Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Variety selection
• Part 2 of 3: Growing and Picking Mushrooms
• Growing in a terrarium
• Growing on logs
• Part 3 of 3: Cooking the Mushrooms
• Tips
• Warnings

The mushrooms are delicious, but the exquisite varieties are expensive and difficult to find fresh. If you love mushroom dishes, then by growing mushrooms on your own, you can fill the kitchen with a variety of unique varieties, and you will always have fresh mushrooms for your next dish. Read on and you will find out which variety to choose, what methods of "planting" mushrooms exist and how to cook mushrooms.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Variety selection

1. 1 Buy mycelium of the selected variety. If you already have experience in growing mushrooms, then you can buy spores and graft them to the substrate yourself. But for beginners, to ensure successful fruiting, the best option is to buy a grafted substrate, which is usually sold in bags. To grow mushrooms, you need to graft the mycelium into a properly prepared substrate, put it in a damp, dark place and wait.
   • If you are going to seriously get involved in growing mushrooms, then in advance choose the variety that you like the most to the taste.
2. 2 Try champignons (lat. agaricus bisporus). It is one of the most popular, delicious and versatile mushrooms you can grow. Its flesh is firm enough to roast, and the flavor is sophisticated enough to add mushroom to salads and sautés. It will suit any dish!
   • The mushrooms sold under the name Portobello are actually mushrooms that have been discarded because they have lost their attractive white color. Later, when people's tastes changed, these mushrooms became even more popular than regular champignons, despite the fact that they are one and the same thing. Portobello is an ordinary champignon, which was allowed to overripe a little until the cap opened and it was not swollen.
3. 3 Grow stropharia wrinkled ring (lat. stropharia rugosoannulata). This mushroom is not as common as Portobello, but they have similar flesh, flavor and firmness. Stropharia is a beautiful mushroom with a reddish-brownish cap and a bright white stem. As varied as the champignon, stropharia will transform your usual menu. Surprise your friends by preparing your home-grown mushroom platter for the party.
4. 4 Grow shiitake. The name of this mushroom, grown for its dietary properties (Shiitake has been proven to reduce the likelihood of developing tumors), translates from Japanese as "oak mushroom". The mushroom is grown on logs and its delicious cap is perfect for soups and stews, as well as delicious mushroom risotto. Cooked mushroom legs are difficult to chew, but they add flavor to the broth nonetheless.
5. 5 Try to grow oyster mushroom (lat. pleurotus ostreatus). It is often chosen for cultivation. Its other name is oyster mushroom, as it looks like an oyster and has a salty taste. Just like shiitake, oyster mushroom is grown on logs. It is easy to grow and even easier to eat.
6. 6 Try growing morels. It is arguably one of the most expensive and best-selling mushrooms, but it is more difficult to grow. First, you will need to harvest the wild morels in order to extract the spores from them and plant them on the substrate. If you become more experienced in growing mushrooms, you can grow this, which it is considered to be the most delicious of all mushrooms.

Part 2 of 3: Growing and Picking Mushrooms

Growing in a terrarium

1. 1 Pick up a container. A styrofoam container, a plastic enclosure, or a regular onion growing tray lined with enough damp newspaper can all be a suitable medium for growing mushrooms.
   • If you have a dark cellar where you can grow mushrooms, then you don't even need containers. A growing onion tray with a depth of about 15 centimeters will work (or you can make one yourself).
   • If you don't have a cellar and live in a dry climate, use an old aquarium or plastic container so you can adjust the temperature if necessary.
2. 2 Fill the container with the mushroom growing medium. You can buy a ready-made, mixed, substrate or make it yourself. In general, manure, rye, vermiculite and sawdust are needed to grow different varieties of mushrooms, but the most minimal composition may include only compost and sawdust.
   • The nutrient medium is very important for fungi, as they, unlike plants, do not produce nutrients and need the right mixture of sugars, starches, cellulose and nitrogen. The type of substrate will depend on the type of mushroom you want to grow:
     • Manure-based compost is best suited for growing mushrooms. Horse manure mixed with straw and settled to the required pH level is also suitable. A mixture of corn husks, moss and sand can be used as compost.
     • It is known that for growing morels and other mushrooms, a substrate consisting of 50% sand and soil for growing indoor plants and 50% chips of hard wood, rice husks or soybean meal and very small amounts of limestone is suitable.
3. 3 Plant fungus spores. Plant the spores in the substrate about 5 centimeters deep and a few centimeters apart.
   • Another way is to scatter the spores of the fungus over the container and cover them with the substrate.
4. 4 Maintain the temperature in the container at 21 degrees Celsius. To regulate the temperature, the container can be moved to a heated room or placed in the sun. It will take about 3 weeks for the roots to germinate in the substrate.
   • Track when the thin, white, filamentous mycelium, which is the root of the fungus, sprouts. When you notice cobweb-like filaments growing, place the container in a dark room or cellar so that the temperature drops to 16 degrees Celsius, and cover the spores with a layer of potting soil 2 to 3 centimeters thick.
5. 5 Spray the surface of the soil with water to keep it slightly damp. Do this regularly. Also, the moisture of the mushrooms and soil will be well supported by a wet cloth. If you store the container with mushrooms in a dark room or cellar, then you need to spray the substrate every day.
6. 6 Maintain the temperature and moisture of the fabric and soil for 3-5 weeks. During this time, watch for any problems. Black dots are a sign that a bad type of fungus is developing. Also, if the mushroom seems to be waterlogged or slimy, then this means that you may have to start all over again.
7. 7 Harvest your crops. Mushrooms can be harvested when the “veil” connecting the cap and stem breaks. As soon as you see that it has burst, it means that the mushrooms are ripe. Collect them!
   • Do not pull them up from the substrate, otherwise you may damage other mushrooms. Grasp the mushroom firmly and "twist" it or cut it off at the base of the stem with a small knife.
   • Pick mushrooms regularly, don't wait. By harvesting mature mushrooms, you allow the remaining ones to bloom unhindered, resulting in a rich harvest.

Growing on logs

1. 1 Growing shiitake and oyster mushrooms on oak logs. You can buy grafted logs in specialized stores or make them yourself without much difficulty. If you have the opportunity to get a freshly sawn log of oak or maple (you need to graft freshly sawn wood so that other microorganisms do not have time to spread), then in order to graft mycelium on it, you need:
   • Drill holes 7-20 centimeters deep in the log, placing them with a rhombus.
   • Fill the grooves with mycelium.
   • Cover each indentation with wax to prevent the ingress of foreign bacteria.
2. 2 Keep the logs in the shade. Avoid direct contact with wind and sun. You can cover the logs with a special nourishing cloth or find a shady spot.
3. 3 Moisten the logs. Keep the logs moist and hose them down until the mushrooms start to grow. After the mushrooms start to form, stop watering the logs.
4. 4 Harvest your crops. When you see that the “veil” connecting the cap and the leg has broken off, it means that it's time to harvest. Twist them out or cut them off with a knife.

Part 3 of 3: Cooking the Mushrooms

1. 1 Before eating, remove any dirt from the mushrooms. You do not need to soak them or rinse them thoroughly, just wipe off the dirt from the mushrooms and cut off the base of the leg. Shiitaki legs can be completely cut off and discarded or made into a stew.
   • Some people disagree with this method of cleaning mushrooms. Yes, you can get them wet, and this will not spoil them, especially if you are going to eat them right away, but there is nothing to wash them. Just clean the dirt off the mushrooms and you can eat them.
2. 2 Fry the mushrooms. One of the easiest and most delicious recipes for fresh mushrooms is to quickly fry them in oil and let them cool down at night to soak them in flavor. To do this, you will need:
   • A pound of chopped fresh mushrooms of any kind.
   • A tablespoon of butter.
   • Three tablespoons of olive oil.
   • Half onion, chopped (or shallots, your choice).
   • Two garlic cloves, chopped.
   • Half a glass of dry red wine.
   • A handful of herbs like oregano, thyme, or parsley.
   • Salt and pepper to taste.
   • Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until the butter comes to a boil. Add onion and garlic; fry until the onions are translucent.
   • Add mushrooms. Do not stir for 1-2 minutes until you hear the mushrooms sizzle. This means that water is coming out of them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss the mushrooms in the onion and garlic. Continue to fry them.
   • Add more oil as the liquid evaporates and pour out the red wine. Let some of the liquid evaporate and add chopped herbs and seasonings to taste. You can immediately serve the mushrooms as a tasty side dish, or transfer them to a container and let cool overnight.
3. 3 Make a mushroom omelet. Mushrooms go well with eggs, replacing pork. This dish is both simple and tasty at the same time.
4. 4 Experiment with recipes. Mushrooms will be delicious in any dish. Get creative and try different recipes. For example:
   • Risotto with mushrooms.
   • Pizza with mushrooms.
   • Mushroom soup.
   • Beef stroganoff with mushrooms.
   • Stuffed mushrooms.
5. 5 Consider drying mushrooms. If you have collected several kilograms of mushrooms at once, then it will not be easy to eat them right away. Consider purchasing a special dryer so that you can have delicious homemade mushrooms in your kitchen all year round.

Tips

• Buy mycelium from trusted stores.
• If you grow mushrooms outdoors, then they should be constantly in the shade.
• You will need: mycelium ("grains" of mushrooms), container, soil for indoor plants, cloth, substrate.

Warnings

• It will be more difficult for beginners to grow mushrooms outside.
• If you collect spores from wild mushrooms, make sure the mushrooms are edible.
• When using shavings in the substrate, make sure the mushrooms are compatible with that type of wood.