Plus more focus on perennials, next livestream date, and watch the pre-release of my upcoming YouTube video about a fantastic flower farm down the road from me.
Great diary video. So much uses for willow, I have 7 that are over 20 years old - I coppice one every 7 years and over the next seven years they grow back. With this method I have enough wood chips for paths, enough to grow wine cap mushrooms, enough firewood logs over winter and can weave the whips into hurdles and extract the growth hormones in the Spring to help root other cuttings …. I’ve had a Jostaberry for the last 15 years or so, it’s lived in three different spots, and now it’s now taller and wider than me and produces enough berries to eat, make wine and jam! … I have a couple of clones in containers when/if it fails.
Wine cap mushrooms are something I would love to achieve growing! Any tips? And love all of those other uses you have for the willow - what an amazing plant.
Method: select an area that will have some sun and you want the mushrooms to produce compost for you. Buy sawdust spawn not grain spawn as you don’t want rodents to have a free meal, 1 kg of spawn per square metre. Chip up 20-30cm depth of willow branches, break up the spawn and sprinkle on the wood chip, then a layer of chopped straw, then some more spawn and more straw, water and keep moist - do this in spring and if you’re lucky the mycelium will have taken hold and you may well get your first harvest the same year, otherwise it’ll be the following year.
King stropharia/wine caps/garden giant are all the same mushroom with different names and unlike so many others want to grow outside in the fresh air.
Tips: they are hard wood consumers so willow is ideal. The smaller the chips, the faster the flush and because they will colonise the straw so easily, it’ll turn into the substrate into compost faster - they will also out perform other fungi, so you won’t need to be so concerned with pasturising the straw and if you have to purchase a bail of straw, use a lawn mower to really chop the strands up smaller.
There are a lot of resources available for this particular food, premies.com has a lot of discussions and a lot of YouTube vidz “how to grow wine caps” is a good place to start :)
Hi TJ - that is awesome thank you so much for your detailed and comprehensive guide - I am going to have to absolutely give it a try next year - mushrooms have certainly been a missing element! Best wishes, Huw
Always watch out for autocorrect ... https://permies.com has a few discussions - while I'm here, there are a few UK suppliers of sawdust spawn, two I've bought from before:
I am guessing that polytunnel survived the storms without any problems..? I live in Cardigan and the wind plays havoc with everything I've tried so far (small budget + old lady + I put everything together myself = winter destroys everything) - so I'd LOVE to know where you got your polytunnel.. Thanks so much.
Yes I actually have 4 polytunnels on site and all 4 were absolutely fine! I get my tunnels from first tunnels, absolutely fantastic service every time!
Hi Huw! I’ve been reading and listening to your articles on Scribehound, lovely to find you here and discover we’re up to the same project: I’ve planted a fruit orchard in what was once the lawn of my house in Tuscany, and I am turning it into an agriforest this spring. I’m thinking artichokes, soft fruits and salvias.
Also, we are excavating a big fat water feature next week and I’ve already made plans for weaving willows with the nursery selling me the aquatic plants.
I’m guessing the livestream is actually Friday 27th of December, not January?
You guessed correctly!! Thanks for spotting that!
Great diary video. So much uses for willow, I have 7 that are over 20 years old - I coppice one every 7 years and over the next seven years they grow back. With this method I have enough wood chips for paths, enough to grow wine cap mushrooms, enough firewood logs over winter and can weave the whips into hurdles and extract the growth hormones in the Spring to help root other cuttings …. I’ve had a Jostaberry for the last 15 years or so, it’s lived in three different spots, and now it’s now taller and wider than me and produces enough berries to eat, make wine and jam! … I have a couple of clones in containers when/if it fails.
Wine cap mushrooms are something I would love to achieve growing! Any tips? And love all of those other uses you have for the willow - what an amazing plant.
Method: select an area that will have some sun and you want the mushrooms to produce compost for you. Buy sawdust spawn not grain spawn as you don’t want rodents to have a free meal, 1 kg of spawn per square metre. Chip up 20-30cm depth of willow branches, break up the spawn and sprinkle on the wood chip, then a layer of chopped straw, then some more spawn and more straw, water and keep moist - do this in spring and if you’re lucky the mycelium will have taken hold and you may well get your first harvest the same year, otherwise it’ll be the following year.
King stropharia/wine caps/garden giant are all the same mushroom with different names and unlike so many others want to grow outside in the fresh air.
Tips: they are hard wood consumers so willow is ideal. The smaller the chips, the faster the flush and because they will colonise the straw so easily, it’ll turn into the substrate into compost faster - they will also out perform other fungi, so you won’t need to be so concerned with pasturising the straw and if you have to purchase a bail of straw, use a lawn mower to really chop the strands up smaller.
There are a lot of resources available for this particular food, premies.com has a lot of discussions and a lot of YouTube vidz “how to grow wine caps” is a good place to start :)
Hi TJ - that is awesome thank you so much for your detailed and comprehensive guide - I am going to have to absolutely give it a try next year - mushrooms have certainly been a missing element! Best wishes, Huw
Always watch out for autocorrect ... https://permies.com has a few discussions - while I'm here, there are a few UK suppliers of sawdust spawn, two I've bought from before:
https://mushroombox.co.uk/
https://www.gourmetmushrooms.co.uk
https://urban-farm-it.com/
I am guessing that polytunnel survived the storms without any problems..? I live in Cardigan and the wind plays havoc with everything I've tried so far (small budget + old lady + I put everything together myself = winter destroys everything) - so I'd LOVE to know where you got your polytunnel.. Thanks so much.
Yes I actually have 4 polytunnels on site and all 4 were absolutely fine! I get my tunnels from first tunnels, absolutely fantastic service every time!
Thank you so much. Nadolig Llawen!!
Brilliant video update, really exciting
Thank you so much!
That is awesome, perenial plants for selling😁 hopefully getting to the Netherlands in the future✌🏼
Hi Huw! I’ve been reading and listening to your articles on Scribehound, lovely to find you here and discover we’re up to the same project: I’ve planted a fruit orchard in what was once the lawn of my house in Tuscany, and I am turning it into an agriforest this spring. I’m thinking artichokes, soft fruits and salvias.
Also, we are excavating a big fat water feature next week and I’ve already made plans for weaving willows with the nursery selling me the aquatic plants.
I am going to follow your progress very closely!