Use seeds from rye grass to produce a variety of mushrooms.
Wandering in wooded areas, you see mushrooms growing on logs, trees and straight out of the ground. Home mushroom cultivators strive to duplicate those natural effects in their growing efforts. Some growers try to grow sclerotia, a hardened mycelium that contains nutrition similar to mushrooms, and use rye grass seed for a substrate. This seed is easy to find and the seed easily mixes with mushroom spawn to create a productive growing environment, but it needs proper preparation to produce mushrooms.
Instructions
1. Sterilize a quart-sized glass jar by washing with disinfectant soap and hot water. Rinse the jar well to remove all residual soap; leftover soap can damage the mushrooms.
2. Pour 1 1/4 cup of rye grass seed into the jar. Follow this with a pinch of gypsum or calcium carbonate, using 1/2 teaspoon or less to control moisture and encourage spawning.
3. Pour 5/8 cup of water into the jar. You can use weak coffee instead of water to add nutrients, but the coffee must be diluted to 1/2 the normal drinking strength or less. Add 1 part coffee to 2 to 3 parts water to achieve the proper dilution.
4. Seal the jar with a non-vented lid and shake to mix the seeds and water. Leave the jar undisturbed for at least 60 minutes so that the seeds can absorb the water or coffee.
5. Remove the lid and cover the jar with a cheese cloth or coffee filter, followed by a vented lid; you can simply drill or poke five or six holes in a new lid and cover the jar. Place the jar in a pressure cooker and set the pressure for 15 pounds per square inch (PSI). Allow the jar to cook for one hour.
6. Remove the jar carefully from the pressure cooker; it will be very hot. Allow the jar to cool completely. Remove the lid and sprinkle or pour in your chosen mushroom spawn. Cover the jar with the filter and vented lid. Mushrooms should begin to spawn within two to three months.
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