I created a little compost bed in my backyard and inoculated it with morel spawn. I turn under kitchen scraps every few days and keep it moist and protected from the wind. In theory, next spring I should have an edible crop. Stay tuned.
How are you keeping the humidity up? Tried to do the same thing here in Colorado with poor results. Was told by others the low humidity was a big problem.
How I’m maintaining adequate humidity:
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Bed is located in a mostly shady spot. Native mushrooms (non-edible) thrive in this spot after our summer monsoons. Morels are native to this area. That in no way guarantees that this strain of morel will grow in this bed, but it is cause for hope.
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Bed is enclosed in a plastic tent (see photo above) to reduce evaporation from dry, hot winds and retain moisture.
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It may be hard to see in the photo above, but there is a little mister in the center of the bed that is on a timer. It has been keeping the bed moist, not soaked, for about a month now. If and when morels break the surface next spring, I hope to be able to maintain the proper relative humidity within the tent with the mister. The tent has three access panels with zippers, so I hope I can find the right balance of circulation and moisture.
We’ll see.
Morels are difficult to domesticate, but not necessarily impossible.
What are morel spawn? Spores? How did you innoculate the ground with them? When?
What are morel spawn? Spores? How did you innoculate the ground with them? When?
Cool…I’m very interested.
Will keep posted
In our neck of the woods. Morels only grow around dead trees. Namely elms. I believe it is different in other parts of the country. This is quite a difficult thing to do as is evident by this method. http://www.thefarm.org/mushroom/morel.html. Hope you are successful!
George
I’ve kicked around the idea of ordering one of these. Anxious to learn how it goes. Good luck
Good luck!
I’m flabbergasted! A crop of a few dozen morels of varying size have popped up! This wasn’t supposed to happen, if at all, till next year. Biggest are ~ 4". The closer I look, the more tiny ones I see emerging.
Holy crap, that’s awesome!
Wow, congratulations, that’s great!
Thanks! They’re so pretty, I almost don’t wan’t to cut them - almost!
Nice Bill…
They’re so pretty, I almost don’t wan’t to cut them
Let’s not get hasty. 
Very nice. And, bodes well for cultivation in the future.
Real nice. Well done.
Inspired me to do that “google” thing to see if I want to try and grow mushrooms in the backyard.
Nice work! Last I heard (admittedly some time ago) no one had been able to do this. Yum!