MUSHROOM (Agaricus)
About Mushrooms The common mushroom is the only cultivated fungus commonly used as food. Although it grows wild in many places, it is safer for most people to purchase or raise the mushroom than to try to differentiate edible species such as the white mushroom (A. bisporus) from poisonous ones.Types of MushroomsThere are more than 50 types of edible mushrooms growing wild in this country, including the puffball, morel and chanterelle. Although they grow wild, puffballs can be cultivated for domestic use by spore planting from dead-ripe specimens in the fall. They often appear in lawns, golf courses or even cow pastures after late summer or early fall rains.Puffballs make good side dishes, gravies or salad or soup additives, as do morels. Morels (Morchella esculents) resemble small sponges or honeycomb tripe, and range in color from dark honey to olive gray. Chanterelle mushrooms grow in clusters of thousands under shaded rocks or in forests. They are usually two to three inches high and yellow or red. Poisonous MushroomsGathering wild mushrooms is an interesting hobby. However, it takes an experienced mushroom hunter to be able to recognize absolutely the many poisonous species. The genus Amanita includes several of the most deadly kinds.This type is characterized by gills that are "free," that is, they come up close to the stem, but are not attached to it. Spores and gills are white, and a ring is present and usually prominent on the stem just below the expanding cap. This ring later shrinks and becomes inconspicuous. The base of the stem is enlarged into a cuplike sheath or bulb often hidden in the soil and easily missed unless one looks for it. A number of other mushrooms are known to be toxic in varying degrees. One should not eat wild mushrooms without knowing which are edible. Learn to recognize some of the edible kinds and eat only those you know well. Growing Mushrooms at HomeFor your wintertime gardening pleasure, you'll find mushroom growing just the thing. All you need is a small, dark, moist, and cool setting. For most homeowners, that place will be in the basement; even the area under the kitchen sink might do.Temperature and humidityA certain amount of light will not hurt mushrooms, but they do need controlled humidity at 80 to 85 percent and temperature from 55 to 60°F. (12.78 to 15.56°C.). Strong drafts and dry air are fatal.In order to find a place that maintains the proper temperature range both day and night, make some tests by placing a few thermometers in various spots of your basement. Since temperatures can vary as much as ten Fahrenheit degrees (5.6 Celsius degrees) at different levels in the same location, makecertain you put the thermometer at about the level where the mushrooms will be growing. Tray method of mushroom growingOnce you've selected the spot for your mushroom garden, the next step is to decide how you're going to grow them. If you use the tray method, a bench or hanging shelves on tiers will do the job. Generally, you can estimate that the trays will weigh about 25 pounds when ready for growth.Prepared trays and small kits, already filled with the growing medium and inoculated with the mushroom spawn, can be purchased. They contain everything needed for growing mushrooms. Spawn is already planted in the trays, so all you have to do is remove the paper, add an inch of topsoil, and water thoroughly. If the conditions are right, you'll be harvesting your crop in about four weeks. These kits are generally available only from October to April. Growing MediumMushrooms grow in organic material containing nitrogen and carbohydrates such as sugar, starch, cellulose, or lignin. However, mushrooms cannot manufacture these products the way other plants do because they have no chlorophyll in their tissues. They develop their full root system, a network of fine white threads called mycelium, before any part of the plant appears above the soil.Fresh strawy horse manure is excellent for mushroom growing.It should be composted by turning it every four or five days, shaking thoroughly and watering well each time. Keep it moist, but not saturated. After three or four turnings, it should be a rich dark brown and have no odor. It can then be put in trays of any convenient size and heated to 140°F. (60'C.). After about a week, the compost should be ready for planting.Many growers use materials other than horse manure to make compost.To make one kind, mix together about 2 pounds of corn fodder or finely ground corncobs and an equal amount of straw. Water and firm this well and let it stand a few days. Then mix in 20 pounds each of leaf mold or peat moss, tankage, and either greensand or granite dust. Some well-rotted compost can be added to aid decomposition. About 30 pounds of whole grains completes the mixture.After a good watering, let the mixture stand five or six days before turning. A second turning a week or so later should be enough. Then set it in the trays. Plant the spawn as soon as the temperature of the medium reaches about 75°F. (23.89°C.). Moon Phase Planting Mushrooms (spawn) should be planted when the moon is in the 3rd Quarter (i.e. waning) and in one of the following Zodiac Signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, Libra, Aquarius
SpawnYou can purchase spawn, which is much like a cheese or bread mold, from most seed companies. Bottle spawn is the purest form of culture. Break it into pieces a little smaller than a golf ball and plant eight to ten inches apart, about two inches deep.Proper light and temperatureTo get a good run of spawn, keep the room as dark as possible and the temperature at about 70°F. (21.11'C.) for the next 21 days. At the end of that time, the threadlike filaments (mycelium) from adjacent plantings should meet. The temperature should then be dropped to about 60°F. (15.56°C.) and the beds "cased"—covered with a one-inch layer of good, pasteurized garden soil. (Many home growers keep their beds near the heating plant for the sweating out and spawning periods, then move them to the 60°F. spot at casing time.)Water well with a gentle sprayWater well with a gentle spray; the medium should be moist and crumbly, but not so moist that water can be readily squeezed out of it. Most mushroom diseases and pests—fogging off, sow bugs and black spot—will never make their appearance if moisture and temperature conditions are carefully tended. Any snails and slugs can be trapped with lettuce or cabbage leaves. If the air in your cellar is on the dry side, a layer or two of moist burlap over the trays will maintain the proper humidity. Water whenever the topsoil feels powdery.In approximately three weeks, tiny white dots will appear. You'll find these clustered together in groups, called "flushes" or "breaks." In another ten days, the largest will be ready for picking, but don't rush the harvest. Pest ControlUntil recently, chemical sprays were considered the best weapon against pests that plague mushroom crops. A few years ago, a commercial California mushroom grower discovered that the phorid fly, a tiny gnat that ovulates every 72 hours, can be stopped by hanging a fine-meshed screen door on the mushroom enclosure. This prevents the flies from laying eggs on the compost pile and thereby disrupts their life cycle. Turning the heated compost pile every 68 to 70 hours also helps bury and smother any remaining eggs. These insects should not be a serious problem to the home mushroom grower.Another threat to mushroom crops is mold. Although traditionally controlled with chemicals, the two main molds, mycogyne and verticillium, can be combated through clean compost production and inoculation with spawn raised organically. HarvestingMushrooms can be picked as buttons or when fully ripe. Button mushrooms are familiar as the mushrooms sold in cans in supermarkets; they are picked before the cap has expanded and the thin membrane or "veil" covering the gills has broken. Later, the cap expands and the gills are exposed and turn a slight pink in color. At this stage, the mushrooms are more robust in flavor but bruise more easily and cannot be shipped. Careful harvesting is necessary. Cut off the mushrooms at soil level; never pull them out of the ground. |
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Practice selective harvestingPractice selective harvesting, picking every day if possible, and your beds will bear crops up to six months. After each "flush" is completely picked, clean out the remaining ends and diseased or underdeveloped mushrooms.When the entire bed is cropped out, the compost will make a fine soil conditioner. Most gardeners don't try to grow mushrooms during the summer—it's too hard to maintain a 60°F. (15.56'C.) temperature—so you can set up a profitable schedule: fall preparation of compost, winter cropping and spring fertilizing of your garden with the used compost. The wonderful flavor of cultivated mushrooms and their ability to elevate any dish from the mediocre are enough to make them a valuable part of the diet. But cultivated mushrooms also contain valuable nutritive elements. Nutritionists have found them to be a good source of extra protein, iron, vitamin C, riboflavin, and niacin. |
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