What about the fungi? Hericium erinaceus, Hericium coralloides, Pleuratus eryngii and Morchella elata

Ah yes, what about the fungi? I've renewed my effort in trying to grow some Hericium erinaceus (Pom pom fungus in Europe or Monkey's Head fungus in China).

Thank you wikipedia, for this picture.

Bought a colonised wooden plugs culture that I purposely mistreat the first few months so only the hardiest mycelium survive, fruit and sporulate. Saved the spore strain in a sample bottle (yes, I am kinda particular and pedantic about having a backup spore/culture sample) and used the dried out main mycelium covered wooden plugs to colonise some recycled newspaper.

This Tek was chosen as it's the cheapest and easiest. I love mycology, but a lot of mushroom related forums tend to lean towards the *mystical and magical* fungus LOL - which is interesting, but not really not my cup of tea. I like wild mushrooms as a gastronomic, rather than a psychoactive, treat!

Right now I have two different strains of Hericium erinaceus and Laetiporus sulphureus that are *cooking* in their bio-reactors (of bleach sterilised newspaper mush, all packed into ziploc bags or clear plastic containers).

Doesn't look like much right now, but we'll see in a couple of weeks.

I hope in a couple of weeks they will have colonised the substrate, and fruit out in say October or November. Hopefully we'll see something that looks like these guys:

Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

Pom pom mushroom. Picture court

I also still have some strain isolate of Pleuratus eryngii (King Oyster Mushroom) sitting dormant in a grain (popcorn) innoculated jar. I did manage to get a couple of substrate bags (also bleach sterilised newspaper mush) to colonise full of mycelium and bear fruiting bodies; but I'm afraid last year I was a bit busy trying to adjust to a new life that them mushrooms got dried out. So they are *buried* outside with three cut up logs, with the hope they'll pick up the growth.

King Oyster Mushroom

Yes, I was growing them in a Big Gulp cup!

Once I figured out what keeps them happy, I might re-try to grow some wild Hericium coralloides strain that I know occurs naturally in Bowness Park. I still feel a bit guilty about eating the ones I found there ... I hope I can re-populate the strain onto some other fallen deadwood there, seeing that it is a rare fungus!

I hope I did some good scattering spores around while harvesting this fella.

I tried to colonise a log with a tissue sample last year, but it didn't take. Maybe I need to pamper them with sterilised grain first before introducing hardwood.

Tried to clone this strain, but to no avail

I also seeded a really shady part of the back garden with some Morchella elata bits that was left over from the Morels & Chicken dinner. They were harvested where I know they are plentiful and in no danger of being wiped out. People keep going on about plants and animals being wiped out, but not many really give a thought to rare fungi species. I won't go all mental about not eating animals like PETA keep honking at us though. I think if you harvest things in moderation and not go around stripping it bare, then it's OK to go around looking for wild mushrooms.

Black Morel. Favourite of Grizzly Bears!