I think they would complement each other quite well.
Discard your spent mycelium blocks into a worm bin for them to eat.
However, as I understand it mushroom farming is significantly harder than worm farming.
I agree, worm farming doesn’t really take any time if you don’t want it to. The more I leave my bins alone, the more the balance out and explode in population. Using spent substrate as the main food source would probably be incredible.
Perhaps try this: set up 2 bins along one side of the space, and get wire shelving and a “Martha tent” shelf greenhouse - there’s a bunch of mushroom farming subs with more info. Grow only enough mushrooms that you and the family can eat - and after a few flushes, feed the worms the spent substrate.
For under $300 you could have a solid setup that provides fresh food every week, makes worm castings you can regularly sell in abundance, and both are high value goods that other gardeners will happily trade you for vegetables, fruits, flowers and herb(s).
Both systems are easy to incrementally scale up and complimentary to one another.
I've tried both recently as a hobby (I blame midlife crisis lol).
Mushroom farming is fun, however it's more 'seasonal' as in you prepare the substrate, grow the mushrooms, harvest, then get rid of the spent substrate and start again. Usually these mushrooms will only fruit once or twice (in decent amounts), then you'll be left with a lot of used mycellium blocks at the end of it to get rid of. You also have to make sure the environment is right for the mushrooms (humidity, temperature, light, etc). As they usually grow in damp places, you might have to mist them everyday.
Worm farming is a lot less work, and is a continuous process. You prepare a worm bin, add substrate every now and again, and harvest castings whenever it's done. They can be left alone for a week or longer and still live. However this also means that you'll have to continue to 'look after' the worm bin .. forever lol.
Whether which can provide a side income depends on how you're going to sell the product. Mushrooms produced can fetch a decent price, but they're probably less sought after (you'll have to look for a market for them, maybe a local market?) and there's the cost whenever you start a new mushroom block (unless you can harvest mushroom spores and produce the substrate yourself to innoculate them into). Worm farming has practically no ongoing cost once you get started, and castings can be sold to anyone who's into gardening, but I think you'll have to produce a huge amount (with the equivalent amount of food for the worms) to produce a decent income.
The other comment's idea about combining them both sounds great tho, although IMO that's becoming like a full time hobby lol ..
I’ve done both (also blame midlife crisis!!). Mushrooms are HARD because you need a sterile environment. Many of us lose grows to an infection called trich. Each kind of mushroom prefers a narrow range of humidity and temp levels. They’re fussy!
But they’re fun and rewarding. And if you grow a certain ummm type of mushroom, it can be extra fun, and even profitable.
As others here have said, they’d complement each other well.
I’m not totally sure. But the mushroom growers sub here is where I learned everything and there are lots of growers there who focus on “gourmet” rather than “actives”(cubes).
I would go for worms first and see how it goes.
Mushrooms need a nice sterile area, when you have the worms set up do a deep dive into mushroom cultivation.
Richard Perkins had a decent ytube video for easier mushroom growing.
If you have a large Asian/Chinese market nearby, fresh paddy straw mushroom will be popular, if you want to eventually go commercial and stand out from the competition who are all selling the same 5 types of mushrooms.
I think they would complement each other quite well. Discard your spent mycelium blocks into a worm bin for them to eat. However, as I understand it mushroom farming is significantly harder than worm farming.
I agree, worm farming doesn’t really take any time if you don’t want it to. The more I leave my bins alone, the more the balance out and explode in population. Using spent substrate as the main food source would probably be incredible. Perhaps try this: set up 2 bins along one side of the space, and get wire shelving and a “Martha tent” shelf greenhouse - there’s a bunch of mushroom farming subs with more info. Grow only enough mushrooms that you and the family can eat - and after a few flushes, feed the worms the spent substrate. For under $300 you could have a solid setup that provides fresh food every week, makes worm castings you can regularly sell in abundance, and both are high value goods that other gardeners will happily trade you for vegetables, fruits, flowers and herb(s). Both systems are easy to incrementally scale up and complimentary to one another.
I've tried both recently as a hobby (I blame midlife crisis lol). Mushroom farming is fun, however it's more 'seasonal' as in you prepare the substrate, grow the mushrooms, harvest, then get rid of the spent substrate and start again. Usually these mushrooms will only fruit once or twice (in decent amounts), then you'll be left with a lot of used mycellium blocks at the end of it to get rid of. You also have to make sure the environment is right for the mushrooms (humidity, temperature, light, etc). As they usually grow in damp places, you might have to mist them everyday. Worm farming is a lot less work, and is a continuous process. You prepare a worm bin, add substrate every now and again, and harvest castings whenever it's done. They can be left alone for a week or longer and still live. However this also means that you'll have to continue to 'look after' the worm bin .. forever lol. Whether which can provide a side income depends on how you're going to sell the product. Mushrooms produced can fetch a decent price, but they're probably less sought after (you'll have to look for a market for them, maybe a local market?) and there's the cost whenever you start a new mushroom block (unless you can harvest mushroom spores and produce the substrate yourself to innoculate them into). Worm farming has practically no ongoing cost once you get started, and castings can be sold to anyone who's into gardening, but I think you'll have to produce a huge amount (with the equivalent amount of food for the worms) to produce a decent income. The other comment's idea about combining them both sounds great tho, although IMO that's becoming like a full time hobby lol ..
I’ve done both (also blame midlife crisis!!). Mushrooms are HARD because you need a sterile environment. Many of us lose grows to an infection called trich. Each kind of mushroom prefers a narrow range of humidity and temp levels. They’re fussy! But they’re fun and rewarding. And if you grow a certain ummm type of mushroom, it can be extra fun, and even profitable. As others here have said, they’d complement each other well.
I've always wanted to try growing pink oysters. Is growing gourmet +/- same process for cubes?
I’m not totally sure. But the mushroom growers sub here is where I learned everything and there are lots of growers there who focus on “gourmet” rather than “actives”(cubes).
Rad, thanks for the information!
You may attempt raising daphnia. They are a very important feed for growing fish in aquarium culture. I have grown daphnia, microworm etc in the past.
I would go for worms first and see how it goes. Mushrooms need a nice sterile area, when you have the worms set up do a deep dive into mushroom cultivation. Richard Perkins had a decent ytube video for easier mushroom growing.
Pair herb farming with worms. The go well together and make for a fun project. Much easier and cheaper than worms.
Pair herb farming with worms. The go well together and make for a fun project. Much easier and cheaper than worms.
If you have a large Asian/Chinese market nearby, fresh paddy straw mushroom will be popular, if you want to eventually go commercial and stand out from the competition who are all selling the same 5 types of mushrooms.