Grow Mushrooms Easily at Home

February 25th, 2010

Modern day guides will allow anyone to grow mushrooms easily in the comfort of their own home. If you browse online, you will be able to find good eBooks and software that will teach and help you with everything needed to grow the fungi of any species, including white button, oyster, and portabella. All these fungi have a unique taste and texture, and one of them may become your favorite.

You will need to use compost, whether plain or prepared for you at a mushroom farm. The prepared compost will already be inoculated with white moldy mycelium, which is what the fungi will grow from. Alternatively, you can inoculate the bag with mycelium on your own. An eBook will come with detailed instruction for you to follow. You can expect to get several crops from any one mushroom container that you cultivate. You and your children will have weeks of fun growing and collecting mushrooms, one after another.

How long will it take to see the first specimens? This depends on the type of fungi that you grow. It may be as little as one week, or as long as 3-5 weeks. Nonetheless, the wait is worth it, especially when it comes to the very first crop, which is typically going to be very large. As the fruiting continues, the crops will start to become smaller, until finally they stop. Until it does, it will keep gladdening you with crops each 10-30 days.

The mushroom container has to stand at room temperature. If the temperature becomes too high, the mycelium may die. If the temperature is too low, it will “hibernate” and not fruit. The detailed directions that you get with an eBook will help you grow mushrooms easily from the very first try.

By Andrew Stams

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Learn How to Grow Mushrooms At Home Easily

February 25th, 2010

Today it has become convenient to grow mushrooms at home. If you like mushrooms in your salads and sauces, if you are a gardener who has nothing to grow in the winter, or if you want to educate your children about nature, you can find special eBooks and even software programs for growing edible mushrooms at home.

The guide would teach you how to use compost and inoculate it with white moldy mycelium – the material from which the mushrooms will grow. It will also give you instruction on where to obtain a bag or dry peat moss, which you would need to spread on top of the compost with mycelium. Next, you will need to ruffle the top layer with a fork and sprinkle it with water. Once this is done, your main job is complete.

Now you merely need to find a good place for your mushroom container to stand, and wait for it to fruit. The best place is where there’s no direct sunlight (as this may kill your mycelium). However, the container does not require being placed in the dark. Any indoor premises will do, including a spare room, or a garage. It’s important to keep the container indoors, as outdoors it may get damaged by flies, larvae, and slugs, which enjoy eating mycelium.

The container has to have enough ventilation. You need to water it daily, using a sprinkler. Depending on the type of mushrooms, you may see the first tiny specimens start to appear within merely one week. They will grow quite fast – the young ones will actually double daily. Once their hats open, they are ready to be harvested. As you can see, it’s very easy to grow mushrooms at home. Enjoy your fresh mushrooms!

By Andrew Stams

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The Easiest Way to Grow Mushrooms of Many Varieties

February 25th, 2010

What is the best way to grow mushrooms? Is it hard? There are numerous edible mushrooms that are a snap to grow in home conditions. All you need is the instruction on what tools and materials to use and what to do throughout each step of the cultivation process. Here is a sample of what the process would consist of, if you decide to grow fungi in a planter-box.

You need to start with obtaining a planter of a suitable size, and then filling it with the required materials. The most common choices of materials are composted manure, sawdust, and peat moss. You need to layer these in the box: first a layer of compost (inoculated with mycelia), and then a layer of sawdust or peat moss.

The casing (sawdust or moss) is used to hold water inside, and to protect the mycelia. Once you have everything layered, you need to sprinkle it with a cup of water. Next, take a regular fork and ruffle the top of the casing. Keep in mind that the container needs to have an open top for air ventilation; otherwise, the fungi will not grow. You are done now. Remember to write down the start date on the box.

Next is the choice of a location. The box will need to be placed in a shaded room or outdoors (indoors is the best choice as it will protect your crops from larvae and snails). The box needs to be placed out of direct sunlight and away from heat.

Now you simply need to water the casing, such as sprinkle it once a day. Within a week or two, you will see little mushrooms. You will be able to collect them in about three weeks after the start of the process. Arm yourself with a good guide and you will see just how easy it is to grow mushrooms.

By Andrew Stams

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Tips and Facts on Edible Mushrooms

February 25th, 2010

What are the types of edible mushrooms? There are quite a few actually. In this article, we will describe three types of edible fungi, which you can learn to grow using eBooks and software programs: Shiitake, Oyster, and Enoki mushrooms.

Shiitake has been the pride of Chinese cooking for thousands of years. They have an umbrella-shaped cap that is creamy-brown or dark-brown on top. It can be smooth or covered with scales. The plates under the cap are lighter. Some studies have shown that eating Shiitake lowers cholesterol. The shiitake also contains polysaccharide, which currently is used in medications for treating immune system disorders and cancer. The shiitake can be artificially cultivated outside their natural habitat. These fungi are a useful ancient delicacy.

Oyster mushrooms have a large fleshy rounded cap with a thin edge. The cap is shell-shaped or nearly round. The surface of the cap is smooth, glossy, and often wavy. The color of the cap varies from dark gray or brownish in young mushrooms to ash-gray with a purple tinge in mature ones. The stem is short (sometimes almost imperceptible), dense, often curved. The surface of the stem is white, smooth, and brownish at the base. The flesh is white, thick, soft, juicy, and practically odorless. They have an anise flavor.

Enoki are long, thin white mushrooms that are very popular in Asian cuisine (China, Japan, and Thailand). In nature, Enoki grows on tree stumps. The caps of wild mushrooms are orange-brown, while the caps of the cultivated ones are snow-white. Enoki has a tender, crunchy flesh with a fresh mushroom flavor. These edible mushrooms are a common component for fresh salads (they can be eaten raw). They can also be used in soups and on the barbecue (with fish or poultry). They are easier to cook than other mushrooms. They can be stored for up to a week, in a sealed bag in the refrigerator.

B Andrew Stams

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Edible Mushroom Cultivation for Home Conditions

February 25th, 2010

Edible mushroom cultivation can become an excellent hobby. You and your children will have a lot of fun setting up a place for the fungi to grow (container, log), and then watching them appear one after another. Today, there are several types of edible mushrooms that can be cultivated at home. These include: Enoki, Shiitake, and Oyster mushrooms. The first two names make it easy to tell where these originated from – they came to us from Asia (China, Thailand). However, they can perfectly grow far outside their natural habitat, such as in any country and any home at room temperature.

There are excellent books and guides that can teach you how to cultivate any of the aforementioned species, and many others. All you need is mycelium (a white mold from which the mushrooms grow), and a log or composted manure. The compost or the log need to be inoculated with mycelia, kept moist, and placed at a certain temperature for a few weeks. The mushrooms will start to appear, either individually or in clusters. When the capacity of mycelium exhausts itself, you will need to dispose of it. If it’s compost, you can use it in your garden as fertilizer, or mix it in your compost pile.

When it comes to edible mushroom cultivation, there is one important aspect to note. Mushrooms produce spores for reproduction, and these can travel through the air carried by the wind. The spores are harmless to humans, unless you are allergic to them. What you need to protect from these, are your furniture, walls, and floors. Simply place a sheet of paper under the planter box or log, and keep it away from walls and furniture.

By Andrew Stams

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