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. Grpwing 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
These little mushroom cakes are so cool! Strange little fruiting mushroom habitats – Oysters on the left and Black Poplar on the right.
BABY OYSTERS
Back to the Pleurotus ostreatus, the fruiting oysters are soon used to seed Petri dishes and the cycle continues.