All The Dirt: Den Hill Farm and Fungi

Tab O'Neal
·1 min read

ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) — Growing mushrooms is an intricate science requiring sterile conditions with the spore, germ, hyphae, and mycelium stages before getting to mushrooms. Benjamin Harder of Den Hill Farm and Fungi says he can help us grow mushrooms at home by doing the early work. With his mushroom grow kits, all that’s needed is a fresh log and a cool space to watch the fungi grow.

The process works like this:

  • Mushroom spawn comes ready in a bag to be placed into a log.

  • Whether using a plug tool or prepared wooden dowels, holes are drilled in the log and the spawn/dowels are placed in it.

  • The plugs need to be protected. Ben recommends putting the log in a trash bag or tarping it.

  • The log is then placed in a cool environment for a month or two to allow the mushrooms to colonize.

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Now is a good time to get ready because the best logs are cut fresh before they start to leaf. The sugars in the sap are higher and that feeds the mycelium so mushrooms grow healthy and plentiful.

While Ben helps make mushroom growing something everyone can do, there are specifics–such as growing them indoors or in a garden or outbuilding–in our environments to consider. Den Hill Farm and Fungi have workshops.

Visit the website for more information on how to get started growing mushrooms.

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