Introduction to Mushrooms Grow Mushrooms for Pleasure and Profit

Just look at the illustration of any fairy story with a number of fairies, elves, gnomes, and other imaginary creations of the writer’s imagination. You are going to see them sitting on toadstools and mushrooms. The Amanita muscaria is one of the easiest recognizable of all these illustrations, because you see it ever so often in illustrations, associated with gnomes. In ordinary terms, this is called a toadstool.

So What Is a Mushroom?

The mushroom is a form of fungal plant life. When the seeds of the mushroom germinate, the roots are sent out to explore the growing medium for nutrition so that the stems and the leaves can push their way upwards. The microscopic seeds of a mushroom are known as spores. These spores send out fungal threads called hyphae in all directions in the soil, and produce the mushroom, which is the fruit.
A number of fungal threads crisscrossing are going to make up for user branches known as mycelium. Mushroom growers call this mycelium “spawn.”1
A mushroom is going to appear as a tiny white ball. As it grows it is going to put out a stem. After that, you are going to see the cap, which is also known as pileus.

Mushrooms can grow anywhere where they get a little bit of nutrition, including tree stumps and dung heaps.

As the mushroom matures, the pileus is going to open up like an umbrella. You can now see pink gills on the underside of the cap. They looked like spokes of a wheel.

These are called Lamellae and they radiate from the stalk. These gills are going to darken as the spores growing all over them mature. When the cap of the mushroom begins to flatten out, these spores are going to be released. They are then going to fall on the ground in millions.

One mature Mushroom is supposed to have 1 million spores. So your next question is going to be, so how come we are not overrun by mushrooms if each spore is a potential mushroom?

The answer is that even if the spores happened to come to rest on a suitable piece of land and germinate, the mycelium is so sensitive, and is readily killed by suitable weather, and also liable to attack from numerous insects. So mushrooms do not overrun all the available land in the woods today.

Also, mushrooms are prey to other fungi of the soil. That is why, even when growth is firmly established, there are plenty of seasons when mushrooms may not occur in the fields for months.

Animals also like to eat mushrooms. These spores are eliminated, along with the dung. It is in these circumstances that the mushrooms flourish because the spores have been protected from their natural enemies. That is why the association of dung and mushrooms has been well known down the ages.

Mushroom Fungophobia

“I am not going to eat that, that is a mushroom. That is poisonous.” Have you ever heard anybody say that in your hearing? You are going to be surprised to know that there are plenty of people all around the world who suffer from fear of mushrooms. A great variety of these mushrooms grow wild in many parts of the world. However, conventional societies still fight shy of them, despite the fact that fewer than a dozen species are generally considered poisonous to man.

 

Mushroom Hunting

In medieval times, recognition of edible mushrooms was considered to be a fine art. The color of the juice which appeared on breaking up of the mushrooms, reactions to bruising, tastes, smells, habits, habitats and season in which they appeared were all taken into account in the classification of edible and nonedible mushrooms.

Smelling and tasting mushrooms is hazardous in itself, because most of them have allergens, hallucinogens and even poisons.

There are plenty of local mushroom guides available which can tell you all about edible mushrooms, especially when you are going out looking for mushrooms on your own. But it is much more sensible to take the guidance and advice of an experienced mushroom hunter, who can tell you whether your next meal is going to be delicious or it is going to make you sick.

Cultivation of Mushrooms

Interesting way to grow mushrooms – right on a sack of compost and straw. This is admirable sustainable farming with a vengeance!

In 1707, a Frenchman named De Tournefort wrote a book in which he described how horse dung mixed with sawdust could be placed in places where it was allowed to rot. This compost could then be placed in long ridges, and inoculated with mushrooms on which had been dug up from the Meadows. If one was lucky, you would get mushrooms.

This was rather a touch and go, and chancy procedure. However, this same procedure is still being used to grow mushrooms. Three centuries later, the same compost and the sawdust mixture is still being inoculated with mushroom mycelium, but in a more scientific manner.

About 1800 the French, who liked their mushrooms and truffles in plentiful quantities had started to grow mushrooms underground in the quarries around Paris. They heaped horse dung in huge stacks, and allowed it to heat up naturally. Horse dung has the tendency to produce lots of heat. That is why it is used in hot boxes to grow seedlings, especially when the weather is cold.

How Are Mushrooms Grown

Mushrooms are independent of sunlight. This does not mean that they grow only in the dark.2 They are usually sheltered from the sun because direct rays are going to discolor them. The rays are also going to dry the beds and make it impossible for a grower to maintain the beds at a steady temperature.
That is why the best places where mushrooms can be cultivated include sheds, cellars, garages and greenhouses – anywhere where it is dark. My granduncle used to grow mushrooms and boxes in his daughter’s garage. Every 7 – 10 days, he used to go harvesting mushroom crops, which Grand auntie used to fry gently in butter before serving them to him on buttered toast.

Watering of Mushrooms

Just like any other plant, mushrooms also need plenty of water. The only problem is that some parts of a mushroom bed are going to dry out more quickly than others. That happens when compost lies around areas which are subject to heat. That is why it is necessary to spray the edges lightly before you water the whole bed.
When the mushrooms are half an inch in diameter, the watering should be reduced to the minimum. That is, so that the caps do not get stained with the water droplets.

When the temperature and humidity of the air outside the house is equal to the conditions inside the house or when the weather is muggy and warm, do not do any sort of “ventilating”. If you have set up some heating system to keep the temperature at the best optimum temperature, turn it down for a couple of hours, after you have done the watering.

Harvesting

Harvesting usually starts 18 – 21 days after casing has been done. This is the fortnight when you need to ventilate the crop, before the pinheads appear. If you are going to do when the relation to the maximum, cropping is going to be delayed if you do not ventilating all, the mycelium is going to rush up to the surface for fresh air and finding no fresh air, is going to spread widely all over the surface of the bed. This is going to form a mat. This mat is going to hinder watering and aeration. You need to compromise between these two extremes.

Mushrooms in Cuisine

Can I eat this?

Mushrooms are used extensively in cuisines all over the world, especially Japanese, European, Korean and Chinese cuisines. My father told me that the elders of his area did not eat mushrooms because according to them, these mushrooms were the bones of the messengers of God. Ah well, in the West, they were called devils creations and in the East, they were called the bones of good spirits. Well, beliefs… Even so, because of their high protein value, you can call them the meat portion of a vegetarian diet.

The mushrooms which you are eating now, bought in your supermarket is Agaricus bisporus. It has been grown on a mushroom farm commercially. Portobello, shiitake, oyster, enoki and other very popular mushroom varieties are slowly and steadily making their presence felt in the daily diet of Westerners. That is why mushroom farming is being taught of as a good source of income for small farmers.

bones of good spirits. Well, beliefs… Even so, because of their high protein value, you can call them the meat portion of a vegetarian diet.
The mushrooms which you are eating now, bought in your supermarket is Agaricus bisporus. It has been grown on a mushroom farm commercially. Portobello, shiitake, oyster, enoki and other very popular mushroom varieties are slowly and steadily making their presence felt in the daily diet of Westerners. That is why mushroom farming is being taught of as a good source of income for small farmers.

Mushrooms in Medicine
Mushrooms have long been used in ancient medicine down the ages in the East. They are supposed to be extremely good for the heart and to cure diseases like vitamin D deficiency, immunity problems, bone problems, cancer, and other bowel related problems.
So even though they are antibiotic, they are often used with care, in medical treatment. That is because there are many varieties which have hallucinogenic properties. The psychoactive varieties of mushrooms were often used by shamans and Eastern medicine men down the ages in their medical rituals and traditions.
In China, Japan, Korea and in other Oriental countries, small parts of these mushrooms were given to patients suffering from psychological and mental problems. Those patients then saw a “vision”which we know is due to the hallucinogenic effect of these mushrooms. These were then interpreted by the shaman. The patient when he came out from his drug-induced trance was immediately told by his family about how He Was Cured by the Gods.

This book has introduced you to mushrooms and how you can grow them. You are now also familiar with mushroom growing procedures. However, as the subject is so vast, especially about the different mushroom varieties of edible mushrooms like truffles and morels, you may want to learn more about them on these very interesting URLs.

So now, take full advantage of nature’s nutritional trove – mushrooms. Live Long and Prosper!

 

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