BOB’S MUSHROOM LABORATORY – Trouts Farm Too

BOB’S
MUSHROOM LABORATORY

March, 2011

HOME MADE
FOOD

Bob holds an
outstanding specimen of Pleurotus ostreatus, an oyster mushroom given him
by Adam who grew it in a five-gallon bucket on paper and coffee grounds.
We served it for dinner and it resembled Abalone – succulent and chewy, with a subtle
seafood flavor.

Thanks
to Bob’s diligence and intellectual curiosity, our third bedroom has become a
laboratory for mycelium propagation. The test tube in his hand is called a
‘slant’ and contains oyster mycelium. Growing cultures like these is akin
to saving seed, an important piece of making sure we can grow our own food
should UPS stop coming to our door with mushroom plugs.

GLOVE BOX
AND PETRI DISHES

No lab is complete
without these two items. To reduce risk of contamination, Bob made a glove
box out of a Rubbermaid bin. He slips on rubber gloves and sticks his arms
through holes in the bin to work with the sterilized agar-filled Petri
dishes. The sealed bin prevents unwanted bacteria from contaminating the
agar. Using this method he implants mycelium in the dishes, or as in the
picture above, a cutting from that gorgeous oyster mushroom Adam gave him.
The dishes are then placed in the climate controlled cabinet we use to make
Tempeh which encourages the mycelium to spread across the agar.

BLACK
POPLAR

Here’s another
mycelium propagation method, Agrocybe agerita (Black Poplar mushroom) mycelium
on sterilized vermiculite and brow rice flour cakes. Bob rigged up a water
bubbler inside a Rubbermaid bin to make a humid home for the mycelium.

MICROCOSM