Elizabeth has worked since 2010 as a freelance writer and consultant covering gardening, permaculture, and sustainable living. She has also written a number of books and e-books on gardens and gardening.
Haley Mast is a freelance writer, fact-checker, and small organic farmer in the Columbia River Gorge. She enjoys gardening, reporting on environmental topics, and spending her time outside snowboarding or foraging. Topics of expertise and interest include agriculture, conservation, ecology, and climate science.
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Many of us are interested in growing fruits, vegetables, and herbs in our gardens. But have you considered the possibility that you could grow mushrooms, too? Mushroom cultivation is often considered to be a more specialist pursuit. But if you are interested in growing your own food, you will find that it is easier than you may have imagined.
Like any type of gardening or food production, there is a lot to learn to become truly proficient. But even beginners should find it relatively easy to cultivate some mushrooms in their homes or gardens if they have a suitable damp and shady spot.
In this article, we won't delve too deeply into the different mushrooms that you might be able to grow, nor into the details of how to grow them. But we will take a quick look at some mushroom-growing ideas, to inspire you to look into things further and determine how and where to embrace the cultivation of edible fungi in your garden.
Growing Mushrooms in Mulch
An easy and low-maintenance way to incorporate mushroom cultivation into your garden is to inoculate mulch around trees and shrubs. Inoculating mulch simply means adding mushroom spores or mycelium to the substrate that you spread on a woodland or forest floor, or around trees and shrubs in a damp and shady border.
There are many edible species of mushroom to consider; the specifics will depend on where you live. But you will need to make sure that you can identify these with certainty, as other mushrooms may also sometimes emerge.
Mushroom Logs
Certain edible mushrooms are grown on logs, which have been drilled and inoculated with the right varieties.
These logs can be incorporated into garden landscaping—used to create supporting walls, bed edging, or terracing, perhaps, in a suitably damp and shady spot.
They can also be set into a dedicated mushroom bed or stacked somewhere out of sight—behind a garden shed or in a darker corner of your outdoor space.
Mushroom Growing Inside Your Home
Mushrooms can be cultivated under cover, in sterile environments which ensure no other species of fungi grow. This is something that you can do on a range of scales.
In small spaces inside your home, you might consider growing from mushroom kits. There are plenty of kits to choose from for those who are new to the idea.
You can also take a DIY approach and grow in small buckets or other containers, or in small trays filled with a suitable substrate. As long as you maintain humidity and provide the right conditions, you should be able to grow mushrooms successfully, even if you don't have a garden at all.
Grow-Your-Own Mushroom Kits Are Fun for Adults and Kids Alike
Growing in a Garden Shed or Other Building
If you have more space, you might consider turning over a shed to mushroom cultivation, or creating a shade tunnel or other dedicated structure for mushroom cultivation.
Any garden structure could potentially be customized to create the perfect environment to grow certain mushroom varieties safely and with relative ease.
Structures can be kitted out with small-scale containers in which mushrooms are grown, hold trays of substrate on staging, or serve as a place to keep mushroom logs.
Mushroom-Growing Under a Porch, Deck, or Other Feature
Another idea involves making use of potentially wasted space below a raised porch or decked area, for example. These shady spots can be spread with a suitable mulch or used to store containers for mushroom-growing. You might consider creating a trapdoor in the decking or porch to enable you to access your harvest.
Kids' trampolines and other equipment also lead to wasted space below—and these spaces, too, could potentially be used to grow edible mushrooms for your family (as long as they're not at risk of getting squished by jumping children!).
There is a lot to learn about which mushrooms you can grow and eat in your area, and how exactly to do so. But the above ideas might inspire you to think about how you could include fungi in your garden plans and make them a part of your homegrown diet.
Mushrooms are usually found in a property thanks to an onset of damp providing an ideal home for the fungi to grow in. Commonly, the damp will effect an area of your property that has any amount of timber within it – and you might know this condition better as dry rot.
They indicate that your soil is healthy and contains lots of organic matter. In addition, they benefit your garden in many ways. Mushrooms help break down organic matter, which increases the number of nutrients in the soil. The more nutrients in the ground, the more your plants thrive.
With the fungal network created by mycelium, mushrooms help plant roots' surface area absorb more nutrients and water. With a broader surface area, plants are able to better tolerate extreme weather conditions like drought.
Despite any horror stories you may have heard, most lawn mushrooms are completely harmless. That doesn't mean that you or your children should be eating them, but if your pet accidentally eats one, they should be fine.
One of the benefits of growing your mushroom varieties instead of wild-harvesting them is that you can be sure you're not picking a toxic mushroom. Cremini, enoki, maitake, portobello, oyster, shiitake, and white button mushrooms can all be grown indoors, but each type has specific growing needs.
Mushrooms are the reproductive or fruiting structures of fungi. Their appearance in the lawn is usually indicative of decaying tree stumps or roots in the soil. In garden beds, mushrooms can appear because they are associated with decaying organic matter which could be dead roots, stumps, or mulch.
Species include Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus), Lions Mane (Hericium spp.), Red Wine Cap (Stropharia Rugosa-annulata), Almond Agaricus (Agaricus subrufescens), and Nameko (Pholiota nameko). Each mushroom has its own preferred species of wood and method for successful cultivation.
Hen-of-the-woods, oyster, and sulphur shelf mushrooms are safe, delicious, and nutritious wild varieties prized by mushroom hunters. While these and many other mushrooms are safe to consume, eating varieties like the death cap, false morels, and Conocybe filaris can cause serious adverse health effects and even death.
Mushrooms are best grown under-cover, where temperature and moisture can be controlled. A shed, garage, garden cold frame or cellar will work well – anywhere out of the sun where it's possible to give mushrooms their optimum growing temperature of around 15°C (the temperature shouldn't go below 10°C or above 20°C).
Organic mushroom farming operations often struggle with pest control since there are numerous fungivore species that thrive on fungi. Other Flies – A number of other species of flies may also be evident in a mushroom growing operation.
Most fungi are saprophytes, feeding on dead or decaying material. This helps to remove leaf litter and other debris that would otherwise accumulate on the ground. Nutrients absorbed by the fungus then become available for other organisms which may eat fungi.
Mushrooms are the world's composters, and growing mushrooms means you can have a steady supply of high-quality organic material ready for your garden beds, fields, or to add to your compost pile.
The clear majority of wild mushrooms aren't poisonous, but it's hard to tell the difference, and many poisonous mushrooms mascaraed as their edible counterparts. There are some general rules for identifying poisonous mushrooms, but these aren't perfect, and the best option will always be avoidance.
Avoid mushrooms with white gills, a skirt or ring on the stem and a bulbous or sack like base called a volva. You may be missing out on some good edible fungi but it means you will be avoiding the deadly members of the Amanita family. Avoid mushrooms with red on the cap or stem.
Generally speaking, the presence of mushrooms in your grass isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's often a sign that your turf has been receiving plenty of water. Plus, mushrooms help decompose organic matter, which could help release more nutrients into your soil.
They are often associated with spiritual growth, enlightenment, and rebirth. The mushroom's life cycle, with its ability to emerge from darkness and decay, represents the cyclical nature of life, death, and transformation.
They are a symbol of transformation and healing. They can remind us that even when things seem hopeless or beyond repair, there is always the potential for new life and new beginnings.
Too much much water in the right conditions can cause your lawn to grow mushrooms, even if you don't want them. Be sure you're leaving ample time for your lawn to dry between waterings. Another thing you can do is to make sure your lawn has the right amount of fertilizer.
Introduction: My name is Neely Ledner, I am a bright, determined, beautiful, adventurous, adventurous, spotless, calm person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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