Some useful tips for Growing Mushrooms

Mushrooms are full of vitamins, antioxidants and other nutrients; they are low in calories and very good for health. Growing mushrooms is not as difficult as you might think. In this article we will provide you with some useful information which will definitely resolve most of your queries regarding Mushroom growing.

Unlike most of the other plants mushrooms don’t grow from seeds rather they grow from the spores.
Dark, cool and moist environment is ideal for mushrooms. Depending on the variety the ideal temperature ranges from 45 to 60 deg F. little bit light won’t do a lot of harm to the plant but make sure most of the time the light is absent.

One of the easiest ways to start growing mushrooms in your home is to buy Mushroom kits. The best part of a kit is it is already packed with the growing medium and the spawn. You can grow them in trays, bags or boxes. You can also use garden beds to grow them.

How to prepare your own compost:

Choose your composting ingredients. You will find a variety of composting ingredients in this article. After choosing the ingredients mix them and let them decompose. For better understanding of composting process check out our earlier articles:5 tips to faster decomposition.

Once your compost is ready take the mixture in a shady place for providing the ideal condition for mushroom growing.

Once you make sure that the temperature of the compost is bellow 30 deg C start the process of spawning. Add grains of spawns and mixed them properly with the compost. If done properly within two weeks mycelia will grow in compost. You need to provide good ventilation or install a cooling system because those mycelia will increase the heat in the compost.

The edible part of the mushroom is the fruiting stage of the plant. You can quicken the process by covering (generally done by using organic material such as compost, peat moss, cow dung etc.) the top surface of the compost. This is called casing.

Harvesting:

Harvesting of mushrooms are done in three stages:
1.    Buttons: this type is not that good in tastes and primarily for their appearances only.
2.    Cups: have a rounded cap and is next best to Flat mushrooms for eating.
3.    Flat: the caps are flattened and the gills are fully exposed. They are the best in taste.
Pick the mushrooms in an upward twisting motion. After picking the mushrooms, brush off the compost or dirt and use them as food.



Do you grow Mushrooms? Share your experiences with us:

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Riverbend Environmental Education Center in Gladwyne Pa to build Aquaponics Center

I recently saw in my Google Alert email for aquaponics that there is a huge aquaponics education facility being built in Gladwyne, PA, just outside Philadelphia.  The Riverbend Environmental Education Center is trying to raise $800,000 to build a 4,380 square foot greenhouse and aquaponics facility.  The Riverbend Environmental Education Center conducts programs to educate kids and adults about environmental issues and solutions.  The aquaponic facility will be staffed by local Veterans.  I cant wait to visit and hopefully I can get involved with setting up the facility.  Super cool!

http://www.riverbendeec.org/joingive/aquaponics-campaign.html

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Lions Mane Mushrooms

A few years ago, I became interested in mushroom cultivation.  Ive grown oyster mushrooms in the past, and I just harvested some Lions Mane mushrooms that I got for the holidays.  Ive heard some pretty cool things about these mushrooms.  Apparently they can increase you memory and mood.  Paul Stamets is a mushroom expert with some interesting thoughts about Lions Mane.  You may have seen his TED talk, 6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World.

I saw Paul give a talk about mushrooms at Burning Man this past year.  The talk was very interesting, and one of the things he mentioned was that Lions Mane promotes growth of cells in the brain.  He also mentioned that they taste like lobster when sauteed with butter.  I had to give it a try! 

I prepared the grow kit around December 27th, and I made a mushroom fruiting box a few days later.  The fruiting box is a large clear bin with holes drilled in it, and moist perlite at the bottom.  This keeps the humidity high so that I dont have to mist the bag as often.  I still fan out the box once or twice a day.

From Jan 15th-ish?

 I harvested on Jan 20th

I sauteed them up with some red onions and butter, and a little salt and pepper.  They were pretty tasty, though not my favorite.  I am excited to harvest another flush in a few weeks, and hopefully I can prepare the next batch a little better, and theyll taste more like lobster!

Heres Pauls website where I got the kit:

http://www.fungi.com/shop/mushroom-kits/indoor-mushroom-kits.html

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