Oyster mushroom experiment

A friend of mine dropped off some mushroom compost at Gardens at Gus Garcia community garden a few weeks ago. The spent material contains mycelium from a commercial mushroom operation in Austin called LoGro Farms. They turn organic byproducts, like spent beer grains, into food. A week or so after adding the mushroom compost to the community garden compost pile, oyster mushrooms fruited.

I had added a few chunks of the mushroom compost to a mix of sawdust and partially broken down compost, which I'm keeping in an old plastic bag of soil in the greenhouse.

Very quickly, several clusters of oyster mushrooms formed, including some with white caps and other with grey caps. 

The oyster mushrooms cooked up nicely! They hold up very well to cooking -- very earthy with a meaty, almost fibrous texture, unlike crumble cap mushrooms. I sauteed them with onion and served over basil veggie patties with a side of sweet potato mash, brown gravy, and roasted Anaheim peppers.

There's already another round of oyster mushrooms fruiting, and they are growing fast!