/2 x 8 x 4 3/4 inch and 2 1/4 mm thick bought from Fungi Perfecti. [URL="http://www.fungi.com"]WWW.fungi.com[/URL]

Paul R

that's awesome! makes me want to start a bed of those!

i've got the first oysters of the year here fruiting on a log i started a few years ago, there's several clusters now but still small tommorrow i'll try to get some pics

Paul R, Thanks for that advice, I heard you should soak the log but no one said how long, it's great to have a specific time frame. The log is in a low area near my home that is seasonally wet, but seasonally wet isn't the same as a soak for shocking them into fruiting.

I guess I should wait for the weather to warm before I do that.. not much shock about soaking a soaking log. (which it surely is now, frozen and soaked both!)8-)

i was finally able to get some pics of the one fruiting log, it's about three years old and has been buried under a compost pile all winter. it's beech oyster from southeast mushrooms from plug spawn:

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/t5fXwY-c1bncDt_xuyKDc4UTZkZUL-FAI1l6TXj-efM=w276-h206-p-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Zw9R3Ql7Qj2tqoI_4DZ0jrG94og1fMVKTFpv2Qi9Zag=w276-h206-p-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/HJhYpNno6B2E333vN_7riKf6RPAV9trol-93ak7UOBI=w276-h206-p-no[/IMG]

[SIZE="2"]there are three logs planted in holes under a shade tree in the wettest part of the yard[/SIZE]

[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/XMn0mu9kOZUjmrmsj4r1-lz_X0kC79zlqPso1-VMr_c=w276-h207-p-no[/IMG]

[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/DnO9r9Pkz__eiJ3fnF3Yw6djHC1VNCxUF4MpLvnrhkw=w276-h207-p-no[/IMG]

Sweet!! my logs are about shot, I'm hoping they produce this year and save some spores.

Paul R

i'm hoping my agar comes in soon so i can get a clone of one of these, i plan on passing some cultures around for shipping if anyone wants any. i've got a few cultures coming soon just waiting for the guy to get them slanted out then i'll expand em from there.

the first oysters i grew were from spores, but i haven't revisited them since i may give them a shot again, no pun intended!

I was doing some spore work a few years back and I think some went rouge.

[IMG]http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj238/blackhead57/plant.jpg[/IMG]

that is nuts! i love how persistent and versatile oysters are. did that kill the plant? i've often wondered if a plant will survive within an oyster colony

I didn't take it any further, obviously I was over watering the seedlings. Not sure if it would with the oyster being a decomposer.

Paul R

i would think once the colony closed in on it the roots would smother and soon be eaten, that thinking is what kept me from trying it.

So far, a very informative thread :yes:

Rootloops I forgot. Did you have the book by Paul Stammets : How to grow edible and medicinal mushrooms?

i've never read it, it can be had online as a "free" download but i have a staunch no taking someones work without compensation policy so i've never gotten it. i'll eventually buy it i'm sure, but i learned everything i know about them from the internet and trial and error.

rogue oysters
 

I read somewhere or heard about a couple guys who had to cut some logs - so instead of chain oil they used mineral oil mixed with oyster spores and used the chain saw to also make some cuts into the stumps... voila, oyster crops ensued. :)