Mushrooms: Grain Spawn Inoculations

Picking up where we left off on the mushroom growing posts; this post will give a quick glimpse into how we inoculate our grain spawn masters from petri dishes, and our grain spawn bags using what is called grain-to-grain transfers.  All of this work must be done in a sterile lab, or in a semi-sterile environment such as a glove or still-air box. Our operation uses sterile lab technique so that is what we will highlight.  This all can be done with low-tech methods but success is variable.  When growing mushrooms for sale to restaurants or store fronts they need a consistent (usually weekly) supply.  Meaning that consistency is paramount to running a successful mushroom op.  This is one reason why we use sterile lab technique. All of the pictures (below in the slideshow) are taken within our lab.  We are currently in the process of a make-over for our laboratory.  The next posts you read/pictures you see after this one will all be of a new, upgraded setup. This will be our fourth lab setup we have used over that last 4 years of growing mushrooms.  We had to start small and cheap, then slowly expand as the operation grew.

So all of the bags and jars of grain have been prepped, sterilized and emptied into the lab (this was all detailed in the previous post called Mushrooms: Grain Spawn Prep.)  Before we enter the lab we shower, put on clean clothes, pull our hair back, then put on the lab suit and surgical face mask.  Once inside the lab, we wipe down all surfaces with %70 isopropyl alcohol.  Then the bacticinerator is plugged in (sterilizes the scalpel blade between uses, without a flame) and the petri dishes, jars, and bags are put in the que to be inoculated.  It is always good to know what your inoculating beforehand; write what needs to be done as a list and bring this with you into the lab.  This way no time is wasted figuring out what needs to be transferred where, and all the time can be devoted to sterile technique.  I will explain agar perti dish to grain master jar transfers first.  Place the desired culture within the perti dish in front of the laminar flow hood as well as the jar to be inoculated.  Place the scalpel into the bacticinerator for sterilization (or use a flame.)  While this is happening loosen the lid all the way on the jar and remove the parafilm wrapping around the perti dish. Once the scalpel is red hot, the lid of the petri dish is removed.  Then cut a bunch of squares out in the petri dish (pictured below in the slideshow.)  Use the scalpel blade to "stab" the wedges from the petri dish.  Open the jar lid and thrust the scalpel downward into the jar.  The wedges will slide off the blade and into the jar.  Put the jar lid back on and tighten.  Don't forget to label the jar with the type of mushroom and the date it was inoculated.  Then shake the jar to distribute the wedges throughout the grain.  Let it sit at room temperature within the lab.  After 5-7days shake the jars again and let them colonize for some more time. They will be fully colonized and ready for use in about 10-14 days after inoculation.

 Now for inoculating grain spawn bags using the grain-to-grain transfer technique.  Before starting, clean off the surface and the bag heat sealer with isopropyl alcohol.   Take one of the jars that is fully colonized (one that was made 10-14 days earlier) and shake it up to break apart the grains.  As the mushroom mycelium grows it will eventually turn all the grains into one solid mass.  Put both the bag and the jar in front of the laminar flow hood, then loosen the jar lid.  Carefully open the grain bag in front of the flow hood, making sure the bag opening never leaves the area in front of the hood (or contamination is likely.)  Remove the lid from the jar and pour a portion of its contents into the grain spawn bag.  Set the jar back down and cover it quickly with its lid.  Then bring the grain spawn bag up to the sealer, and heat seal it.  Once sealed shake it to distribute the grain from the jar throughout.  Label the bag and set on an open wire shelf within the lab.  The grain bags do not need to be shaken again, as the jars do.  The bags will be fully colonized in 5-10 days.  This is how a grain-to-grain transfer is made.  The bags would be labeled G2, meaning second generation of spawn.  Generally, one can go up to 3 generations, but any more and efficiency is decreased.   Either the jars or the bags can also be used to inoculate the end substrate (sawdust or straw) for the production of mushrooms.

There you have it, the next step in the process of growing gourmet/medicinal mushrooms:
Production of grain spawn masters and grain spawn bags.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to say hallelujah every once in a while:

 We really do live on a beautiful planet.

The Destroying Angel

Today we went out for a small hike/mushroom hunt at a local park.  It was a nice day out, a little hot and super buggy, but still refreshing.  I was hoping to find chantarelles and boletes for fresh eating, or wild reishi, artists conk, and other medicinal polypores.  We found a ton of boletes, but they were past their prime; last week would have been perfect.  There is always next year.  After a little while I stumbled across a single white mushroom - radiant and stately.  Instantly mesmerized, i plucked it out for a closer look and pictures.  As soon as i picked it up i knew what it was, though i had never seen one before; The Destroying Angel or Amanita bisporigera.  One of the deadliest mushrooms known to man.  Eating one cap of these mushrooms could easily kill a healthy adult.

This is one of those mushrooms you DON'T WANT TO EAT.  The most important tip i can give to any beginning mushroom hunter or forager is to know the poisonous mushrooms well.  This way they are easily avoided.  Also know the species your hunting for very well.  Use the current available literature, the internet, experienced persons, and/or web forums such as the shroomery with help identifying mushrooms.  Unless your willing to risk your health and possibly your life, dont eat it unless your %100 sure it is safe.  Wild mushrooms can be such a treat, but only if you are sure about what you're consuming!  The only other significant find was some young, beautiful Ganoderma applanatum or Arists Conk.

These mushrooms are common in our area during most of the year.  They are a healing mushroom and are not edible.  They must go through some sort of extraction process for us to be able to consume their constituents and healing properties.  The most simple and common method of extraction is a hot-water extract; also known as a tea.  This mushroom contains general immune boosting properties, anti-tumor activity, and more.  We will dry them and store them in a glass mason jar until we make a tea from them.

Remember, know your poisonous mushrooms in addition to your desired mushrooms when you go foraging or hunting. 

Thanks for reading

Why Mushrooms?

Surprisingly, its the most common question i get. My answer is: "Why not?" There are specialists of unbelievably odd things whether it be jellyfish, plant pathogens, the human nervous system, insects, single-celled organisms, quantum physics; YOU NAME IT! There are enough people on this planet for anyone to specialize in even the oddest of things. So mine happens to be fungi, but even beyond that edible fungi. And even beyond that: healthy/medicinal mushrooms that can be cultivated to help prevent or heal illness. That is one of my deepest passions. It is this way because of what the mushrooms have done for me (as i can not speak for others, only myself). The effects are extremely potent, and not just physically, but spiritually as well. For example one of my favorite mushrooms, Reishi or Ling Zhi, is also known as "the herb of spiritual potency". The ancients who consumed reishi, called it this because they felt the mushrooms effects on spirituality such as increased levels of awareness or consciousness. Many yogis and meditation masters use this mushrooms in their spiritual practices. Now this is not to say that they didnt receive and feel physical effects, but that there was also something more... I constantly feel that something more, but not just with reishi, with all the gourmet/healing mushrooms. I want to share this feeling, and make eating mushrooms something to talk about, something to directly benefit from, and something to learn from. Research has indicated that Lions Mane mushrooms have the potential to make someone smarter(through its nerve regenerating properties), just by eating them.  There is so much to learn about and to experience with the healing effect of mushrooms.

It's also the mystery; fungi are mysterious. We probably know the least about the fungal kingdom than any other kingdom. For example we know why plants use light; to photosynthesize, to make energy. We even know how to describe it in molecular terms : CO2 + H20 + light = C6H12O6 + O2. Now for most mushrooms species light is necessary or they wont grow properly. The interesting thing is they dont photosynthesize like plants. We actually have no idea what they do with the light, or why they need it; but they need it. Another mystery is how mycorrhizal fungi(fungus that lives symbiotically with tree/plant roots) interact with their hosts. For example, in a forest there are 2 trees. Both these trees are actually connected by fungi living on their roots. If one of these trees has a deficiency of nitrogen, and the other tree has excessive nitrogen, it will actually transfer that nitrogen from the tree that has too much to the tree that does not have enough. Why would it do this? Im sure there are tons of reasons, but couldnt the fungus in this situation be considered a healer? It was only able to heal what it was connected to. Ever heard "You are what you eat?" I beleive that by eating gourmet/healing mushrooms we are able to connect with the mushrooms and they can heal us.

I have been taught by the mushrooms from growing them as well as eating them. They have taught me how to not give up, to try new things, to work hard. They made me realize how important a proper environment is for an organisms growth. They made me realize i do not grow mushrooms, they grow themselves. I am the caretaker of the environment they grow in. Like a snake charmer: you dont make them grow, you coax them to grow. They showed me how talking about it is one thing, but getting your feet wet is another. They taught me how one single cell can end up as trillions of cells, given the proper resources. They showed me how meat isnt the only "meaty" thing out there. Meat and mushrooms both contain a flavor profile called umami; giving them taste similarities. They gave me hope after i took some bad turns in life, sometimes feeling like i could never recover. They made me a smarter, harder, and more efficient worker, but also a more emotional, introspective, and caring person. They taught me about sacrifice. On a friday evening I might be in the lab making spawn to grow mushrooms. Why? Because the seeds of sacrifices will be harvested, and it wont be just me who reaps the benefits; it will be: my family, my customers, the community, the environment, etc. It taught me that working hard to attain a goal is healthier than just receiving the goal with minimal effort. I could go on for pages like this; but I dont want to bore you :) These are just some of my answers to: Why mushrooms?

Here are some pictures of shiitake we grew last year.  

Thanks for being here, being here right now. 

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
~Anais Nin~

Mushrooms: Grain Spawn Prep

Woke up, took out the dogs, opened the chicken coop and checked on the baby chics... then strait to grain spawn prep!  Grain spawn are the "seeds" of commercial mushroom cultivation (if one were to make an analogy to plant propagation).  The main difference is that plant seeds are all genetically different, like brothers and sisters; and mushroom spawn is genetically THE SAME, like having clones of yourself.  That is because the true "seeds" of mushrooms are spores.  Spores are not used in commercial cultivation because they produce variable results in a system where consistency and reliability are key.  Thats why in mushroom cultivation you clone a certain genetic sequence - to get the consistency and reliability for making the operation more efficient and simultaneously Eco-friendly.  So, spawn is mushroom mycelium grown on grains, almost any type of grain works, some better than others. We use certified organic rye grain/berries from Azure Standard for all of our spawn.  Once grain spawn bags are fully colonized they form into a cohesive, single solid block(a single organism). After which they are broken up and shaken - to separate each piece of grain apart(hundreds or thousands of organisms, but all genetically the same).  Instead of adding a couple of large chunks of mycelium, we can add hundreds of small grain chunks increasing the surface area of the mycelium(a small group of organisms colonizes new material and reconnects to form a single organism in a new territory).



Next, Im going to give a step by step / picture by picture rundown of our grain preparation and sterilization procedures.  There are two main types of mushroom grain spawn: grain spawn masters and grain to grain (G2G) spawn.  Spawn masters are made from putting in wedges of agar from a clean culture grown in petri dishes.  G2G spawn is when spawn masters or any spawn is used to inoculate more grain spawn. Here at LGT we generally make grain spawn masters in 1L jars with specialized lids/filters.  We make large quantities of spawn via G2G transfer from our jars to larger bags.  These larger bags then go into the sawdust based substrate conducive to fungal growth.  There are so many ways to prep the grain, and make the spawn; this is just one that happens to work well for our situation.  Its quick (no overnight soak) and effective. We generally inoculate each sawdust bag with a small amount of spawn, weighing around 100g wet.  To start we put H2O into a large pot and bring it to a boil.  During this time we add some gypsum to the water to enhance mushroom growth. Both calcium and sulfur (gypsum's constituents) are minerals that greatly benefit growth.   Once boiling we add a pre-weighed amount of rye berries to the water; mix, then turn off the heat.  After 45 minutes of sitting,  we turn the heat on high for 5 minutes, mixing once or twice during this time.  We then pour it through a small strainer, give it a quick turn to get water off of the grain, then pour it into a large strainer.  Stir the grain in the large strainer for 5-10 minutes to get some steam to escape.  Then load it into either bags or jars (make sure the jars have been cleaned beforehand.)  We put the jars or bags on the scale to make sure each weighs the correct amount.  We do 350-400g per 1L jar or small spawn bag and 1.8-2.4KG per large spawn bag.  Fold the bags over and insert a tyvek sleeve into the bag opening.  Load them into the sterilizer and cook at 15+ PSI for 1.5 hours for jars and 2-3 hours for bags. Once the sterilizers are cooled down they are moved to the lab and unloaded in front of the laminar flow hood.  Between the flow hood and our filtered positive pressurization air system, the air that the sterilizers are opened in is very clean, helping to ensure success. The sterilized grain takes at least 6 hours to cool until they are ready to be inoculated.  With our setup we have left grain spawn jars or bags un-inoculated for over a month and they still were viable to use weeks later (same with agar petri dishes if kept in a sealed bag.)  This ability to inoculate whenever, helps us to stay flexible with our schedule.  You never know when your car is going to break down or your dog is going to need stitches LOL.

Keep checking back, we will have a how to inoculate grain spawn masters and grain to grain spawn bags soon! 

Yesterdays Mushroom Work

Yesterday, I did quite a bit of mushroom work. I put in 60 oyster mushroom blocks (our current amount of weekly oyster production) into the fruiting chamber, which is maintained at 61-66F throughout the summer. This cool temperature is key to keeping our mushrooms at top quality in the summer months. After that it was off the the lab for bag inoculations, but dont forget the shower first :) Got to be clean to do lab work. After the shower I suited up into a clean tyvek suit and surgical face-mask, and began inoculations. I did 90 bags yesterday, alone, which generally takes me 1.5 minutes/bag without prep or clean up time. We will be bumping up the quantity of bags we produce each week soon from 90-108. That extra 18 will be more shiitake blocks, though they take 4+ months till the mushrooms will be ready. The Beloit Farmers market this weekend was great; sweet sunshine and plenty of smiling faces! We sold out around 1100, so if you want mushrooms try to come a little earlier. Next week, the first of our weekly batches of lions mane, or Yamabushitake, should be ready; come and get em! From then on we will have lions mane at the market each week. I just harvested the oyster crop for restaurant sale, take a look at this time-lapse of photos. It is over only a 5 day period; a picture taken each day. The mushrooms only took 5 days to finish because they already had primordia(the beginnings of mushroom formation) within the bag, due to over incubation by a couple of days. SO only 5 days in the fruiting chamber to bring in this crop, and we averaged 1.25lbs/block of harvest weight. We generally go for 3 to 5 crops with our oysters, so by the end of their cycle, each block should have an accumulated yield of quite a bit. Generally with oysters, each subsequent harvest(or flush as it is called for mushrooms) yields 1/2-1/4 of the previous one.  


Thanks for stoppin in!

A New Day

Let me give a basic overview of what you may expect to find here on Emfris. We want to share with you our experiences, feelings, and opinions.  By all means realize that we are people with feelings and opinions, just like you; and sometime we feel like sharing them.  But that is all that they are, opinions and feelings; each is entitled to their own. With that little disclaimer out of the way i have one more:  

Everything we have ever been told is a lie.
Anybody who tells you something is lying, even me.
Seek the truth. 

Now that we have all that cleared up let me make a list of possible topics we will be posting about:

•  Cultivation of: Mushrooms, Hydroponic plants, Animals, Micro-Greens, etc.
• Lifestyle: Growing our own food, Exercise, Asanas Yoga, Diet, etc.
• Spirituality: Right Living, The nature of our minds, Natural energetic patterns, Art, etc.
• Current Status: What needs improvement and how to do it, Where to go from here, etc.
• Future Status: What are our dreams and how to never lose sight of them, Future technologies, Future life, Does time end?, and all those questions we can't answer but are still worth asking...

We will also gladly take post request, if you have a topic you want to talk about, or something you would liek us to share with you, just ask!  I would rather communicate about a topic that I know someone is curious about, rather than having to try to assume what people will be interested in.  All comments are welcome, but please try to keep things light and positive.  To many people chatting online seem to argue and bicker for no purpose; please refrain from this type of communication.

I would like to consecrate this blog/online presence to: The Earth Mother, The Powers of Communication, The Multi-Verse, The Higher Beings, and The Ultimate Ancestor.  May this online presence be given up to the light, so it may be filled with the light, to become a tool for development towards our destined higher nature.  May we all be given the opportunity to benefit from this, and all interaction within existence.

Thank you for checking out Emfris, and visit back regularly for updates.

The Beginning

Here begins an epic account of a battle for the restoration of The Earth Mother, and ourselves, back to a state of unity with our surroundings. Follow us down this web-based rabbit hole, for a look into what a small family can do to shape its world. We will start off with a picture taken yesterday:

These are the mushrooms we grow.  

For a closer look check out the website: www.lgtmushrooms.com