Feb 12 - 19 Transplant or Leafy Greens and Cereals
We hope you have all your plants tucked in as we approach the New Moon and this Arctic blast. As we are approaching the First Quarter and are in Waxing Crescent, it’s a good time to plant leafy greens and cereal grains but we recommend you start some seeds indoors if you have a plant light set-up. If you already have seeds planted, they can handle a freeze, but hold off on transplants until the freezing temps have passed. 

We were inspired by Brie Arthur's talk on gardening with Grains this last Monday and included oats in our list. According to the Texas A&M extension service, oats should be planted in the spring between February 10 and March 15. While oats are typically grown in the north, they are grown in Texas for feed and forage. More recently, the San Antonio, Texas company MagiFoods began growing oats in Texas for human consumption! 

Oats have the deepest taproot of all the cereal grains so “sow your wild oats” in an area you want to prepare for growing later in the spring/summer. Their deep tap roots will scavenge for nutrients and companion planting with peas, will make a complete cover crop. If you missed Brie Arthur's talk, you can catch it on our YouTube Channel. 

This video will show you how to grow oyster mushrooms on straw bale in containers. This video series is in partnership with the Central Texas Mycological Society.

MATERIALS NEEDED:

1. Substrate: Straw Bale
2. Container: 5- Gallon Bucket, Laundry Basket, any Container that you can drill holes into.
3. Tools: Drill, Garden Fork, Spade, Pry Bar, Alcohol, Soap & Water
4. Spawn: We recommend blue oysters spawn because it does best in a non-sterile environment.
   • Oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus): Oyster mushrooms grow well outdoors and readily outgrow competitors and potential contaminants. This mushroom grows in several bright colors such as pink, blue, and yellow. Blue tends to be the best for growing outdoors. The taste of oyster mushrooms is very mild, and some describe it as subtly woody or like seafood. Oysters grow in partial shade and prefer straw to denser woody substrates.

​GET MUSHROOM SPAWN FOR FREE
Many times mushroom farms have used sawdust blocks that have grown mushrooms once, and then end up getting tossed in the waste stream. Check with your local mushroom farm to see if you can help them reduce waste and use the spawn in your organic garden. If you are in Austin, we are collaborating with a new local mushroom farms to help keep used mushroom blocks out of the waste and help get them into gardens around Austin and building healthy soil!
The mushroom blocks are for free but you can also support our mission of helping the crew that is making sure they stay out of the waste by making a donation or becoming a member.

This past Saturday, the AOG volunteer crew met with longtime AOG member David Kramer at the Blackland neighborhood community project. He gave us a tour of the community project that started in the '80s to stop UT's expansion into East Austin. The project has incorporated veggie garden spaces in traffic circles and in water saving, raised wicking beds. We couldn't help but feel the energy coming from 1850's cistern well that has a newly functioning pump. The orb-like cover felt like we were seeing into the future and thankfully it has nothing to do with a middle eastern monarchy. 

According to moon calendars, this time of the month in not great for planting. So instead we helped out with general maintenance, weeding, watering, thinning, and bringing the decomposed granite pathways back to their original Bermuda grass free state. Good job with the pitchfork Johnny!

You can learn more about volunteering with Blackland community project here.

In traditional straw bale gardening, bales are “conditioned” by adding nitrogen-rich compost or manure to the bale to provide nutrients and initiate decomposition while growing veggies. You can use mushroom grain spawn in a similar way, and the fungi will facilitate the faster breakdown of the straw while growing mushrooms.
TIP: Be sure to use straw, not hay because the seeds will sprout and become weeds. 

LOCATION
You'll want to place your straw bale in a shady spot that is protected from wind, and is within reach of a garden hose.

MATERIALS NEEDED

1. Substrate: Straw Bale. Available in Austin at Callahan’s General Store for $12.
2. Tools: Garden Fork, Spade, Pry Bar
3. Spawn: Any Oyster Mushroom spawn will work and Blue Oysters have shown to do the best outdoors in Texas. This is the most important material you need for growing mushrooms is the spawn which is the equivalent of seeds. You can purchase bags of spawn from your local mushroom farm or buy it online for around $30. We Recommend: North Spore, Mushroom Mountain, and Field & Forest.

• Oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus): Oyster Mushrooms grow well outdoors and readily outgrow competitors and potential contaminants. This mushroom grows in several bright colors such as pink, blue, and yellow. Blue tends to be the best for growing outdoors. The taste of oyster mushrooms is very mild, and some describe it as subtly woody or like seafood. Oysters grow in partial shade and prefer straw to denser woody substrates. 

GET MUSHROOM SPAWN FOR FREE
Many times mushroom farms have used sawdust blocks that have grown mushrooms once, and then end up getting tossed in the waste stream. Check with your local mushroom farm to see if you can help them reduce waste and use the spawn in your organic garden. If you are in Austin, Central Texas Mycological Society is collaborating with a new local mushroom farms to help keep used mushroom blocks out of the waste and help get them into gardens around Austin and building more soil! 

The mushroom blocks are for free but you can also support our mission by becoming a member.

When you see several sets of leaves, you’ll need to transplant seedlings to a 4” pot. As plants grow larger, check charts for the correct window for planting transplants outdoors.
If it’s too early, especially for tomatoes, you have two options:

1. Plant out in the garden and protect with row cover, pop up incubators, etc when temps dip.
2. You can plant in a larger container. Grow in a greenhouse or bring inside for freezing temperatures.  This allows roots and plants to continue growing and you’ll have stronger plants that will harvest faster when temps warm to ideal growing conditions outside.

In this six part Mycology in the Garden video series that is in collaboration with Central Texas Mycology, we will show you five low-cost and low-tech ways to grow edible mushrooms outdoors in shady areas where plants would not thrive. You can grow them alongside your vegetables, perennials, or in the shade of trees. These basic techniques require no special equipment or electricity, and can all be done outdoors using organic materials found such as straw, leaves, wood chips and logs which all make for great mushroom substrate.

Part 2 shows you how to grow different type s mushrooms using different types growing mediums. Stay tuned for future videos on how to grow mushrooms in straw bale, in containers, on logs, and also using the trench composting method.

WHEN TO GROW MUSHROOMS OUTDOORS
Late Fall or Winter into early Spring is the best time in Texas to grow mushrooms outdoors. Typically mushrooms fruit after the rain and require high humidity and temperatures between 55 and 75°F depending on the species. It’s best to try to time it up with the seasons that mushrooms grow in nature and with the rain that usually comes in the fall and spring. If you are unsure of when certain mushroom fruit is in the wild, you can use the app iNaturalist. Just search for a mushroom species, location, and filter by dates. 
WHAT MATERIALS ARE NEEDED

1. Substrate: You will need wood chips, straw and leaves as your growing substrate to feed the fungi with the nutrients they need to fruit a mushroom. Soft wood chips are preferred and avoid using conifers or pines like the loathed juniper or cedar tree.
2. Cardboard & Hardwood Logs: (optional)
3. Mushroom Spawn: The most important material you need for growing mushrooms is the spawn which is the equivalent of seeds. You can purchase bags of spawn from your local mushroom farm or buy it online for around $30.  We Recommend: North Spore, Mushroom Mountain, and Field & Forest. We recommend the following mushroom spawn because they are delicious and do not require a sterile environment to grow. 

• Wine Caps, King Stropharia, Garden Giant (Stropharia raguso-annulata): The Wine Cap is one of the easiest mushrooms to grow outdoors and sometimes grows as large as a plate. It helps in building soil, retaining water and helping your plants thrive, creating a symbiotic environment. Wine Cap mushrooms are crisp with a mild, earthy, and nutty flavor with hints of potatoes and red wine. This mushroom grows best partial shade but can tolerate some direct sun and grows well in straw and soft wood chips.
• Oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus): Oyster Mushrooms grow well outdoors and readily outgrow competitors and potential contaminants. This mushroom grows in several bright colors such as pink, blue, and yellow. Blue tends to be the best for growing outdoors. The taste of oyster mushrooms is very mild, and some describe it as subtly woody or like seafood. Oysters grow in partial shade and prefer straw to denser woody substrates. 
• Blewits (Clitocybe nuda): Blewits are a lavender purple mushroom that can be found naturally fruiting during the fall and winter months in Texas. They need a heavy frost or freeze to initiate fruiting, so Blewits will not fruit in tropical climates below Central Texas. Fresh wood blewits are great with eggs in breakfast tacos. They prefer growing in composted leaves, manure and straw.

GET MUSHROOM SPAWN FOR FREE
Many times mushroom farms have used sawdust blocks that have grown mushrooms once, and then end up getting tossed in the waste stream. Check with your local mushroom farm to see if you can help them reduce waste and use the spawn in your organic garden.

If you are in the Austin area, send us an email to get mushroom compost blocks for FREE. You will be helping keep this wonderful source of organic matter out of the waste stream and help build healthy soil in your garden.

 HOW TO GET STARTED
​STEP 1: Choose an Area Find a shady area and keep in mind that one 5 lb bag of spawn can inoculate a 16 square foot area. If you are making a new bed, you can add a hardwood log frame around the bed. You can even use inoculated logs, which we will show you how to do as well in a later video. You can also use the footpaths in your garden to create more organic matter and suppress weed growth. Or you can use an existing garden bed that is already mulched or one that needs fertilization and more organic material. Also choose an area close to water either from irrigation or natural water flow. An area where water flows slightly downhill, pools up, or where you might have nitrogen-rich run-off from livestock is also a good area. 
STEP 2: Cover Area with Cardboard If there is a lot of vegetation growing in the area, cover the entire ground with cardboard from flattened boxes that have tape removed. Water the cardboard until it is saturated.
STEP 3: Add Mushroom Spawn Next you will need to sprinkle the mushroom spawn lightly onto the cardboard.
STEP 4: Add 3” of Substrate Now add 3” of substrate and mix in a generous amount of spawn. Remember wine caps like wood chips and oysters like straw. While wood chips work well in paths and around perennials, we recommend using straw mulch in vegetable beds. As it decomposes, straw uses up fewer nutrients in the soil than wood chips. 
STEP 5: Compact the Surface Pack the surface to get rid of any air pockets. Avoid branches or other very large pieces of wood as these take longer to colonize and can create too much air space.
STEP 6: Water the Area Next you will sprinkle lightly with water.
STEP 7: Add Layer of Torn up Cardboard  Add another layer of torn up cardboard, so that the moisture can make it to the bottom layer.
STEP 8: Add More Spawn and Wood Chips Repeat steps 3 and 4, until you have reached a height of a little less than 6”.
STEP 9: Cover with Straw or Leaves  Cover with straw or leaves to a depth of 1-2” to help preserve moisture and to shade the substrate.

WATERING SCHEDULE
Water every day for the first week, every other day for the 2nd – and then the same amount you water your vegetable garden. Don’t let your mushroom bed dry out! The first few weeks are critical, while the mycelium spreads. You don’t want soaking wet, because it creates an anaerobic environment where bacteria flourish. You can also cover your wood chips with straw to act as a mulch layer for moisture retention. Or, a tarp or other plastic sheeting can be used to prevent the bed from drying out. This is useful for straw beds or in especially hot or dry climates.

MAINTENANCE & HARVEST
Once established, mushroom beds require little maintenance outside of occasional watering during droughts. You can check on your bed every week or so to monitor moisture levels and how well the mycelium is growing. Once the mycelium has completely grown through the chips, you may notice tiny mushrooms, or pins, forming. If you’ve covered your bed with a tarp or plastic, that’s a cue to remove it so mushrooms can form. 

The growing process can take anywhere between 4 weeks to a few months after inoculation, depending on your climate, substrate, and how heavily you spawned. After mushrooms fruit they will spread their spores and the cycle starts over again. Fresh woody material can be added each year to maintain the health of the bed, and give it some extra food to eat. ALWAYS properly identify the mushroom before you eat it. 
​
You can also take some of the inoculated material from one bed and use it as spawn to inoculate new beds, or you can pass it along to a friend like a sourdough starter. Keep spreading the spores!

Jan. 29 - Feb 4 
We hope you relaxed during the full moon and are enjoying seeing everything wake back up especially after the recent rains. We are now going into a waning period of the Moon—from the day after it is full to the day before it is new again. As the moonlight decreases night by night, plants are encouraged to grow roots, tubers, and bulbs.

SEED-IN
Beets
Carrots
Radish
Rutabaga
Turnips
Potatoes

TRANSPLANT
Leeks
Onions (bulb)

Tag us on social media with a pic of the seed packet of your favorite varieties.

For more ideas on Ornamentals, Perennials, and Herbs, visit the Central Texas Gardener and The Natural Gardener lists online. Download the Texas A&M Extension Planting Chart and Varieties Chart at AustinOrganicGardners.org.

​SUPPORT OUR MISSION: All of our lessons from the garden are free and we are always looking for new members to help us support our mission. Become a member of the oldest organic garden club in America. Memberships are only $10 a year and 100% of dues go to the Zilker Botanical Garden.

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January and February is the time of year to plant asparagus while it is dormant. Check your local garden store for asparagus crowns. You can also separate your existing asparagus to transplant and/or share with friends.

Today at the teaching beds @ Zilker Botanical Gardens, we transplanted asparagus crowns next to our strawberry bed. 🍓👊✳️ They are great companions! Both are early spring crops that will begin to produce after your last frost date. They root on different levels to maximize the nutrient return in your garden. Both should be mulched to keep down weeds and to maximize yields.

Here are the steps to get them established at your location.
1. In FULL SUN Dig 12" d x 24" w trench.
2. In trench mound up mixture of compost & sand for drainage.
3. Drape crowns 18" apart over mound.
4. Cover with soil, then mulch.
5. Water in between rains.
6. Fertilize before and after your harvests.

Be patient, in a 2-3 years asparagus will be in full production. When conditions are favorable, buds arise from the crown and develop into edible spears. Fresh asparagus from the garden is like 🍬

You can also grow asparagus from seeds but it takes even longer to get established. 

Happy winter gardening. ❄️

SUPPORT OUR MISSION: All of our lessons from the garden are free and we are always looking for new members to help us support our mission. Become a member of the oldest organic garden club in America. Memberships are only $10 a year and 100% of dues go to the Zilker Botanical Garden.