While driving through Littleton, Colorado James and I came across a park that had many different species of mushrooms growing in it. What first got our attention was large fruiting of Agaricus in the area, and as we were working on the Colorado Agaricus Project, this park was an interesting find. Unfortunately for us, most of the Agaricus found in the area were the yellow staining, foul smelling and poisonous Agaricus xanthodermus (the bane of most Agaricus hunter’s existence) and the giant mushroom of culinary disappointment, Agaricus bernardii. However, in one corner of the park, a cottonwood stump had been chopped to just above ground level. This stump had Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus pulmonarius) growing out one side, and Velvet Foot Mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes) out the other! Luckily for the Amateur Mycologists, we are able to culture these fungi in sterile lab conditions, as well as establishing them on cardboard for a more ‘natural’ form of storing the mycelium, making them the newest members of the Amateur Mycology Culture Library. Remember… the Amateur Mycology Culture Library page has an updated list of species in cold storage, and make sure you check back soon to see a full explanation of cardboard/stembutt culture from the exact oyster mushroom cluster pictured above!

James and I have been spending the past 3 months amassing mushroom species in pure culture and putting them under cold storage. You might be thinking, “what the heck is he talking about?”. To explain a little more clearly, we are ‘cloning’ wild mushrooms. This process is done by extracting flesh or spores from mushrooms that we have collected in the wild, and growing them in petri dish or test tube on different types of ‘media’. This media gives them nutrients specific to the species of fungi we are trying to grow. Now, when we talk about growing mushrooms, you first must isolate the part of the fungus that produces the mushrooms. Mycelium is a network of hyphae, or chains of cells, that are able to uptake water and various nutrients, as well as excrete digestive enzymes to digest it’s food, which in turn produces the mushroom. The mushroom is actually the fruiting body or sexual reproductive organ of the mycelium that produces spores to grow more mycelial networks. Under cold storage (i.e. 38 degrees F) the mushroom mycelium’s growth slows to a crawl. This allows the cultivator to store the mycelium until it is ready to use. To see a complete list of the different species we have go to The Amateur Mycology Culture Library page. We update it regularly.