Does anyone grow mushrooms here...

[ChanellG]

I think freshness is a big part of it. The longer foods sit around, the way they are handled after harvesting, all this likely has an effect. Many foods are harvested early and kept under certain conditions for them to be able to travel to market.

@Maddie, the best thing for you might be to try growing mushrooms from a kit.

@Arzosah if you live near a Whole Foods or if you have a farmer's market nearby with locally grown produce, maybe you can try collecting spores from mushrooms purchased there.

Spore collection is challenging enough with ferns. Getting it right with mushrooms likely takes practice and the exact type of soil.

 

[maddie]

Chanell, have you grown ferns from spores? I have never tried that .. could you tell me how you go about doing that? I am interested .. it would be good to try these little tricks and learn for yourself.

 

[ChanellG]

Chanell, have you grown ferns from spores? I have never tried that .. could you tell me how you go about doing that? I am interested .. it would be good to try these little tricks and learn for yourself.

LOL not successfully. You have to keep an eye on the underside of the leaves to be able to do it before the spores disperse. You take a leaf (or is it frond?) and lay it on a piece of white paper spore side down. That goes in a plastic bag, which may need to go into the dark, I can't quite remember... Anyway, you collect the spores much like you do for mushrooms.

You have to use a spray bottle to mist the soil and keep it moist in order to grow them and the container is kept in a plastic bag as well to maintain humidity. That's all I remember.

 

[maddie]

I will try this out... I have collected spores earlier.. keeping the fronds between sheets of paper. I will try growing them in a container and cover it with soda bottle halves. Let me see if I can raise some plants this way. Thanks for the information. I appreciate that

 

[ChanellG]

You're quite welcome, Maddie! Be sure to let me know how it goes. Maybe I will be inspired by your success and give it another shot. The problem for me is, something usually comes along and distracts me or takes up my time and then my plants that need careful monitoring end up suffering.

 

[maddie]

Thank you for this post. I purchased a "spore kit" from ebay. I expected to get the entire kit, spores, medium and bag. I only got the spores. The basket idea will work really well.

Good luck with mushroom growing.. I envy you.. I wish I could start mine now .. I love mushrooms and have been wanting to grow them myself. Buying the kit isn't as expensive as the shipping cost .. and most sellers won't even ship it to this part of the world where I live.

 

[ChanellG]

Chanell, I hopped over here when you mentioned about the laundry basket - and, oh my word, those pictures of the mushrooms growing out from the laundry basket are fantastic!

The spare one I have is yellow, that wouldn't really be suitable, I think ... what I do have is an old wooden bedframe, the headboard and footboard could do much the same job as the laundry basket. Argh! I'm working on fixing my bathroom at the moment, its difficult to find the time to do the garden (and its still not advisable to walk on the grass too much, because its all so sodden).

The other thing I have, in relation to mushrooms, is a four feet long piece of silver birch tree trunk - you're supposed to drill holes into the wood to inoculate it with spawn, and just leave it to do its thing.

I love mushrooms so much

Sorry, I guess I missed this before. I think the yellow basket would be okay for really short term use, but I'm not sure how long it takes to get mushrooms. I've been told that when it comes to colored plastic blue leaches the least. If you could find a large wire egg basket that might work, but even one small log would probably do the job.

 

[ChanellG]

Good luck with mushroom growing.. I envy you.. I wish I could start mine now .. I love mushrooms and have been wanting to grow them myself. Buying the kit isn't as expensive as the shipping cost .. and most sellers won't even ship it to this part of the world where I live.

Maddie, do you know about Dr. Vandana Shiva and her seed saving project in India? Navdanya is a network spread over 17 states. I'll bet they could help you out with some of the things you want to grow that you have trouble getting seeds for. Here's a link to the web site:
http://www.navdanya.org/

 

[maddie]

Thanks Chanel, she was the first resource I thought of .. but apparently she works with rural women and the are more concerned with the commonly used food grains and lentils. They is another option the agricultural university here.. but the darned thing is miles away and I really need to drive across the city to get there.. that is like a whole days work.. lol .. I will not give up on this though.. I am looking at other local networks and options. Thanks for thanking the time to provide the information.

 

[ChanellG]

You're welcome. It's too bad it's not easier to send this sort of stuff through the mail. I don't even know anyone who is traveling anywhere near you at the moment. I'm sure we'll figure out a way to increase your chances of success. I wonder if there would be any active spores in a dried mushroom...

 

[LindaKay]

What a fascinating thread. I love mushrooms...they are my favorite food ever, actually, and I swear I pay as much per pound for them as I pay for meat. I would love to grow them as well, but I don't think I'm quite ready to take on this task yet....I'm still working on turning my thumb green.

 

[ChanellG]

What a fascinating thread. I love mushrooms...they are my favorite food ever, actually, and I swear I pay as much per pound for them as I pay for meat. I would love to grow them as well, but I don't think I'm quite ready to take on this task yet....I'm still working on turning my thumb green.

I know just what you mean! It's a bit labor intensive to get started with them and I just don't have the time to be quite so hands on. Perhaps if you could by them already started and just water them and keep them going, rather than collecting spores and making ideal growing conditions and all that.

 

[maddie]

@ LindaKay, It is fascinating.,. I wish I could get started on this project soon.. I agree with you when you say you you will pay as much for mushrooms as you pay for meat.. Mushrooms are one of my family's favorite foods too.
I am yet to find a viable method that is fuss free.

 

[yasirbdc]

Hey, All you mushroom growing lovers, here is a great site - Mushroomsource.ca for all your supplies and tools needed to grow mushrooms.

 

[Simon]

Hey this post makes me think to start my own little mushroom project. I love mushrooms so It makes perfect sense for me to start something like this. First I will have to do a little more research on the subject because everything is still so new and overwhelming. I will let everybody know how my project is coming along.