In this video we show you some of the steps on how to make fungal-rich compost for your garden using recycled mushroom blocks. See more detailed steps below.
A Johnson-Su Bioreactor is a passive way to build soil rich in microbes and fungi with no-turning or smells. In less than 12 months you will have soil you can use to make compost teas and you will also be diverting all types of organic matter from the waste stream. We are joined by Andie Marsh from Rhizos at Jester King Brewery. Recycled mushroom blocks are made from sawdust and grains and organic matter that make a great amendment to soil and compost. They are what many mushroom farms use to cultivate culinary mushrooms on. After they fruit a few times and are considered spent, they can be used in many ways as we demonstrate in this video.
Follow along and learn in a few steps. You will be feeding the entire soil web and the plants in your garden, healthy compost.
SUPPLIES NEEDED (Less Than $50)
Wooden Pallet
Four 10’ Lengths of Perforated 4” PVC Drainpipe with Bell Ends
Hardware Cloth or Wire Re-mesh (6” x 6” x 10 gauge wire)
Landscape Fabric or Burlap
Tie wire
TOOLS NEEDED
Small bolt cutters or heavy pliers for cutting the wire re-mesh
Linesman’s pliers to cut and tie the tie wire for assembling the cage
Circular saw
Jigsaw for cutting the holes in the pallet
Scissors for cutting the landscape cloth
Tape measure
Pen or pencil to mark places that will be cut
FUNGAL FEED STOCKS
70% Wood Chips, Leaves, Grass Clippings, Cardboard, Straw
30%: Mushroom mycelium blocks
DUSTING: Lightly feed with any of the following, Oatflour, Soybean Meal, Feather meal, Barley, Humic Acid
STEPS:
STEP 3: Example template for holes in pallet
CHOOSE LOCATION Choose a shady spot with access to water for your bioreactor.
SOAK FUNGAL FEEDSTOCKS Using totes, 50-gallon drums, kiddie pool or any large receptacle that can hold water, soak your fungal feedstocks for 12-24 hours.
CUT HOLES IN PALLET The pallet serves as the base for the Johnson-Su bioreactor, and allows air flow from the bottom and provides a stable platform for the cylinder and the drain pipes. To allow the pallet to hold the pipes in place, you’ll use a saw to cut six 4 ⅜” holes.
COVER PALLET WITH LANDSCAPE FABRIC Cut landscape fabric to fit the pallet and staple to fix to wood. Cut holes in an X shape where PVC drain pipe will fit. You want avoid exposing the pallet to fungus because it will decompose and the bioreactor needs airflow from underneath.
CUT HARDWARE CLOTH / RE-MESH Using bolt cutters or pliers, cut the re-mesh to 12’6” in length and 5’ in height. Securely tie the ends of the re-mesh together at the 6” intervals using tie wire and pliers. Be sure to place a secure tie every 6”. Otherwise, the pressure that builds up when you fill the bioreactor can push this joint apart.
SEW LANDSCAPE FABRIC TO CYLINDER With scissors, cut a piece of landscaping fabric to 13’ in length and 6’ in height. Position the 13’ x 6’ piece of landscaping fabric along the interior of the re-mesh cage and sew it into place using a long piece of tie wire with a sharpened point (cut at an angle using the pliers). Pierce the landscaping cloth very close to the top of the re-mesh cage, and sew the tie wire through the cloth and the re-mesh wire in an alternating pattern (in and out, close to the top of the wire cage) to the end of the 12’6” re-mesh. Repeat this step for the bottom of the cage and fabric. After you have sewn the fabric to the wire mesh cage and before you get ready to fill the reactor.
CUT DRAIN PIPE Using a circular saw, cut the 10’ perforated pipes so that you have four 4’ pieces of pipe left with bell ends. With pvc glue, glue two of these 4’ pipes together, and then cut them to 6’ so that you have six 6’ pipes. Place the 6’ septic system drain field pipes into the holes in the bottom pallet. If you are using a metal jig, secure the pipes to the metal jig with tie wire. If you’re not using a rebar jig, simply grab a helping hand to hold the pipes in place. If you can’t find a helping hand, the material of the bioreactor will hold the pipes in place until it is full.
FILL THE BIOREACTOR: Filling a bioreactor can take more time than you might expect because there are many steps in preparing each shovel full of material, so unless you’re filling quite energetic, you can fill the bioreactor on a different day. Take your soaked fungal feed stocks and mycelium blocks and mix together on a large tarp or large container like kiddie pool. You can also layer in like a lasagna making sure the mycelium blocks are making contact with the fungal feed stocks. To make it easier and safer to lift use 5-gallon buckets. You can also use a stepladders. If the substrates for composting are lightweight, like leaves that you have wetted, you can press or tamp these down as you fill the reactor so that you can get more into the bioreactor. If the substrates are heavy, you may want to allow the weight of the substrate to settle the pile. You want to avoid any heavy packing because this might lead to anaerobic spots that can cause unwanted odors and flies. You will gain experience as you build these piles as to how much you can compact the pile.
WATER DAILY: Water Daily for 60 seconds and in the rainy season uncover. Do not overwater. If the compost pile turns anaerobic, there are ways to fix this problem so that you are fostering the growth of beneficial microbes and bacteria. 10-12 months later you will have fungal and microbial rick black gold to feed your plants!
REMOVE PVC DRAIN PIPES After 24+ hours you can remove the pipes and reuse them in another bioreactor. Fungal hyphae in the bioreactor will hold open the channels where the pipes were, leaving open columns that let air flow from the bottom of the pallet up through the compost. Space for air flow is necessary in creating an aerobic compost pile, if the compost is overwatered it may turns anaerobic, you may be adding bad bacteria onto your fields.
WHERE TO GET MUSHROOM BLOCKS
If you are in Austin, you can sign up to get recycled mushroom blocks for your garden.
If you are not from Austin, find a mushroom farm in your area.
RELATED videos in the series:
Part 1: How Fungi Benefits the Soil
Part 2: Grow Mushrooms on Wood Chips in The Garden
Part 3: Grow Mushrooms in a Straw Bale
Part 4: Grow Mushrooms in Containers
Part 5: Grow Mushrooms on Logs
Part 6: Grow Mushrooms using Trench Composting Method