Anyone growing mushrooms? From scraps?

[T-Bird]

My father is always composting, bless him, but when he puts in mushroom trimmings - you get mushrooms all over the yard and mom is not happy, lol!.

We don't call him Mr. Safety for nothing - he of course would never eat mushrooms not purchased at a store.....

But it got me thinking.......

I have some trimmings off organically grown mushrooms....if I put them in a pot of soil known to not have any dangerous mushrooms in it low these past 1-2 years.

don't you lot think if any mushrooms grew they would be safe and the spawn of my store bought organically grown mushrooms?

Your thoughts are appreciated, and any techniques you might have to share:)

[FloridaPatty]

Must be nice!

As for your questions - I've just looked into growing mushrooms, I've never actually grown them because I'm too busy with everything else. Anyway, certain mushrooms need certain mediums to grow in. Shitakes need oak logs. Oyster mushrooms need something else - I forget what. The white mushrooms in the store grow in dirt and in the dark in a warm place. The rest of the mushrooms probably have their own needs. I know shitake mushrooms take 2-9 months to come out of an oak log. I would have a drill a hole, put in the mushroom stuff and then seal it up with sterilized wax.

As for making sure of the soil, it you grow it outdoors you can never tell what you're going to get. Spores travel in the wind. You could try looking up the requirements on the internet for the mushrooms you have in mind.

[T-Bird]

Interesting info and things to explore!

Thanks FloridaPatty!

[j3ff]

I grew mushrooms back when I was in college for fun, and profit. Unfortunately they were not of species legal for cultivation in the US, but I still learned a ton about mushroom cultivation.

I would strongly recommend picking up a book called "The Mushroom Cultivator" by Paul Stamets. It is very in depth, and is considered the "Mushroom Bible" by many. It will show you how to cultivate just about any of the edible species of mushrooms.

It's really best to start with mycelium from known good cultures, and cultivate it properly. You don't want to take chances.

Here is a link to amazon, but you can probably find it cheaper elsewhere.

http://www.amazon.com/Mushroom-Cultivator-Practical-Growing-Mushrooms/dp/0961079800