We have several big piles of wood chips on the farm, many tons of them. A local tree service needed somewhere to dump, so they bring their chips here and drop them for free.
I'm glad to take them. Chips are carbon, and Joel Salatin points out that wood chips are a very valuable product. Having them delivered for nothing is hard to beat.
Mushrooms have started coming up in the piles, and I don't know what they are. One patch is a cluster of bright orange ones. Another is tan and gray. I haven't identified either one, so I'm leaving them alone. Please don't take this as a sign they're safe to eat. Wild mushrooms can look a lot alike, and the wrong one can make you very sick.
Seeing them has me thinking I might grow mushrooms on purpose someday. Oysters and lion's mane seem like good places to start, along with a few other common kinds people grow at home. If I do it, I'd start in a controlled setup where I know exactly what went in, so I'm never guessing what I'm eating.
For now the chips sit there and the mushrooms do their own thing. Has anyone out there grown mushrooms at home? What would you try first?
We share what's working on the farm on our email list. Join us here.