Oyster mushrooms, a love story, a fairytale, why our love must never end and why you should grow them too

It was four long years ago when I was first intrigued by the weird creation that jumped into existence on a walnut stump in my garden. I knew it was some kind of a wood-decay mushroom for sure, but their flesh was soft and the smell was divine! Someone identified the mushroom for me to be the oyster mushroom, told me it is an edible mushroom... I researched a little online, quickly concluded that it couldn't be anything else, made a meal out of it. Later, I recall I had a great dub party night, dancing and skanking all night long with nothing but mushrooms in my belly I met in my garden the same day. Today, I can see I was a hasty kid and I could have put myself in a very dangerous situation, but what can I say? I was so lucky that it is now just a part of the learning process (along with a few other foraging fails, which I will talk about in another video)... I cannot stress it enough, go into the greatest depth of a species before puting it inside your body!

Below, this year's Pleurotus ostreatus from the garden,

Last autumn, I noticed the stump is fruiting again, looking like a clump of buttons stitched to the tree. It was like that for a week or so, until rainy weather came and the temperature dropped. A friend and I decided to take a walk to the garden and we were delighted by the harvest again. In the mean time, I prepared dozens of dishes with Pleurotus from the store, which helped me learned a thing or two about cooking and was able to create a tastier meal than before with the mushroom. Nonetheless, I was surprised by the mouth-watering aroma that fumed the whole apartment. Again, other than the Pleurotus, we were fasting. Later, we went to a forest and had a great day just walking and discussing the beauty of nature.

Last year's, cutest Pleurotus mushrooms ever, so small I thought it's something else,

Above, the "find oysters in the picture" game.

To forage the most delicious Pleurotus for years in my own garden?

For me, it's a big win and a big responsibility. Now I must assure you, it is not the matter of it being mine and with it the best... They really do have a specific aroma I find to like the most compared to all of the oysters I have ever tried. I feel it's now my turn propagate the mushroom, or atleast, preserve it's genetics. Ofcourse, the special aroma could be due to the specific microclimate and the fact that it's growing on a walnut stump, not on straw like store-bought mushrooms.

“Of all mushrooms commonly consumed, oyster mushrooms in the genus Pleurotus stand out as exceptional allies for improving human and environmental health. These mushrooms enjoy a terrific reputation as the easiest to cultivate, richly nutritious and medicinally supportive.”

― Paul Stamets

It was in the beggining of the last century that humans have first isolated a mushroom species and grown it in controlled conditions. Before that, sterile laboratory techniques were too underdeveloped for successful cultivation. Still, people contributed to the success of the Pleurotus species for sure. A few years ago, I was talking to a friend, a local biodynamic farmer and she told me that I can 'plant' oyster mushrooms by simply sticking a piece of it in a hole in a tree. I was unlucky to witness the power of the mycelium when it digested a painting I made (on top of which I put the mushrooms on), so I believed her and transferred a piece of the mushroom tissue to another stump. To this day, nothing has grown there, atleast I didn't notice anything.

Above, me and this year's Pleurotus. As you can see, I've been sharing the dinner with someone (a rat, a slug, or something like that).

I feel more than ever determined that I will repropagate the same genetics on new walnut stumps. When next autumn comes, I will harvest an abundance of something which for me is excitement and happiness! I decided I will dedicate this whole week to find out more about steemit and crypto in general, but now it seems a new priority has come up with the rain (a 'second flush'), maybe the last opportunity to grow mushrooms with this genetics.

I can see this fear of loosing something I love in my behaviour, because I applied the "a little goes a long way" mentality in my cooking, compared to the years before. With the tiniest amount of oil, I sauced some onions and garlic, when they turned yellow, added oysters, evaporated some water from them while making sure they don't burn by shaking the pan every now and then. When I was satisfied with the amount of water in the mushrooms, I diluted white flour in water with horn of plenty mushrooms I wrote about in an earlier post and added it to the pan. Cooked it for 15 minutes, at the very end I mixed in some spices (thyme, turmeric, black pepper, fresh parsley, garlic and salt) and ate this on pasta with refreshing cucumber salad and some sweet peppers. Delicious!

Below, the "a little goes a long way" meal I prepared,

If you liked this post, stay tuned for many more interesting posts regarding food, foraging, permaculture, ethical veganism and vegan cuisine. I decided to invest more time on writing content and learning about steemit due to the wonderful support of all of you. I cannot say how grateful I am all the resteems, upvotes and the most important, the kindest comments I have seen in the history of my internet use!