Edith's Tips For Hunting Oysters
Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus and friends) have a long fruiting period and are usually pretty easy to find. If you find a log out in the woods, you can always just bring it home and water it. It will keep producing mushrooms until the wood is pretty much gone. Oysters are easily cultivated and home growing kits are available from many sources.
Oysters grow on a variety of substrates from straw to coffee grounds and even on old phone books. However, in the wild they prefer hardwoods. In the Pacific Northwest they are most common on dead Alders and Cottonwoods. Further south the same species prefers dead Oaks and Tanoaks. Start looking around on dead logs in the early Fall after the first rains and keep your eyes peeled all the way through Winter.
Oysters grow on a variety of substrates from straw to coffee grounds and even on old phone books. However, in the wild they prefer hardwoods. In the Pacific Northwest they are most common on dead Alders and Cottonwoods. Further south the same species prefers dead Oaks and Tanoaks. Start looking around on dead logs in the early Fall after the first rains and keep your eyes peeled all the way through Winter.
For more information on Oyster Mushrooms Click HERE.
