Overview of mushroom types, growing habits, anatomy and life-cycle. Includes instructions for two inoculation practices.

1. Growing Gourmet Mushrooms from Kitchen Scraps
Fungal Decomposition
Gil Lopez
Outreach Coordinator
NYC Compost Project Hosted by Big Reuse

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 NYC Compost Project Hosted by Big Reuse
 Growing vs. Identification and Foraging
 Mushroom Kingdom
 Fungi and the Living Soil Foodweb
 Three Major Classes of Fungi
 Mutualists – Lichen & Mycorrhiza
 Parasitic
 Saprophytic
 Basidiomycetes & Ascomycetes
 Basidiomycetes Anatomy and Lifecycle
 Mycelium Growth and Expansion
 Cultivating Culinary Mushrooms at Home
 Material List and Supplies
 Crate Mycelium Expansion Demo
 Cardboard Spawn Cultivation
 When to Harvest
Presentation Outline

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The NYC Compost Project, created by the NYC Department of Sanitation
(DSNY) in 1993, works to rebuild NYC's soils by providing New Yorkers with the
knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to make and use compost locally.
NYC Compost Project

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NYC Compost Project Host Organizations

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NYC Compost Project Program Areas
• Public Outreach and Engagement
• Education
• Master Composter Course
• Technical Assistance to Community Compost Sites
• Composting Operations
• Compost Distribution

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Our Work

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Processing Sites
Salt Lot | Gowanus, Brooklyn
Queensbridge | Long island City, Queens
2019 Stats
• 987 tons of food scraps,
leaves, and wood chip
composted
• 466 cubic yards of
compost distributed

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What is Compost?
Compost is decomposed organic material. Compost is made with material such
as leaves, shredded twigs, and kitchen scraps from plants. To gardeners,
compost is considered "black gold" because of its many benefits in the garden.

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Types of Compost
Thermophilic Composting is the practice of breaking
down biological waste with thermophilic (heat-loving)
bacteria. Thermophilic compost heaps must be quite
large, 1m3 or larger.
Vermicompost (vermi-compost, vermiculture) is the
product of the decomposition process using worms
(usually red wigglers) to create a mixture of
decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding
materials, and vermicast.
Spent Mushroom Compost is the
residual compost waste generated by the mushroom
production. It does not have much nutrient but has
high fungal content and is a good soil additive to
increase moisture retention.

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How can the
NYC Compost
Project provide
New Yorkers
with more
knowledge,
skills, and
opportunities
make and
use compost
locally?

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Mushroom Compost!
• Fungi feedstock is abundant,
free & decentralized
• Urban conditions offer limited
space and light for growing
plants
• Mushrooms generally don’t
require much attention or
resources
• Spent mushroom material is
compost and can be used in
potted plants, garden plots,
tree pits or further composted.

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THIS IS
NOT A MUSHROOM
IDENTIFICATION CLASS!
YOU SHOULD NOT FORAGE
FIELD GROW MUSHROOMS
UNLESS YOU ARE WITH A
KNOWLEDGABLE GUIDE.
Growing vs Foraging

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There are lots of ways to ID
mushrooms including:
• Smell them
• Touch & Feel them
• Make a Spore Print
• Look for a Cup, a Ring, or Warts
• Look at the Shape of the Cap
• Look at How the Gills Attach to
the Cap
• Look at the Shape of the Stem
• Look at How the Stem Emerges
from the Cap
• Look at the Colors and Markings
• Look Through a Microscope
Mushroom ID
Considerations
CAP SURFACES
CAP SHAPE
CAP ATTACHMENT
ANNULAR RINGS
STEM/STIPE

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Making a Spore Print
Put a drop of water on the top of the
cap to help release the spores. Cover
the cap with a paper cup or glass and
leave for 2-24 hours, depending on
the humidity and the freshness of the
mushroom. The spores will fall on the
paper, foil or glass, making a spore
print pattern.
GILL SPACING

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THIS IS NOT A MUSHROOM IDENTIFICATION CLASS!
Never eat a mushroom you cannot positively identify 100% accurately!
DISCLAIMER: Some Mushrooms are Toxic

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Kingdoms and Fungi
• Evidence strongly suggests that
animals and fungi are sister
groups while plant evolutionary
lineage diverged over 1.1 Billion
years ago
• Plants photosynthesize
carbohydrates and exchange
them for other nutrients via the
living soil foodweb
• Both Animals and Fungi break
down their own food sources
(internal vs external digestion)
• Animals and Fungi share four
unique protein sequences in
their DNA.

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Fungi (and bacteria) are
nature’s primary consumers.
They decompose complex
organic compounds and
returning their minerals to
the soil and gases to the air,
making them available for
the next generation of plants
and animals and ensuring
the continuous natural cycle
of life. Without this natural
recycling process we would
be knee deep in un-
composted food waste, plant
litter, dead animals and
poop, and life on earth as
we know it could not
function.
Fungi and the Living Soil Foodweb

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Three Major Categories of Fungi Species
Mutualists
Lichen / Mycorrhiza
Parasitic
Saprophytic

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Three Major Categories of Fungi Species
 Mutualists
 Lichen / Mycorrhiza
 Parasitic
 Saprophytic

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Lichen

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• Form a partnership with some plants,
mostly living trees
• Their presence does no harm,
instead significantly increases the
roots' effectiveness.
• Fungal hyphae wrap and sometimes
penetrate the tree’s little rootlets.
• Plant and fungi exchange material,
the tree offers carbohydrates and
moisture while mycelium moves
minerals and other nutrients from the
surrounding air and soil to the roots.
• Mycorrhizal fungi are beneficial both
in nature and agriculture; plants with
their association tend to grow better
than those without.
Mycorrhizal Fungi

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Parasitic Fungi
Apple-Cedar Rust
(Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae Schwein)
Athlete’s Foot (tinea pedis)
Corn Smut (Ustilago maydis)
Cordyceps
(Ophiocordyceps unilateralis)

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Saprophytic Fungi
Organisms that live on non-living organic matter and release enzymes to
absorb nutrients. (Soil bacteria are also saprophytes)

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Basidiomycetes & Ascomycetes
• Ascomycota, or Sac Fungi, produce
spores in microscopic sack-like
sporangium called an ascus.
• Examples of sac fungi are yeasts,
morels, truffles, and Penicillium.
• Basidiomycota produce spores in
club-shaped organs (basidium).
• Examples include puffballs,
stinkhorns, rusts, smuts and the
majority of familiar mushrooms and
toadstools.

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Basidiomycetes Anatomy
Mycelial Network and Fungal Fruit

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Basidiomycetes Anatomy
Fungal Parts

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Fungi Lifecycle

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• Substrate is any substance on
which an enzyme acts, mycelium
feedstock. (e.g. coffee grounds,
logs, wood chips, cardboard)
• Sterilization is a process which
reduces the presence of
microorganisms or other potential
pathogens.
• Inoculation involves introducing
fungi spore or active spawn to a
substrate.
• Mushroom spawn is simply any
substrate that has already been
inoculated with mycelium.
• Primordia is the phase
of mushroom fruit body growth in
between hyphae knotting, and
pinhead formation.
Mycelium Growth and Expansion

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Now that we’ve
wrapped our
minds around
the topic of
fungi
...
Lets do some
cultivation!

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Cultivating Culinary Mushrooms at Home
• Materials and Supply List
• Crate Mycelium Expansion Demo
• Cardboard Spawn Cultivation
• When to Harvest
◦ Mycelium Run
◦ Spawn Run & Primordia

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• Sterile gloves
• Rubbing alcohol (in a misting spray bottle)
• Starter kit / spawn
• Substrate (coffee grinds, sawdust, cardboard wood chips and/or log(s))
• Container (milk crate, fruit/veggie crate, laundry basket, soda bottle, etc.)
• Black trash bag
• Knife
• Scissors
• Water (preferably rainwater or filtered water)
Material List and Supplies

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Crate Mycelium Expansion Demo

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Cardboard Spawn Cultivation

34. 34 Mycelium Run, also called Spawn Run

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• Put your inoculated substrate in an
environment with the recommended
conditions for colonization (e.g. 75
degrees for Pleurotus ostreatus)
• Allow the substrate to become fully
colonized by the mushroom
mycelium (called the “spawn run”).
• When the little mushrooms (called
“primordia”) first appear (called
“pinning”), promote fruiting by
controlling the temperature, light,
humidity and air flow according to
the species preferences of your
chosen mushroom variety.
• Harvest your mushrooms, ideally
just before spore are released.
Spawn Run & Primordia

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https://namyco.org/mushroom_cultivation_resources.php
https://namyco.org/preparation_of_substrates.php
https://namyco.org/growing_mushrooms_at_home.php
https://www.usask.ca/biology/fungi/glossary.html
https://www.canadiannaturephotographer.com/mushroom_photography.html
http://urbanmushrooms.com/index.php?id=69
http://www.hiddenforest.co.nz/fungi/class/how.htm
https://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/3041
https://fungi.com/
https://mushroommountain.com/
https://fungially.com/
References & Contact Info
Contact us:
compost@bigreuse.org
www.bigreuse.org/compost
http://bigreuse.org/request-compost

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Thank You!
Gil Lopez
Outreach Coordinator
gil@BigReuse.org
compost@bigreuse.org
www.bigreuse.org/compost
http://bigreuse.org/request-compost