[Tastebridge] Mushroom update

Rikke Rasmussen rikke.c.rasmussen at gmail.com
Wed Oct 5 16:52:25 UTC 2011


We decided to try three different experiments with regards to the moisture
level - one where we dry the grounds out first and treat it the same way we
did the sawdust (i.e. add peroxide and supplement); one where we adjust
moisture level of wet grounds (perhaps with gypsum?) and add peroxide +
supplement; and one where we adjust the moisture level of wet grounds and
pressure cook them before inoculation.

Mike, can you get me about 3-4 times as many grounds for next week as you
got me last time? And Roger, are you available on Monday?

Jake, if you're listening in on this thread, I'll bring parts for automation
of the humidifier On Monday - will you be there?

What have I left out?

/Rikke

On Oct 4, 2011 4:28 PM, "Roger H" <domitron at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Growing on coffee grounds will probably require some moisture balancing
unless by some miracle the coffee grounds just happen to be between 60 to
65% moisture content (per weight).  One method could be actual
drying/moistening of the grounds or mixing drier and wetter grounds together
to achieve the required moisture content.  Alternatively if the moisture is
slightly high, a modest amount of vermiculite could be added to soak up the
excess moisture.  pH should also be considered.
>
> Coffee grounds have a fairly high buffering capacity and happen to have an
ideal pH for oyster growing, so we probably won't need additional calcium
carbonate, although gypsum might still be useful to provide calcium without
a significant pH impact.  And then there is the question of
supplementation.
>
> Substrate supplementation is a yield optimization, never a strict
requirement per se.  Substantial yield increases are not uncommon, although
I simply don't know if supplementation would serve oyster my going through
coffee grounds as well as it does hardwood sawdust/chips.  I would
recommend a scientific approach applied, recording yield with varying
amounts of Spawn Mate SE supplementation like we did before.  Given the
impetus of growing on coffee grounds is largely to improve the
sustainability of the operation while simultaneously reducing expense, it
would be consistent with these higher ideals to minimize supplementation,
even if higher levels result in modest yield increases.  The level
that gives us the biggest bang for our buck, so to speak, can only
be evaluated once adequate data is available on the efficacy with this
particular substrate and grow environment against the level of
supplementation.  Likewise, less
> expensive and less environmentally impacting bags, such as the
compostable garbage bags I introduced, should be tried along beside the
regular spawn bags because compostable food-grade garbage bags are nearly an
order of magnitude less expensive and impact the environment less since
they require less energy to manufacturer (in addition to composting
rapidly).
>
> Roger
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Dan Willhite <willhite at gmail.com>
> To: Tastebridge <tastebridge at lists.noisebridge.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 3:25 PM
> Subject: [Tastebridge] Mushroom update
>
>
>
>
> For everyone at the mushroom meeting last night, I checked at my local
Peet's coffee and they are very willing to give away used coffee grounds.
The woman I talked to seemed to say they had as much as I wanted whenever I
wanted. On the next sunny day, I'll swing by and try to get a couple of
large trash bags full and dry them on my roof. Hopefully, we'll get a warm
day before next Monday.
>
> Cheers --Danny
> _______________________________________________
> Tastebridge mailing list
> Tastebridge at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/tastebridge
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