Wine Cap Mushroom Bed Installation
Welcome spring! This is the time of year many of us are very close to putting our gardening goals that we’ve been dreaming up all winter into action. If you haven’t considered adding a wine cap bed to your yard, now is the time! You’ll be enhancing your soil while also growing fresh mushrooms picked right in your own yard.
Materials Needed:
Wine cap mushroom spawn - ( One 5lb. bag per 6x6 area) The more spawn you use, the faster it will colonize and the faster your wine caps will start producing!
Cardboard: non-glossy with tape/labels removed
Wood chips: preferably hardwood and as fresh as possible. The older it is, the more likely it will have other mushrooms’ mycelium in it, making it much harder for your wine cap mushrooms to thrive.
Hardwood mulch: Not 100% necessary, but the mulch acts as a quick nutrient source for the mycelium allowing it to colonize faster. Because the wood chips are more dense and tend to be larger pieces, they act as a slow release nutrient source.We like to have a 50/50 ratio of wood chips to mulch
Water source
Step 1: Choose a Suitable Location: Select a spot in your garden or raised bed that receives a good amount of shade throughout the year. Wine cap mushrooms thrive in areas with dappled sunlight or filtered shade.
Step 2: Prepare the bed for inoculation: it’s best to use cardboard that is saturated with water, and double check tape & labels are removed! Soak your cardboard beforehand, or lay it out on the ground with a sprinkler prior to inoculation. If you are planning to companion plant in your bed (i.e. tomatoes, herbs, etc.), make sure to cut spots in your cardboard for where your plants will be placed. Otherwise, if you’ll be preparing a mushroom-only bed, lay down your wet cardboard in overlapping pieces into the desired shape of your bed. 6x6 is just a guideline, so your bed can take whatever shape you prefer. The goal is to have as much moisture retention as possible, especially during the first few weeks of the spawn run.
2. Add mulch & woodchips: Spread the first layer of wood chips and mulch evenly over the prepared area, aim for a depth of 2 - 4 inches. The wood chips will serve as the substrate for the mushroom spawn.
3. Prepare spawn: Before opening your bag of spawn, carefully break up the spawn block. You can knead the bag like would break dough, being careful not to pop it. The end result will be small, fine pieces of sawdust spawn, but some remaining chunks are ok. Cut off the top of your bag, and sprinkle a little over half of the wine cap spawn evenly over the prepared area.
4. Add & mix spawn: Gently mix the spawn into the wood chips using a rake or garden fork. This helps distribute the spawn throughout the substrate. If you see any remaining large chunks of spawn while raking, you can break them up now.
5. Mulch, mix, and repeat: Add another thin layer of mulch & wood chips, and mix the rest of the spawn in. Add a final top coating of mulch and woodchips to protect the spawn underneath from drying out. Your finished bed should be about 4-6 inches deep. Now that you’ve basically made a mushroom lasagna, it’s time to water!
6: Watering: Water the mushroom bed to moisten the wood chips and spawn. Aim for about an inch of either rain or hand/sprinkler watering per week for optimum moisture. Avoid over-watering, as excessive moisture can hinder mushroom growth.
Pictured above is the wine cap mycelium (mushroom “roots”) growing on wood chips from a wine cap bed.
Maintenance & Upkeep:
Bed maintenance is very low-key. Continue to keep the mushroom bed moist, especially during dry spells. Water as needed to maintain adequate moisture levels.It is important to check if the bed is dry at the soil level. The top layer of a bed will almost always dry out, but when you dig your hand into the bed down to the soil level, it should feel very moist.
You can check for signs of colonization by looking at the mycelium. The mycelium is the “roots” of the mushroom. Winecap mycelium is white, thick, and stringy. Just scratch an inch or two under the top layer after a few weeks and you should see lots of growth!
Monitor the bed for signs of mushroom fruiting body growth. Wine cap mushrooms typically fruit in the spring and fall, depending on local climate conditions.
As the mushrooms mature, harvest them by gently twisting and pulling them from the substrate. For optimal shelf life and taste, harvest the mushrooms before or just after the white veil that protects the gills starts to break and exposes the gills underneath the cap. They are still edible once the veil breaks and the mushroom begins to drop its spores but it can develop a bitter taste as it matures past its prime picking stage.
Winter maintenance isn’t necessary, but if you’d prefer to mulch your bed, you may do so over winter.
Your prepared bed should last 2-3 years, but it may last longer depending on your nutrient source. You can feel free to “feed” it additional mulch & woodchips over the next few years, but after about 4 years, the strength of the mycelium will naturally degrade. You should be left with a beautiful, fertile soil! You can plant a garden here or you can purchase a new bag of spawn and start over in the space!
Plant wine cap mushroom beds alongside vegetables, herbs, or flowers to enhance biodiversity, retain moisture, and promote a healthy garden ecosystem - they also make excellent weed suppression in your garden beds!
