Growing My Own Mushrooms Using Paper, Cardboard, and Coffee Grounds!

You can grow your own mushrooms with free materials and a small amount of mushroom spawn. The mushrooms need to be oyster mushrooms because oyster mushrooms are one of the few types of mushrooms that readily outcompete bacterial and fungal competitors on these nonsterile substances.

Materials you will need:

Inoculated oyster mushroom mycelium (purchase online)

Cardboard free of tape and without colored printing

Coffee grounds

A five-gallon bucket with Lid (food grade)

Drill and drill bits

Using Grains or sawdust inoculated with oyster mushroom mycelium (grain spawn or sawdust spawn) we can easily grow mushrooms on cardboard and coffee grounds! The grain or sawdust spawn can be ordered online, and the bucket purchased locally, or you might even be able to get an icing bucket free from a local bakery. Be sure to get the lid as well.

First, sterilize the growing medium by pouring boiling (non-chlorinated0 water over the cardboard and coffee grounds. The easiest way to sterilize your coffee grounds is by making coffee and then storing the coffee grounds in the freezer until you have enough to make your batch. Fresh coffee grounds are great substrate…