GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

Figure 125. Sawdust spawn of Reishi (Ganoderma
lucidum). Note inflated atmosphere within bag.
must be well separated for this technique to resuit
in a consistent rate of inoculation for each
bag. Through trial-and-error and experience, a
highly rhythmic and exact amount of spawn is
approportioned amongst the ten sawdust bags.
If there are, for instance, 4 rows of 10 bags
in front of the laminar flow bench, then a righthanded
person would inoculate bags starting
from the far left, rear bag. Each bag to the right
would then be inoculated until the back row is
finished. In turn, the third row would then be
inoculated with the next gallon of grain spawn,
again from left to right. In this fashion, the
hands of the inoculator can not jeopardize the
sanctity of the upstream bags. To inoculate the
first row nearest to the face of the micron filter
would endanger downstream bags from the
debris coming from the inoculator's hands and!
or undetected contaminants from a spawn jar.
CREATING SAWDUST SPAWN 157
5. Sealing the sawdust spawn bags. Few
steps are as critical as this one. The simple mechanical
act of sealing sterile airflow bags can
have extraordinarily disparate results for the
success of the spawn incubation process. All
other steps in this process can be perfectly executed,
and yet failure to achieve a continuous
seal can be disastrous.
I attempt to create a positively inflated
bubble at the time of sealing. (See Figure 129).
Although the filter patch allows the transpiration
of gases, it is not at a rate that causes the
bag to noticeably deflate, even with gentle
squeezing. When this bubble environment is
created at the time of sealing, two advantages
are clearly gained. First, the grain spawn mixes
and rotates easily through the sawdust, making
shaking easy. Secondly, each bag now has a
voluminous plenum, a mini-biosphere with an
Figure 126. Universal hand position used for opening
bags, lifting petri dish lids, and removing spawn
jar caps.
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