Weekly Overview
01
Week
During week 1 we assembled our team and decided to design mycelium bricks, with the help of Noah's prior research. We introduced ourselves to help understand the backgrounds and expectations of each team member. We also familiarized ourselves with the Source Farm and their values and reached out to a representative at the farm.
02
Week
Noah showed us his whole mycelium set up at his apartment. We made bowls and different brick shapes (using cork substrate and grain spawn) to understand how the process of making mycelium bricks actually works. The growing process should take about two weeks.
03
Week
Went shopping at Ace Hardware store to get supplies. We bought wood, screws, a plastic sheet, clamps, and a burlap sack.
04
Week
During Week 4, we built a wooden frame that allows for the production of 25 mycelium bricks at once. We cut up the wood with the miter saw, and screwed the pieces together. It took the full 3 hours of lab.
05
Week
We inoculated 2 bricks with coffee grounds and reishi fungus. We are experimenting with adding cardboard to the bricks and will observe how the mycelium responds. Our next steps are to determine which material to use to line each grid compartment with in order to contain and remove each brick individually. This week, we are trying plastic and silicone.
06
Week
We inoculated 3 more bricks with coconut coir and two different types of mushrooms: pink oyster and pearl. We also experimented with a new technique that involved mixing up one of the two bricks from the prior week to see if it helps the mycelium grow more evenly through the substrate. Lastly, we removed and observed the cardboard that we had added to one of the bricks from the previous week. The mycelium had eaten through almost two layers of the cardboard.
07
Week
This week we inoculated mycelium bricks in the grid. These were half the size of our previous bricks to see if they would grow faster and stronger with less substrate and more grain spawn. We observed growth in the bricks that we inoculated previously and noted which methods, fungi, and substrates are most effective. When we get enough bricks built, we will begin the process of creating a structure out of them.
08
Week
We observed the growth so far and saw that a few bricks started fruiting mushrooms.
09
Week
We removed the bricks from the grid and disposed of the contaminated bricks after taking pictures. We began drying the other bricks in a convection oven to harden and strengthen them and stop the fruiting of the mushrooms. Additionally, we are trying a new method of substrate sterilization and inoculation in bags before placing them in the brick mold.
10
Week
We finished drying all the bricks out and tried to stop the growing of the mushrooms.
