Difference between revisions of "Grow Edible Mushrooms"

Mushrooms are delicious, but the gourmet varieties can be expensive and difficult to find fresh. If you're a big fan of cooking with mushrooms, you can keep your kitchen stocked and your kitchen diverse by growing your own unique varieties, ensuring that you've always got a fresh fungus to cook with. This article will explain how to select varieties, methods of fruiting, and cooking techniques for your mushrooms.  

#*#Grow some wine caps. Not as common as the portobello, but similar in texture, flavor, and heartiness, the wine cap ''stropharia rugosoannulata'' is a beautiful brownish-red mushroom with a bright white stalk.<ref name="rf1">http://www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/?page=201111-edible</ref> Just as versatile as the button varieties, the wine cap could be a change of pace in your kitchen. Impress your friends at a dinner party with this seldom-used mushroom plucked straight from your garden.

#*#Grow shiitakes. Cultivated for its nutritional properties (shiitake has proven tumor-reducing effects) this Japanese variety is translated "oak mushroom." Grown on logs, the delicious and rich caps of the shiitake mushroom are perfect for soups and stews, as well as a killer mushroom risotto. The stems are somewhat tough to chew when cooked, but are still very useful for flavoring broth.<ref name="rf2">http://www.oystercreekmushroom.com/shiitakekit.html</ref>

#*#Try out some oyster mushrooms. A popular mushroom to pick, the ''pleurotus ostreatus'' is commonly known as the oyster mushroom because of its delicate briny taste and oyster-like appearance.<ref name="rf3">http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/mushrooms.html</ref> Grown on logs like the shiitake, the oyster mushroom is easy to grow and even easier to eat.

#*A manure-based compost is most appropriate for button varieties. Straw-rich horse manure, [[Compost|aged to the proper pH]] is appropriate. Many large-scale growers find it easier to make compost from corn fodder, straw, peat moss, tankage, and greensand instead.<ref name="rf4">http://hnr.k-state.edu/doc/hort-tips/Growing%20Mushrooms.pdf</ref>

#*To prepare a fruiting substrate for morel spawn, mix together 80% small hardwood chips, 10% rice hulls, 5% soybean meal, and 5% sphagnum, then add a little lime to adjust the pH to 7.1 to 7.3. Next, combine 5 parts of this mixture with 2 parts sand and 3 parts potting soil and mix well.<ref name="rf5">http://www.gorsky.com/~pdilley/Grow_Morel_Mushrooms/Online_instructions.html</ref>

#Start with hardwood logs and plug spawn. You can buy pre-inoculated logs directly from spawn suppliers, or start with ordinary fresh-cut logs with the bark intact. Oak is ideal, but you can also use other hardwood such as hard maple, hornbeam, ironwood, or sweet gum.<ref name="rf6">https://www.mushroompeople.com/how-to-cultivate-mushrooms-in-natural-logs/</ref> Regardless of your choice, the logs should be about 4 feet (1.2 m) long and 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 cm) in diameter. If you use your own logs, you'll also need "plug spawn," or cylinders of mushroom spawn specifically for growing in logs. Oyster mushrooms and shiitake are two varieties commonly sold as plug spawn.

#*For best results, cut the logs in late winter or spring. The wood is richer in sugars at this time, so the mushrooms have more to feed on.<ref name="rf7">http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/grow-your-own-mushrooms-zmaz04onzsel?pageid=3#PageContent3</ref>

#*If the wood is unusually dry due to a drought or a long storage period after felling (more than one or two months), soak the logs in clean water for a day or two, then let dry completely.<ref name="rf6" />

#Insert plug spawn with a wax cover. Tap the plug spawn fully into each hole with a hammer, or use the inoculating tool included in some types of plug spawn kits. Knock off any protruding excess spawn, then cover the holes with a thin layer of beeswax or cheese wax to protect the spawn from pests. The wax should be heated just hot enough to melt, but no hotter, to avoid starting a fire.<ref name="rf6" />

#Keep the logs moist until mushrooms form. It's important to keep the logs about 50% saturated with water so the spawn can establish itself.<ref name="rf7" /> For best results, set up a misting system or sprinkler for light misting over a long period of time. You can instead spray heavily with a hose (or rain) for two to three hours twice a week instead, but this may be less reliable.

#Stop spraying when the mushrooms fruit. Once you see white mycelium reach the ends of the log, start checking regularly for fruiting (the formation of tiny mushroom "pins" that will grow to full size). Stop watering once this happens unless you experience very hot, dry weather. Fruiting takes anywhere from five to twelve months for shiitake mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms may be ready in much less time, but all mushrooms require at least one warm season before fruiting.<ref name="rf6" />

#*If you let the fruiting happen naturally, most or all of your mushrooms will be ready in spring and fall. Commercial growers often practice "forced fruiting" in summer and winter, soaking the logs and controlling temperature and humidity for year-round production.<ref name="rf6" /> Forced fruiting is more difficult and labor-intensive.

#Harvest the mushrooms. When you see the veil of the mushroom lift away from the stem, it's time to harvest your oysters and your shiitakes. Twist them off or cut them with a knife.<ref name="rf2" /> You can let the mushrooms grow larger before harvesting, but this will reduce the overall number of harvested mushrooms per log.<ref name="rf6" />

#Prepare your mushrooms to eat by brushing them of dirt. You don't need to soak the mushrooms or wash them considerably to get them ready to cook. Use a paper towel to brush any dirt or stray particulate from the mushrooms and trim off the stem ends. Discard the stems of shiitakes completely, or save them for making stocks or stews.<ref name="rf8">http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.Folder/Oyster.html</ref>