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Growing Portobello mushrooms

Are you looking to begin growing delicious portobello mushrooms at home, but you don’t quite know how or where to get started? The good news is it isn’t difficult at all.

Portobellos are actually brown crimini mushrooms (related to the white button mushrooms) that have been allowed to unfurl their 4- to 6-inch diameter caps. Wine cap mushrooms are bigger than portobellos (caps can grow to 1 foot across) and have a brown, almost burgundy color, when mature. They grow easily planted in beds outdoors. Here are two simple techniques for beginning mushroom growers to try, one for indoor growing and one for outdoor growing.

Grow Portobello Indoors

The simplest way to grow portobello mushrooms is to buy a handy kit. These kits sell for less than $50 and come ready to go. All you have to do is open the box, mist regularly, and place them in a cool, dark location. In a few weeks, mushrooms will begin sprouting. But if you’re a gardener you might want a little challenge, right?

You also can buy portobello mushroom spores. Spores are how the mushrooms get started. If you buy the spores, then you’ll have to create the medium or bed for the mushrooms to grow in. This is best done indoors where you can control the environment. It’s a great winter project.

For growing portobello mushrooms indoors you’ll need a growing tray. The tray should be about 8 inches deep to hold compost, peat moss, and the spores. Partially decomposed compost is best. You’ll also need to find a dark room where you can keep the temperature between 65 and 70 degrees F. Purchase portobello mushroom spores on-line. You’ll need about two cups of dried spores per 6 to 8 square feet of tray. Fill the tray to within 2 inches of the lip with compost, then sprinkle the spores onto the compost and press down firmly. Keep the tray moist and in the dark until you start to see white webbing (mycelium) appear in the compost. Then cover the tray with a 2-inch thick layer of damp peat moss and a layer of newspaper. Keep the newspaper misted daily for about 1 to 2 weeks and keep the temperature around 55 degrees F. Check after a week to see if any white pin heads of young mushrooms are forming If you see them, remove the newspaper, keep misting daily, and let them grow into full-sized mushrooms. Harvest when they’re about 4 to 6 inches in diameter. You should get two to three flushes of portobellos over a period of a few weeks.

Growing Wine Caps Outdoors

For those gardeners that want to grow mushrooms outside, wine caps are a snap. Although not as well-known as portobellos, wine caps are large, flavorful, meaty mushrooms that grow well in outdoor beds. The risk of inoculating an outdoor bed is contamination from other fungal spores in the atmosphere. However, if you’re sure of your mushroom identification and only eat the wine caps, you should give this a try. You can grow a large area of mushrooms outdoors and even get them to “naturalize” in your yard under the right conditions. While they will grow whenever the soil is above 50 degrees F, in most areas the time to inoculate beds is in late winter or spring. Here’s how.

Create a raised bed border with rot-resistant wood, cinder blocks, stone, or brick. Fill it 6 to 8 inches deep with a mix of fresh wood chips and partially decomposed compost. Sprinkle the spores on the bed as described in the indoor cultivation method. Cover with a 2 inch thick layer of compost. Keep well watered until the mycelia run and fill the bed. Keep well watered. After a few weeks your mushrooms should be up and ready to harvest. Allow some mushrooms to open their caps and spread spores around the yard. You never know where they will turn up next. I once grew wine cap mushrooms outdoors and had them popping up in the shrubs and perennial garden for months after the main bed had finished. Once the main bed is finished producing, add a layer of fresh wood chips and hopefully, it will produce more mushrooms.

Enjoy gardening in a different way! Have you grown mushroom before? If so, please leave a comment!

DIY Botanical print

Now that you know how to press flowers, it’s time to display all the beautiful varieties you’ve created.

Materials:

Pressed flowers
Glass frame
Paper towel

Step 1: Clean your frame.

Make sure the glass frame is spotless before using it. Remove the backing and wipe it down with a damp paper towel. Avoid using a cleaning solution because it may react with the pressed flowers and ruin them. Let the frame dry completely before using.

Step 2: Create a design with your pressed flowers.

This is where you get to be creative! There are endless possibilities when it comes to framing flowers. Try a unique pattern or a cute shape like a heart. You can decide to use just the flower buds or keep the stem for a more natural look. Make sure the flowers are facing down when you arrange them in the frame.

Step 3: Carefully return the back to the frame.

Place the back on the frame, taking care not to move your flower pattern. Secure the back. If the flowers aren’t in their desired place, remove the back and adjust them until perfect.

Step 4: Display for everyone to admire!

Pressed flowers are able to maintain their natural color for a very long time, but eventually some amount of fading is inevitable (typically after 5-7 years on average). Some may begin to show fading sooner, while others may last longer.

You’ve created a piece of décor that no one else has. Put this unique piece on display in your home or give it as a gift to someone who loves flowers as much as you do. Pressed flowers can be used in many ways. From botanical prints to crafting cards, they add a unique touch to whatever they are included in. Try adding pressed flowers to a thank you gift to show the recipient how grateful you are.

Flowers to pick & press

Capture the beauty of summer flowers by picking a few to press and preserve for later use in winter crafts. Even a couple of flowering stems will give you plenty of material if you press each bloom individually. Picking garden flowers doesn’t harm the plant, in fact it often means more new blooms will form as it delays the plant , but taking too much at once and being rough can spoil a garden display.

Getting started

To press flowers for craft work, use the best-looking ones that have just opened and pick them on a dry day. Younger children can just pluck the flowers but older children can be given pruners to cut the flowers. Pretty cards and collages can be made just with the flower heads; or grasses or leaves, there is no need for long stems unless you want to dry flowers for arranging. In that case, the bunches need to be hung upside down in a warm, dry, dark place with good air circulation. You can buy or make a flower press by using a large heavy book.

Directions:

Step 1: Begin by preparing your flower. Remove any unwanted leaves and lay flat on parchment paper.

Step 2: Open the book and place absorbent paper on the book’s pages. Large books like dictionaries and phone books work best for this because they are heavy and have many pages you can use. Make sure you choose a book that you don’t mind getting damaged. There is a chance that the water from the flower may cause the book pages to wrinkle.

Step 3: Position the blooms face down on parchment paper. Carefully close the book, making sure not to move the flowers.

Step 4: Place more books or other weighty objects on top of the book. Keep in a place that is out of the way and not likely to be knocked into.

Step 5: Let the flowers sit for 3-4 weeks. The longer you press the flowers, the less water will be left in them. Give them two to three weeks before removing them from the book. If they don’t have a papery feel, change out the parchment paper and let them sit for longer.

Once you’ve created your pressed flowers, you can put them on display!

Annuals for cut flowers

Sweet peas are a good flower to choose for summer picking. They are sown from seed in autumn or spring. If you pick regularly the flowers will keep blooming.

Cornflowers, particularly blue varieties, are great for drying and using in winter arrangements.

Ammi majus has a white flower with light airy structure that is grown from seed. It provides a light frothy feel to flower arrangements.

Roses come in all different colors to choose from, and these are easy to find in your local grocery store already in flower arrangement bouquets to take home.

It’s important that you are using the correct flowers so that you get the best results. Some of this will be trial and error, but following these rules will help. Try choosing a variety of focal flowers and greenery and filler flowers for a unique look. Follow our next blog that will be posted Wednesday 8/18/2021: DIY botanical print

How to make seed bombs

Whether it’s a plant pot, flowerbed, a patch in your yard, or an entire meadow, sowing wildflowers provides vital resources to support a wide range of insects that couldn’t otherwise survive in urban or built-up areas.

Throwing, breaking up or digging ‘seed bombs’ (or balls) into areas in your garden that need a little brightening up is a perfect way of spending an afternoon!

Materials that are needed:

Meadow flower seeds or seeds collected from the garden.
Peat-free compost.
Water.
Powdered clay (found in craft shops).
Mixing bowl.

Creating you seed bomb

In a bowl, mix together 1 cup of seeds with 5 cups of compost and 2-3 cups of clay powder (you could use clay soil instead if you have it).
Slowly mix in water with your hands until everything sticks together.
Roll the mixture into firm balls.
Leave the balls to dry in a sunny spot.
Now for the fun bit! Plant your seed bombs by throwing them at bare parts of the garden and wait to see what pops up! ( make sure to add a little water to your seed bombs if they are completely dry to help them germinate.

Do seed bombs actually work?

Seeds require moisture to germinate. … If you then let the seed bomb dry out, or even if you toss it while damp into a green space that then does not immediately get some good rain showers, the seeds will cease germination and die. So the seed bomb is less likely to work.

What seeds are good for seed bombs?

Some of my favorite seeds for seed bombs include: wildflowers (native to your area), alyssum, lobelia, butterfly milkweed, scarlet sage, sunflower, basil, cilantro, lettuce or tomatoes all of which grow easily from seed. Putting together your seed balls is very simple just follow the steps above.

Where do you plant seed balls?

Seed Ball Tips:

Do not bury Seed Balls.

Do not break up the balls, they are more successful if kept intact.

Place in an area with full sun and well-drained soil.

You can also find packets of wildflower paper seeds shaped in hearts at Printhousedesign1 on Etsy.

Vases, Vessels, and other Containers

Any container that holds water can hold flowers. Coffee pots, cans, apothecary jars, antique pewter vessels, glasses, or concrete urns. If you are drawn to a container that doesn’t hold water, such as a wooden box, wicker baskets, or rusty bucket, use a plastic container within the unique vase and build your bouquets from there.

Tall cylindrical vases might work for longer stems, like tulips, but they don’t lend themselves to fuller arrangements. Instead look for vessels that have a wider opening at the top. It’s best to match your container to the mood of an event. A casual country-style reception might call for mason jars, water pitchers, or ceramic pots. A more formal celebration could use silver-plated tea sets, fancy pedestal bowls, or crystal goblets.

Narrow-necked bottles and bud vases are good for single stems and can be arranged in groups. They can wander down a dinner table or sit at every place setting. Silver tea services, with their matching sugar bowls and smile pieces. Beakers, flasks, and other laboratory glassware are striking, modern containers.

Going to flea markets, antique shops, and consignment stores can be perfect places to find that unique vase, vessel for your bouquet flowers! If you love animals, check out Printhousedesign.com on Etsy and see unique planters that are 3D printed in over 50 different animals!