Fungi Friday's - April 15th, 2022
Issue #27
Fungi Friday fans, we’re back again for another weekly issue! But before we get into the weekly stories, a few exciting updates…
First off, the boys over at Iowa Fungi started our trailer build out last weekend. We had a truckload of gravel dropped off, we built out a custom 55 gallon bulk commercial humidifier tek and we also fully installed our six solar panels. Next week, we should be able to built out the walls to separate our incubation room, our fruiting chamber and our mushroom lab. Then we’ll install the lights and finally be ready for pre-production of the first crop of the season! That’s it for the updates for now though… let’s get on with this week’s stories.
How to grow mushrooms – both inside or in the garden
And what could accompany our weekly update better than a “how to grow mushrooms for beginners” article to start out this week’s feature articles? As you will learn through this one, there are plenty of ways to grow mushrooms ranging from areas both indoors and outdoors, as well as on many different substrates, such as straw, coffee grounds, logs, and cocoa bean hulls.
This article covers the needed conditions, the different times of year, the length of time they take to grow and many other important tidbits of information related to successful fungi formation. While mushrooms can grow in all sorts of conditions, there are certain ideal conditions for different types of fungi species. For the boys at Iowa Fungi, for example… we plan to utilize an indoor setup within a 45 foot refrigerator trailer. As mentioned above, we plan to outfit this trailer with nothing more than a humidifier, some lighting and enough airflow to circulate air throughout the trailer. The mushrooms will be grown in plastic bags filled with straw. And while obviously this is just one option, but it’ll be the way we begin our little experiment, and you certainly know we plan to update our entire Fungi Friday fam along the way!
Fungi Could Make Soil From Asteroids and Homes on Mars
What if we could make soil in space? That’s the question that’s currently being pondered by both NASA scientists and researchers at mushroom company Fungi Perfecti. They believe with the help of fungi, we might soon be able to turn asteroids into this soil. And this idea isn’t all that far fetched… as it has long been believed that it is fungi might be responsible for the early soil formation here on Earth.
In the initial research, 15 mushrooms began, however the team quickly narrowed down their focus to three species, with the oyster mushroom ultimately being selected as the best suitor. Oyster mushrooms are known for their ability to break down hydrocarbons. And through some initial testing, the researchers in charge now believe that, with the help of these oyster mushroom, scientists could grow plants in the regolith created soil within one to three years. Combine that concept with the a few other mushroom related studies we’ve brought up over the past few months, such as using fungi to build structure and using fungi to cleanup toxic waste, and there is arguably a future where fungi are the common denominator in humanity becoming an interplanetary species.
It's almost time to hunt mysterious morel mushrooms. A 5-time champ offers tips to find them
Every year around this time, avid mushroom fans take to the woods in search of the elusive, yet delicious morel mushroom! This year, however, the five time morel mushroom king has a few tips tips to share. To find morels successfully, here are a few things to keep in mind:
While morel season can range from anywhere between April 1st and June 1st, the best time typically aligns with the time where there is the most rain and warmth.
Morels like to take root near poplar, ash and aspen trees.
The secret is to cover lots of ground. This is a treasure hunt and the more ground you cover, the better.
When you finally find one, slow down. Where there is one, there will typically be more. Morel’s grow in groups.
And that’s it! While morels favor the 45th parallel, any time out in nature is most certainly worth it… and for those of you that are successful, morels can typically kept for up to a week in the fridge and they’re best kept in a paper bag. So with that, good luck to all. Happy hunting, morel fans!
Want even more? Here are some other interesting, mushroom focused reads of the week:
Study: Psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms) May Curb Opioid Use Disorder
5 'functional' mushrooms the wellness industry is obsessed with, from lion's mane to turkey tail
As always, thank you for reading this weeks edition of Fungi Friday’s! If you enjoyed what you found, please feel free to forward to friends also interested in the Fungi Community!
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