So, I got this great deal from a new mail-order garden catalog; I ended up only paying shipping on one of those cardboard box indoor mushroom kits. It came in the mail; I followed all directions but I’m positive I got the watering business all wrong because I never got anything but thick mycelium. ‘Long about the end of July I gave up on the box in the craft shelf; all that was in there was dried up mycelium and one huge daddy long legs. But I was sure there were mushrooms in there somewhere, just waiting for the right time to pop up and feed us. So instead of just throwing it away, I scratched up a little half-circle on the south end of the lilac hedge and dumped out that old, dried up spawn. I added a boxful of mostly done compost, mixed it up well, watered generously, and marked the edge with some stakes so Nathan wouldn’t mow over it.
And……voila……within 2 weeks those mushrooms were popping up all over that tiny bed.