Random Mushrooms question for you lot

[Debbie]

I hope my poll didn't disappear completely. Right, since Eldon and I have grown mushrooms (various species) now for almost over 20 years, one of my favorite niches is using mushrooms for their original purpose: as Mother Natures' decomposter. Depending on what you want to decompost, there are several species for that niche (wood lovers, or general all around types, or those who love veggie/lawn clippings type species).

When I attended the mushroom seminar earlier this year, I fielded a LOT of questions from fellow students who were completely new to growing mushrooms. They were eager to learn growing them for various reasons, the most important being a second income if not the sole income. The place where we were learning is amazing, and they are very thorough, but they have a multi million dollar facility, and use large production techniques (though many of them are the same for a home grower, just on a smaller scale).

I came away with a couple people wishing to be our employees and more than a few who wanted me to give them a course or seminar on just how to do this mushroom stuff on a smaller scale. I can't count how many times I had to calm people down and let them know they really could do this, just to take it in baby steps.

Our main mushroom business for the last decade has essentially been mushrooms used for Traditional Chinese Medicines, but I want to expand. I've been repeatedly asked to write a manual for growing mushrooms that a normal person could use....as an edible/medicinal/composter. Yes, all three, and many mushrooms fit that bill.

The thing is, I don't want to waste my time if people aren't interested, and maybe the audience is wanting a manual for JUST edibles? Or JUST how to compost their kitchen waste into something that can be used for say flower soil? etc.

I hope Dalesfans won't mind my putting a poll on here? And please, if you HATE mushrooms entirely, please post and let me know! Or please feel free to post your mushroom questions/or other things you'd like to know or wish there were a manual for. I don't know everything mushie related, but I'll certainly say so, or set you on a path to find the info yourself

[Debbie]

...and of course I messed it up already! The first answer was supposed to be the overall question.

[mickey]

It'd be growing edible ones for me- the horse muck goes on a trailer which is emptied weekly onto the big heap on te farm, which is then spread onto the fields. I love growing food- Ive a lemon tree in my conservatory.

[zeldalithgow]

We've had mushroom growing kits before and it was great, I'm far too scared to pick from the wild I just treat them all as icky , if there were mushrooms that could help to decrease our muck that would be great, we do get some small ones growing on the heap - I call them magic mushroom lol

[Debbie]

Everyone should be at least able to identify a mushroom they collect from the wild. M'self, there are very few wild mushrooms that I will collect and eat, and if in doubt, I don't eat it.

Honestly, the ones I'm wondering about cultivating for composters are strictly edibles as well. They are very good at being dual purpose

[Blackshadow Dales]

We would be interested in edibles as well, even our kids eat lots mushrooms, mostly cremini, portobello, and white buttons.

[dalesnfellfan]

We eat a lot of mushrooms too, have tried a kit many years ago but didn't get much yield from it so just buy them, we have loads in the ponies paddocks at the moment and I think they are field mushrooms but don't quite have the confidence to pick and eat them.

If I were to be interested in a manual it would be a general one, we too have our muck taken away and spread by a local farmer, it gets mixed in a huge pile of pig muck first anyway, and we already compost all our kitchen waste. I suppose the idea of growing a crop of mushrooms on top of the compost bin may be appealing though.

[harveydales]

I love mushrooms and do pick the ones I'm sure of. We had a good crop of field mushrooms this year but not so many giant Puffballs. I'm afraid I've got so much else on, I can't see me getting round to growing them myself but like the idea of simple manuals.

[Debbie]

Thank you one and all for the feedback

[Fi]

I would never dare pick a wild mushroom........just in case. And I've only a small house so doubt I'd have room for growing my own, but if I did it would be just for edible ones, not composting.

[yanny]

I wouldn't dare pick a wild mushroom either...too risky I wouldn't trust myself.
Personally I don't particularly like mushrooms; I can eat them if they're mixed in with things like a sauce or something, but I wouldn't choose them.
However most people I know adore them! It may sound daft but can horses eat them?

[Debbie]

Horses can certainly eat them, and we even had a stray dog devour one of our prime gourmet mushrooms years ago I'd no idea a dog would even eat a mushroom, let alone inhale it in less than a minute. And earlier this year we had a bumper crop of oyster mushrooms come up on our compost heap only to have the elk come through overnight and eat the entire lot!

I don't think I've seen Blossom eat a mushroom, but that's mostly because I've kept ours away from her. I've never seen her try to eat a field mushroom, but I'm sure she'd eat an oyster or one of the other edible species if we let her

[yanny]

Wow, that dog had good taste! I can't believe a dog would eat a mushroom. My dogs don't seem partial to veggies of any kind!

[nedales]

Well this is one for our farm as Jasper and Sharon (who is a Chinese herbalist and instructor--White Pine Healing Arts) roam the countryside picking mushrooms (Dales are so nimble about edging up to scallopy shrooms growing up a tree) and have initiated me and Lad into what's edible and not (we have found truffles!). Sharon may even use your mushrooms in her herbal tea remedies (I am enthusiastic consumer). I think we usually have a whole crop of mushrooms in our own compost before the first freeze--are they germane to the process?

[Debbie]

Wow, arm flail! I think Sharon may have studied where my own accupuncturist back in Overland Park, Kansas came from in China *begins humming "It's a Small World Afterall"...

Out of curiosity, was it you or Lad who found the truffles? Congrats on the find! It's not easy to locate them. I ask if Lad was giving any indication because I know dogs and pigs are used to sniff them out, but I think ponies can smell truffles too. It would be handy if Lad could point you to the truffles

Sadly we are maxed out at the amount of mushrooms we can grow, and all of our mushrooms are spoken for. It's the main reason why I've wondered about writing a mushroom manual for the beginning grower. 

Regarding mushroom crops before the freeze, yep, that will be a part of the life cycle of the mushroom. Essentially it's a mushroom 'reseeding', but the main mushroom body continues to live unless it's been somehow disturbed or killed off. Depending on the weather, you can get several flushes of mushrooms in the Spring and the Fall, with the main mushroom body (the mycellium) continuing to live in the compost heap.

Me personally, if the compost is out and away from buildings, I adore the Oyster mushrooms. They are hardy and some of the most robust composters. Plus they can yield tasty mushrooms, and they are a great all around mushroom.

If you're looking for easy to grow and nice yielding kits and mushroom products, Paul in Washington has a great stock www.fungi.com/