Nomi's Cubensis Method

I have cultivated shrooms for some two years now and I have found that the fastest method for growing mycelia is to use plant matter of some kind. I usually use plain grass or dried leaves, it's not all that important really! Plain grass is usually the most convenient though. Hay or straw will work too.

What I do is:

1. Go out and gather some grass, leaves and flowers, dried or green. Avoid thick stems, otherwise you can pick just about anything green. I usually fill up a grocery bag. Its never as much as it looks, so gather about twice as much as you think you need.
2. Put the stuff in the freezer over night. Preferably packed in a plastic bag. This serves two purposes. One is that the next day you can break the stuff apart somewhat to make it easier to manage. The other is that it destroys the cell-structure and allows the mycelium to colonize much faster.
3. Boil the stuff for one hour. This is for sterilizing and again to break down the cells of the plants. Make sure the water covers the grass completely.
4. The important bit. When the grass has been boiling for a half an hour. Remove a cup of the boiling water and save it in a container with a lid on. The water should have a clear yellow or brownish color. Don't worry if there are particles floating around in it. Put it away till it has cooled to room temperature.
5. After boiling, pour of the water and let the stuff cool for a while. Try to get most of the water out some way or the other, no need to worry about sterility, just wring it out or something, and then put it in a clear plastic bag, or possibly a big jar.
6. Leave the grass alone for a few days. Take the (now cooled off) yellow water, and either inject some sporewater into the jar (or take some mycelium from another batch). Shake it every once in a while. The water should go from clear to misty in a matter of days.
7. When you can see how the particles floating around in the water become all fuzzy its time to pour it into the bag with the grass. Poke a few small holes in the bag.

This method is best suited for bigger projects. If you do it right you can have four pounds of mycelium in four or five weeks. The trick is to get the mycelium water evenly distributed in the grass.